Signal Contract · Protocol

Listen to your agents. The fleet you cannot watch is the one you can hear.

Direct answer

What is the Signal Contract?

Signal Contract is the flat, renderer-facing event object that separates what happened from how a human perceives it. One valid event can become sound, motion, a trace row, a structured log, or a future device cue without changing its meaning.

Run the proof Try hello renderer View examples

Architecture

One event. One shared clock. Many renderers.

01 · ProducerA domain adapter emits one renderer-facing event.
02 · ContractSignal Contract carries semantic state without choosing a renderer.
03 · ClockOne shared run keeps sound, motion, traces, and receipts aligned.
04 · RendererEach surface expresses the same truth without changing the event.

Canonical example

The event stays small and inspectable.

Producers may add public-safe context in metadata. The required core remains portable.

{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "id": "sig_demo_005",
  "occurred_at": "2026-04-19T18:32:18.442Z",
  "producer": "vibenet-demo",
  "entity": "agent.serpradio.route_intelligence",
  "event": "handoff.requested",
  "channel": "handoff",
  "valence": 0.42,
  "energy": 0.66,
  "tension": 0.73,
  "intensity": 0.72,
  "hue": 44,
  "pulse": 0.78,
  "confidence": 0.94,
  "ttl_ms": 15000,
  "metadata": {
    "reason": "source_confidence_below_threshold",
    "route": "JFK-LHR"
  }
}

Field specification

Canonical v1 fields

Field	Type	Requirement	Meaning	Example
`schema_version`	string	required	Published version of the flat public event object.	1.0
`id`	string	required	Stable event identifier for dedupe, replay, and audit references.	sig_demo_005
`occurred_at`	RFC 3339 timestamp	required	When the awareness event occurred, not when the renderer received it.	2026-04-19T18:32:18.442Z
`producer`	string	required	System or adapter that emitted the event.	vibenet-demo
`entity`	string	required	Stable subject identifier for the thing whose state changed.	agent.serpradio.route_intelligence
`event`	string	required	Meaningful awareness event name. Snake case is recommended.	handoff.requested
`channel`	enum	required	Public semantic channel for how the state should be interpreted.	handoff
`valence`	number 0-1	required	Normalized affective polarity for the current state.	0.42
`energy`	number 0-1	required	Normalized activity level of the state change.	0.66
`tension`	number 0-1	required	Normalized instability or unresolved uncertainty.	0.73
`intensity`	number 0-1	required	Renderer-facing emphasis. Higher values should feel harder to ignore.	0.72
`hue`	number 0-360	required	Flat renderer-facing hue hint for browser, lighting, or AR renderers.	44
`pulse`	number 0-1	required	Flat renderer-facing pulse hint for motion, cadence, or temporal emphasis.	0.78
`confidence`	number 0-1	optional	Optional producer confidence in the emitted awareness event.	0.94
`ttl_ms`	integer	optional	How long a renderer should keep expressing the event before it expires.	15000
`metadata`	object	optional	Context payload for links, IDs, route names, renderer-safe details, and optional publishable/indexable convention fields.	{"publishable":false,"indexable":true,"fallback_reason":"primary_source_stale"}

Semantic channels

Public posture, not private taxonomy.

nominal

Expected operating state. Nothing requires attention. Use when the system is steady and no intervention is needed.

public semantic label

advisory

Work is happening. Attention is optional. Use for planning, tool calls, synthesis, and healthy in-flight state shifts.

public semantic label

warning

Something deserves a second look. Use when confidence drops, retries stack up, or trust changes materially.

public semantic label

critical

Intervention required. Use when a human or policy boundary must intervene immediately.

public semantic label

recovery

The system is resolving back toward nominal. Use when an earlier warning has been contained or when the run lands cleanly.

public semantic label

opportunity

An actionable window has appeared. Use when the system detects a state worth acting on soon but not urgently.

public semantic label

handoff

Attention is passing between agents, humans, or devices. Use when responsibility moves and the receiver needs situational context.

public semantic label

Implementation notes

Complete enough to build. Bounded enough to trust.

Proof path

Adapter emits event → schema validates → shared clock advances → audio, pulse, trace, and receipt render together.

Cybernetic modulation is vNext, not v1

Transition contour work explores prior state, next state, slew, and intent. It is not part of the published v1 schema. Read the modulation essay.

Governed build path

Build against the public schema, validate conformance, document the adapter boundary, and keep protected source material outside the event.

Read Governance Conformance rules Protocol changelog