Curated Future

An architectural overviewThis document introduces the compact family: an architectural proposal for how interactions between users, agents, runtimes, and surfaces should be structured in the conversational era.The family exists because the next software s

Why agent-mediated agreements need a new structure for consentBy Rey Peralta and ClaudeAbout this essayContracts used to mean something specific: two parties, clear terms, mutual commitment, and a durable artifact both sides could read. EULAs weakened tha

Who owns the ground conversational software is built on?By Rey Peralta and ClaudeAbout this essayThe web was built on protocols no single company owned, which is why so much could be built on top of it. The conversational era is emerging under very differ

Part of a coordinated releaseThis is one of three protocol drafts being published together: SSP v0.2 (the Session-Surface Protocol), ACP v0.1 (this document), and RCP v0.1 (the Runtime Compact Protocol). The three specs are intended to be read together as

v0.1 Draft: Negotiated Terms for Where Inter-Agent Interactions Are HostedPart of a coordinated releaseThis is one of three protocol drafts being published together: SSP v0.2 (the Session-Surface Protocol), ACP v0.1 (the Agent Compact Protocol), and RCP v

v0.2 Draft: Private Session Surfaces, Shareable Durable Surfaces, and the Session as Authoring VenuePart of a coordinated releaseThis is one of three protocol drafts being published together: SSP v0.2 (this document), ACP v0.1 (the Agent Compact Protocol)

v0.1 Draft: Private Session Surfaces for Language-User InterfacesSummaryThis is a public draft, not a final standard. It defines an interaction contract for a class of applications that are already emerging: language-user interfaces where natural-language

A condensed version of the original essay. Read the full essay After the Page For most of the web's life, the page has been the thing we built around. A page had an address. A page could be linked to, indexed, shared, cited, archived, disputed, and return

Notes on the end of one era and the shape of the nextBy Rey Peralta and ClaudeAbout this essayFor thirty years, the page has been the organizing unit of software: addressable, linkable, shareable, and forgetful by default. Conversational software is being