The 2-minute proof
This is the smallest real shape: If your system can: then you can build an adapter.
- read current target state,
- decide admitted versus blocked for one bounded action,
- and perform one bounded effect after claim,
Adapter guide
Build your own adapter
Your team may have a system that an agent should work with: a database, API, workflow, local tool, or internal service. An adapter lets that system participate in the boundary. The agent can propose work, the Core decides what may continue, and your adapter only carries out work that has already been admitted.
Implementation guide / preview path
Build your own adapter
Three small pieces. One admitted-only path.
submit-intent.ts
await core.submitIntent({
target_adapter: "github-pr",
operation_type: "create_pr",
payload: { title, branch, base }
})
policy.go
if scope != "branch:main" {
return Blocked()
}
if op == "delete_repo" {
return NeedsApproval()
}
return Admitted()
worker.ts
const wo = await claimWorkOrder()
if (!wo) return
await github.createPR(...)
await core.reportOutcome({
outcome_status: "completed"
})
Start here
Why not just let the agent call the tool?
Because a tool call can become direct impact. An adapter keeps the useful part — the agent can prepare work — while the Core decides whether that work may reach the target system.
What your adapter needs to provide
Your adapter exposes the state the Core should check, describes the local boundary, claims admitted work, and reports what happened.
Architecture split
What stays with the Core, what stays with you
The Core owns the decision. Your adapter owns the target-system details: state, policy shape, materialization, and outcomes.
Start with one small boundary
The first useful adapter does not need to cover the whole system. Pick one action, one state view, one policy boundary, and one outcome path.
Target systems
Databases
Let agents propose changes or maintenance actions without giving them direct database write authority.
Internal APIs
Gate requests before they become real calls against sensitive services.
Workflows
Let agents prepare workflow steps while the boundary decides what can move forward.
Local tools
Connect scripts, file operations, or local automation without turning them into unrestricted agent tools.
Next steps
What you do not need
You do not need to: The host and Core stay inside the bundle. Your code stays outside the bundle and owns only target-specific behavior.
- import Core packages
- import Adapter Host packages
- reimplement decision validation
- invent WorkOrders
- invent leases
- build a browser-facing ingress API
Three example shapes
ImpactRoom is a useful reference shape because it is concrete and easy to picture. It is not part of this shipped bundle. The bundle includes the generic minimal fixture, not a room-specific adapter.
The fastest path to your first adapter
That is enough to prove you can build your own adapter.
- Pick one narrow target and one narrow operation.
- Implement POST /state for that target.
- Implement POST /policy with one admitted path and one blocked path.
- Start a worker that claims only for your target_adapter.
- Submit one intent and watch the full flow complete.
What these pages do
This section is not only orientation. It is the build-your-own path:
- Why build your own adapter
- What you implement
- Host, Core, and adapter split
- A good first adapter
- Where to go next
What these pages do not replace
Once you need exact field names and wire shapes, move into the main docs:
- 03 - API Reference
- 06 - External Adapter Protocol
- 07 - Build Your Own Adapter
- 08 - Minimal Target Adapter
- 01 - StateProvider
- 02 - PolicyBoundary
- 03 - WorkOrders, Claims, and Outcomes
The main framing
The point of "build your own adapter" is not to fork the system. It is to keep your target-specific logic in your own code while still requiring the explicit path: That is why this bundle is useful even without public Core source. The adapter contract is HTTP. Your implementation can be Go, TypeScript, Python, Rust, or anything else that can speak the protocol.