Open source · Go CLI

AnvilHotline

When agents need a human

Agents hoist one narrow question to an authorized human on Discord, wait for the reply — typed or an emoji — and proceed only on that answer.

The night line — four acts

ASKROUTEWAITSEAL

ACT 1 / 4

One narrow question

one sentenceAgents ask exactly what they need — with run context, never a conversation.01

allowed verbsproceed · abort · retry — the verbs you define, nothing loose.02

forbidden scopeNo browsing, no guessing, no unsafe defaults when evidence isn't enough.03

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ACT 2 / 4

allowlistANVIL_HOTLINE_ALLOWED_USER_IDS — only authorized Discord users may answer.01

private roomANVIL_HOTLINE_ALLOW_ANY_USER=true — any member, private channels only.02

scope tokensThe question carries context: run id, target, and what the agent already knows.03

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ACT 3 / 4

queuedThe question is posted to the channel. The line is open.01

ringingAn authorized human is online. The handset glows.02

typingA reply is forming — typed, or a signal flag on the message.03

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ACT 4 / 4

canonicalStdout carries only the mapped reply — yes, no, retry. Nothing else.01

auditEvery ask, responder, and answer is logged. The loop stays observable.02

non-zeroTimeout means exit non-zero. The agent never defaults.03

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Policy appendix — engineering spec

retentionAsk/answer pairs are log lines — append-only, no secrets in stdout, no tokens in messages.

who can be pagedThe allowlist is the only roster. Private channels may permit any non-bot member.

timeout SLAANVIL_HOTLINE_TIMEOUT=30m default. On timeout the run fails closed, loudly.

transportDiscord is the first transport. The ask-and-wait contract is transport-agnostic.

Open source · Apache-2.0

One bot token, one channel, an allowlist. Your agents get a safe line to the people who matter.