From delivery to agent outcome
Understand the optional work protocol and where AgentOwl ends and your runtime begins.
A delivered message is the start of agent work. An HTTP acknowledgement says your receiver accepted it; it does not say the agent finished. AgentOwl's optional work protocol lets a runtime report acceptance, progress, questions, and outcomes separately from delivery.
Agent work is opt-in for participating runtime endpoints. The recorded hosted release supports work reporting, human input, conversations, private email attachments, and in-app outcomes. Enable your endpoint and provision runtime credentials before expecting handoffs. Self-hosted deployments also require database migrations, private storage, queues, and scheduled maintenance. The baseline durable receiver works without this protocol.
A procurement example
The same email can move through these independent records:
| Record | Example | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | Your receiver returns 204 after saving the request | Your app accepted the message |
| Runtime callback | accepted | The runtime reports it accepted work |
| Human input | needs_input: approve a concrete proposed action | The runtime is waiting for a decision |
| Decision receipt | The runtime accepts that decision ID and revision | The decision reached the runtime |
| Outcome callback | completed with a result summary | The runtime reports an outcome |
A completed callback does not independently prove a purchase, email, or other external side effect occurred. Your runtime is responsible for executing tools and producing evidence.
Division of responsibility
AgentOwl handles incoming communications, event identity, transport retries, delivery records, and—where enabled—conversation correlation, retained email attachments, reported work state, and attention routing.
Your runtime handles reasoning, models, tool execution, authorization to act, duplicate external actions, and result artifacts. Sender authentication gives evidence about an email's origin; it does not give permission to execute its instructions.
Conversations and content
Email continuation uses compatible sender and thread references within a receiving binding. SMS uses a sliding 24-hour inactivity window. Voice groups call-session events. These rules do not create automatic cross-channel memory. Live voice audio uses a separate stream, not the event webhook.
Managed email attachment retention is available only with the required opt-in deployment. Provider MMS and voice media remain external links. See the protocol reference for access and expiry behavior.
Start with Connect an agent runtime, then use the protocol reference for schemas and limits.
Event format
The JSON event AgentOwl delivers for email, text messages, and calls, the HTTP headers that come with it, and how retries, duplicates, and replay work.
Agent work protocol reference
Connect inbound events to agent acceptance, human input, conversation sessions, retained attachments, and in-app notifications.