Agent Task Standard

Purpose and applicability

“Fix the metadata” leaves no clear finish line or usable handoff. ATS records authorized work, starting inputs, actions and completion evidence so another maintainer can resume safely.

Substantial agent tasks, work spanning files or standards, and tasks that may need to be blocked or handed off.

How it works

Capture the goal, authoritative inputs, governing standards and success criteria before acting. Record inspected/changed files, decisions, checks and gaps. Keep one current state: planned, active, validating, handoff, blocked, complete or superseded.

Outputs are a task record and, when work remains, a handoff naming the blocker, owner and next safe action. Complete requires validation or an explicit validation gap.

In practice

Compare an ambiguous request with a scoped task. The handoff deliberately stops short of claiming a production evaluation because the metric definition is missing.

Vague: Fix evaluation records.
Bounded: Draft one AAS run record from the approved fixture; do not rename production metrics.
Inputs: source record, metric definitions, governing AAS/DDS notes.
Output: one draft run record and a validation summary.
State: blocked
Completed: record shape drafted with placeholder output references.
Blocker: production metric definitions are not final.
Next safe action: select a real workflow and supply actual inputs, commands and metric definitions.
Completion evidence: not yet recorded.

Adopt one part

Start with a bounded surface or record. Complete the relevant adopter checks before extending the claim.

1. Record one goal, its authorized scope and read-first inputs.
2. Name output files and a check that decides completion; record actions and decisions as work proceeds.
3. If blocked, name the missing decision and next safe action; preserve validation gaps in the handoff.

Sources and limits

ATS does not grant extra authority, define analytical metrics or replace a release process. This sample is a handoff pattern, not a transcript or completion record.

These are reviewed public explanations, not the normative specifications. Suite references are relative to the canonical collection; site/ references identify committed website sources and webserver/ references identify serving configuration. Illustrative examples demonstrate record shape; they do not establish compliance. Suite checks and adopter validation are separate.

• ATS/ATS.manifest.toml
• ATS/Adoption-Guide.md
• ATS/Validation-Checklist.md
• ATS/Agent Task Standard.md
• ATS/templates/Agent-Task-Record.md
• ATS/examples/Blocked-Handoff-Note.md