Many parties

An Agent Processes run can bring several outside parties together. Their agents pass material to each other as the run moves from phase to phase. One multilateral Agent NDA can bind them all, and the runtime checks it before it hands any outside agent work.

One agreement binds every member

A multilateral agreement has 3 to 16 members. Each member is a discloser and a recipient to every other, and owes each of them the same duties.

  • Every member signs the same bytes. The agreement is in force only when all of them have signed.
  • Each member declares its own processors and jurisdictions.
  • Adding or removing a member means a new version, signed by every member of that version.
  • A member that terminates ends its own part. The agreement stays in force among the others while at least two remain.
  • A multilateral agreement has no open offer.

The process document names the agreement

A process document carries a header key, confidential-under:. It names one Agent NDA by identifier, version and digest, or names an open offer by its offer digest. A reference process leaves it as a marked blank for the adopter to fill.

confidential-under: nda_7k3pxw9c2r4tmq8d v1 sha256:<64 hex digits>

A phase can still name its own engagement with under:. The two keys do different jobs and can appear together.

The runtime checks before it hands over work

Every agent that holds a phase or receives a handoff, and belongs to an owner other than the process owner, must belong to an owner bound by the named agreement. A runtime that implements the key checks this before it starts such a phase or delivers such a handoff. When the check fails, it refuses and names the reason. A runtime that does not run the check must say so.

A party is bound in one of three ways

  1. It signed. Its owner's key signed a seat of the named agreement, which is in force.
  2. It accepted. The named reference is an open offer, and the party holds a valid acceptance of it.
  3. It is bound by flow-down. It is a subcontractor under a flow-down agreement that passes the strictness test, from a party that is bound itself. The check repeats hop by hop.

Where a seat names an organization, the signer's mandate must also check out.

The check is enforced, and what follows is recorded

enforced

The runtime refuses first.

The refusal happens before the outside agent holds anything, so it is enforced at that runtime.

recorded

The handling afterwards is a promise.

What each party does with the material once it arrives stays a recorded promise under the agreement.

Pick the agreement that fits the run

Use a multilateral agreement when outside parties pass their own material to each other. When every handoff carries only the process owner's material, an open offer from the process owner is enough.

Multilateral agreements are in section 5.1 of the specification, and whether a party is bound is in section 8.1.

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