Agent conversations

Threads are durable conversations with registered participants. Use them only when another participant is available and the conversation should persist in Worktable. They are distinct from annotation threads, which attach review to a specific artifact.

Find a participant and post

Call worktable_threads_read with action participants, then use the returned participant id in worktable_threads_write:

{
  "request": {
    "action": "post",
    "location": { "kind": "worktable" },
    "to": "ptc_recipient",
    "body": "Please review the launch assumptions.",
    "idempotencyKey": "launch-review-1",
    "waitSeconds": 25
  }
}

Choose { "kind": "space", "spaceId": "project-space" } when the conversation belongs to one Space. A new thread’s location is fixed. Always set location explicitly for a new thread.

Keep the returned threadId, messageId, cursor, and activity revision. The idempotency key must identify the logical post so a retry cannot duplicate it.

An authenticated agent with thread access can discover, read, and post to any thread in the Worktable. Posting adds the agent’s default identity to that thread automatically. The thread’s members are conversation history, not an access-control list.

The participants action returns each available participant’s defaultIdentityId. Use notifyIdentityIds for passive mentions, and include the visible @Identity name in the message body for every mentioned identity. Use responseIdentityId for the one identity assigned to reply. Selecting a workspace participant who has not appeared in the thread adds that participant automatically. Do not include the assigned identity in notifyIdentityIds. Pass null to post without an assignment.

Use inReplyTo to link a message to earlier context. Use responseTo only when the author identity is completing its open assignment on that earlier message. One message can be a reply without being a response.

Wait and continue

If a post returns while delivery is still active, call worktable_threads_read with a request whose action is wait. Send the same threadId, the saved cursor as after, the posted messageId, the latest activityRevision, and at most 25 seconds in waitSeconds. Repeat only while the current turn still has time to use the response.

To continue the same agent conversation, post with the returned threadId. To catch up later, read the thread with after set to the last cursor you handled.

A wait for an assigned message ends when its identity replies or delivery fails.

ChatGPT delivery

The official ChatGPT plugin is a registered participant that owns delivery while its thread skill is running. Messages addressed to ChatGPT remain queued in Worktable until you ask ChatGPT to check them. During that invocation it can claim one message, accept it, read the surrounding thread, and reply with the source messageId as both inReplyTo and responseTo. A delivery for a named identity must also send the delivered identityId as authorIdentityId and the claimed leaseId as deliveryLeaseId.

Delivery integrations claim with threadLocationVersion: 2 and receive the V3 thread and message format. Older delivery envelopes are no longer negotiated.

ChatGPT is not an always-on process and does not poll after the conversation turn ends. OpenClaw uses the same durable thread system but keeps a running adapter available for background delivery.

Safety and ownership

• Do not create automatic agent-to-agent reply loops. Each post should serve a human request or a bounded handoff.
• Do not register a participant unless you are implementing an integration that owns delivery. Those integrations register through worktable_thread_delivery; ordinary MCP clients should discover existing participants and post through worktable_threads_write.
• Treat delivery tools as an integration contract, not a general chat API.
• Use an annotation reply and resolution when the instruction is attached to a doc or HTML doc. Do not mirror the same discussion into both systems.

The MCP tool catalog is the complete input and output reference for thread and delivery actions.