/agent-protocol

name: "agent-protocol"
description: "Inter-agent communication protocol for C-suite agent teams. Defines invocation syntax, loop prevention, isolation rules, and response formats. Use when C-suite agents need to query each other, coordinate cross-functional analysis, or run board meetings with multiple agent roles."
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
  author: Alireza Rezvani
  category: c-level
  domain: agent-orchestration
  updated: 2026-03-05
  frameworks: invocation-patterns

Inter-Agent Protocol

How C-suite agents talk to each other. Rules that prevent chaos, loops, and circular reasoning.

Keywords

agent protocol, inter-agent communication, agent invocation, agent orchestration, multi-agent, c-suite coordination, agent chain, loop prevention, agent isolation, board meeting protocol

Invocation Syntax

Any agent can query another using:

[INVOKE:role|question]

**Examples:**

[INVOKE:cfo|What's the burn rate impact of hiring 5 engineers in Q3?]
[INVOKE:cto|Can we realistically ship this feature by end of quarter?]
[INVOKE:chro|What's our typical time-to-hire for senior engineers?]
[INVOKE:cro|What does our pipeline look like for the next 90 days?]

**Valid roles:** `ceo`, `cfo`, `cro`, `cmo`, `cpo`, `cto`, `chro`, `coo`, `ciso`, `gc`, `cdo`, `caio`, `cco`, `vpe`

| Role token | Advisor skill | |---|---| | `gc` | general-counsel-advisor (legal, contracts, term sheets) | | `cdo` | chief-data-officer-advisor (data strategy, training-data rights) | | `caio` | chief-ai-officer-advisor (AI strategy, evals, AI risk) | | `cco` | chief-customer-officer-advisor (retention, customer success) | | `vpe` | vpe-advisor (engineering delivery, DORA, eng hiring) |

Response Format

Invoked agents respond using this structure:

[RESPONSE:role]
Key finding: [one line — the actual answer]
Supporting data:
  - [data point 1]
  - [data point 2]
  - [data point 3 — optional]
Confidence: [high | medium | low]
Caveat: [one line — what could make this wrong]
[/RESPONSE]

**Example:**

[RESPONSE:cfo]
Key finding: Hiring 5 engineers in Q3 extends runway from 14 to 9 months at current burn.
Supporting data:
  - Current monthly burn: $280K → increases to ~$380K (+$100K fully loaded)
  - ARR needed to offset: ~$1.2M additional within 12 months
  - Current pipeline covers 60% of that target
Confidence: medium
Caveat: Assumes 3-month ramp and no change in revenue trajectory.
[/RESPONSE]

Loop Prevention (Hard Rules)

These rules are enforced unconditionally. No exceptions.

Rule 1: No Self-Invocation

An agent cannot invoke itself.

❌ CFO → [INVOKE:cfo|...] — BLOCKED

Rule 2: Maximum Depth = 2

Chains can go A→B→C. The third hop is blocked.

✅ CRO → CFO → COO (depth 2)
❌ CRO → CFO → COO → CHRO (depth 3 — BLOCKED)

Rule 3: No Circular Calls

If agent A called agent B, agent B cannot call agent A in the same chain.

✅ CRO → CFO → CMO
❌ CRO → CFO → CRO (circular — BLOCKED)

Rule 4: Chain Tracking

Each invocation carries its call chain. Format:

[CHAIN: cro → cfo → coo]

Agents check this chain before responding with another invocation.

**When blocked:** Return this instead of invoking:

[BLOCKED: cannot invoke cfo — circular call detected in chain cro→cfo]
State assumption used instead: [explicit assumption the agent is making]

Isolation Rules

Board Meeting Phase 2 (Independent Analysis)

**NO invocations allowed.** Each role forms independent views before cross-pollination.

• Reason: prevent anchoring and groupthink
• Duration: entire Phase 2 analysis period
• If an agent needs data from another role: state explicit assumption, flag it with `[ASSUMPTION: ...]`

Board Meeting Phase 3 (Critic Role)

Executive Mentor can **reference** other roles' outputs but **cannot invoke** them.

• Reason: critique must be independent of new data requests
• Allowed: "The CFO's projection assumes X, which contradicts the CRO's pipeline data"
• Not allowed: `[INVOKE:cfo|...]` during critique phase

Outside Board Meetings

Invocations are allowed freely, subject to loop prevention rules above.

When to Invoke vs When to Assume

**Invoke when:**

• The question requires domain-specific data you don't have
• An error here would materially change the recommendation
• The question is cross-functional by nature (e.g., hiring impact on both budget and capacity)

**Assume when:**

• The data is directionally clear and precision isn't critical
• You're in Phase 2 isolation (always assume, never invoke)
• The chain is already at depth 2
• The question is minor compared to your main analysis

**When assuming, always state it:**

[ASSUMPTION: runway ~12 months based on typical Series A burn profile — not verified with CFO]

Conflict Resolution

When two invoked agents give conflicting answers:

1. **Flag the conflict explicitly:**

   [CONFLICT: CFO projects 14-month runway; CRO expects pipeline to close 80% → implies 18+ months]

2. **State the resolution approach:**

• Conservative: use the worse case
• Probabilistic: weight by confidence scores
• Escalate: flag for human decision

3. **Never silently pick one** — surface the conflict to the user.

Broadcast Pattern (Crisis / CEO)

CEO can broadcast to all roles simultaneously:

[BROADCAST:all|What's the impact if we miss the fundraise?]

Responses come back independently (no agent sees another's response before forming its own). Aggregate after all respond.

Decision Memory (Canonical Layout)

All C-suite skills and `/cs:*` commands read and write decisions in **one** place — the two-layer model owned by `/cs:decide` and the decision-logger skill:

~/.claude/decisions/
├── raw/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md        # Layer 1 — full transcripts/deliberations (never auto-loaded)
├── raw/archive/YYYY/               # Raw files after 90 days
├── approved/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md   # Layer 2 — one founder-approved decision record per file
└── approve