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Client

A client is an operator interface that connects to the gateway and participates in sessions. Clients are where humans read events, send requests, approve actions, and manage connected nodes.

Client forms​

  • Desktop app (Windows/Linux/macOS)
  • Mobile app (iOS/Android)
  • CLI/TUI
  • Web app (SPA)

Responsibilities​

  • Establish a single WebSocket connection per client device identity (role: client).
  • Authenticate a user and bind activity to a tenant membership (see Tenancy and Gateway authN/authZ).
  • Send requests (commands, session interactions, configuration changes).
  • Subscribe to events (status updates, audit evidence, approvals, pairing requests).
  • Provide human approvals and explanations when the gateway escalates.
  • Resume or cancel paused workflow runs (via resume tokens) when approvals are resolved.
  • Initiate and manage node pairing (approve/deny, label devices, revoke access).
  • Provide onboarding and diagnostics surfaces so hardened configuration is easy to reach (see Operations and onboarding).
  • Support Admin Mode (time-bounded step-up) for tenant administration actions.

Operator UI expectations​

Operator clients provide oversight and administration. At minimum they should expose:

  • Session: a session-centric view rendered as a unified timeline that merges chat, runs/steps/attempts, approvals, and artifacts (reconstructible from durable state; live events stream updates). The UI supports lane filters and surfaces queue-mode semantics as pending input items.
  • Approvals: an approval queue (approve/deny) with previews and linked evidence.
  • Nodes/devices: pairing requests, connected capability providers, revoke controls.
  • Instances: a presence view of connected gateway/client/node instances with TTL-based pruning (see Presence).
  • Context/usage: context breakdown (/context) and usage/quota panels (/usage) for operational transparency (see Observability).
  • Settings: policy defaults, tool allowlists, model config, secrets setup, and automation toggles.
  • Onboarding/doctor: guided setup and diagnostics that detect footguns and recommend fixes (see Operations and onboarding).

What a client is not​

  • A client is not a capability provider. Capabilities live on nodes.
  • A client is not required for automation to run, but it is the primary interface for oversight.