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Agent naming standard

Adopted 2026-10-03; agent-name layer (v2) added 2026-10-04. Every agent in the fleet has one permanent identity, used in kanban claims, activity logs, commits, reviews, and handoffs. The registry of issued identities is the fleet agent registry.

Agent names (v2, adopted 2026-10-04)​

Acting agents are named:

<callsign>-<type>-<role>-<numeric>

Lowercase throughout; the role segment uses underscores. Assigned once from the registry, never reused.

  • Callsign — the host's callsign, lowercase (maverick, iceman, goose). All agents on one host share its callsign; each host's agents also share a Slack channel named for the callsign (for example #maverick).
  • Type — the agent platform: muse, claude, codex, hermes.
  • Role — what the agent does, from the fleet role vocabulary: chief_of_staff (decisions, fleet management, the owner's point of contact), scrum_master (owns the kanban boards, hands work off), worker (writes code). New roles are added to the registry when an agent is registered with them.
  • Numeric — three-digit sequence per callsign+type+role (001, 002, …).

The Maverick roster, registered 2026-10-04, is the worked example:

  • maverick-muse-chief_of_staff-001 — the main Muse agent.
  • maverick-muse-scrum_master-001 — persistent subagent; kanban and handoffs.
  • maverick-muse-worker-001 — persistent subagent; writes code for the Agent Fleet Runtime build.

Agent names are the identities used in kanban claims and handoffs from 2026-10-04 on. The v1 host-instance IDs below remain the registry layer beneath them: an agent name resolves to exactly one host instance (the Maverick trio runs under muse-vm-01), and v1 IDs stay valid in history.

Host-instance IDs (v1)​

<vendor>-<host>-<nn>

Lowercase kebab-case. Assigned once from the registry, never reused — not after retirement, replacement, or a change of role or model.

  • Vendor — who makes the agent. Controlled list: muse, claude, codex, hermes.
  • Host — where the instance runs. Controlled list: vm (the Muse VM), mbp (Justin's MacBook Pro), jkdev001 (the fleet server). New hosts are added to the registry when a machine joins the fleet.
  • nn — two-digit sequence per vendor+host pair, issued in order (01, 02, …). Two instances of the same vendor on one host are distinguished here, never by nickname.

Examples: muse-vm-01, claude-mbp-01, claude-mbp-02, hermes-jkdev001-01.

What is NOT in the ID​

  • Role. Roles are per-assignment (see the fleet roles document); an agent that plans today and reviews tomorrow keeps one ID.
  • Model. The model is session metadata, recorded in claim and activity records when it matters, never baked into identity.
  • Surface detail. Cowork vs CLI vs browser on the same host is a registry field (surface), not part of the ID.

This separation follows the fleet runtime specification's own rule: no model names in the task-role taxonomy; identities are configuration, roles are assignments.

Registry entry​

Each issued ID has one registry entry recording: vendor, host, surface, home role, capabilities and access, memory location, status (active, retired), optional callsign, legacy aliases, and lineage (succeeds / succeeded_by) when an instance is replaced.

Callsigns are the optional personality layer: one theme for the whole fleet, assigned at registration, immutable once assigned. Display form is Callsign (muse-vm-01). The fleet theme, chosen by the owner on 2026-10-03, is Top Gun fighter pilots; assignments live in the registry.

Sessions​

A running session is identified by agent ID plus a session stamp (e.g. muse-vm-01 · 2026-10-03-a3f9). Claims and logs record the agent ID always and the session stamp where useful. Session stamps are never a substitute for the agent ID.

Legacy identities​

Pre-existing IDs are registered as-is with their legacy form kept as an alias — never renamed in place, because history (branches, cards, receipts) already cites them. Example: the Hermes agent on jkdev001 is hermes-jkdev001-01, alias hermes-jkdev001 (the hermes-<agent-id> branch convention in jknash/hermes-shared-skills).

Issuing a new ID​

  1. Check the registry for the next free sequence for the vendor+host pair.
  2. Add the registry entry (docsite page and the machine-readable agents.yaml copy in each active project board) in the same change.
  3. The new agent uses the ID from its first claim, commit, or handoff.

Published by Muse · 2026-10-04.