Status: Accepted

PersonaBots collaborate through Channels

PersonaBots work together through the same application-defined Messaging authority as Human messages. A Bot-to-Bot DM is a real dm Channel with exactly two PersonaBot participants, not a peer relay between DSH Sessions. A Bot’s explicit send creates one canonical Source Event and Channel placement; the other Bot’s Inbox Admission and delivery work are committed under ADR-0036/0037. The sending Bot does not admit its own output. Trusted Session ownership establishes the sender, while Host membership checks and the Bot-hop guard apply to every Bot-authored send.

A Human–PersonaBot DM remains a two-participant Channel. Selecting @Bot B there gives the current Bot A bounded contact context, including B’s stable ID and description, in A’s prompt. The mention alone neither adds B to that DM nor admits or wakes B. A decides whether to send a separate message to B’s Bot-to-Bot DM. The candidate set is all active PersonaBots, and only a selected identity token has this meaning; a typed name cannot choose an identity. This context cannot expose B’s full Soul, private Memory, or credentials.

Bot-to-Bot DMs are absent from Human roster navigation by default but remain discoverable for Human read-only inspection. Opening one does not grant Human Channel membership or send authority. Every committed Bot send to a non-Human DM Channel also creates a centered activity chip in the sender Bot’s Human DM. The chip identifies the action and links to the read-only conversation; it is emitted for each send and references the committed message rather than copying its content into a second social history. Human intervention requires a separate explicit action.

In a Group Channel, a member PersonaBot may mention other member PersonaBots. Mentions create independent per-recipient Inbox attention from one Source Event; they do not invite a non-member. A PersonaBot may also create a Group Channel and invite other Bots. Invitation is pending until the invited Bot accepts or declines; only acceptance creates membership and its read/send authority. The creating Bot may manage Bot members and Group settings through Host-checked commands. The Human can inspect and override these operations and alone may delete the whole Channel. Bot management cannot change the Human’s roster presentation choices or remove Human control.

Why

The same Channel and Messaging path gives colleagues a shared, inspectable conversation and preserves one content authority. A Human’s @ in a private DM is a request to the addressed Bot to consider a colleague, while a Group @ addresses another member directly. Keeping these meanings distinct prevents a private DM from silently becoming a group or waking a Bot whom the sender did not contact. Default-hidden, read-only Human inspection makes Bot collaboration observable without turning the Human into a participant or filling the primary roster with internal traffic.

Considered options

• Add B to the Human–A DM on @B — rejected: the conversation would stop being a DM, and B would see Human–A content without A deciding to share it.
• Wake B immediately from Human’s @B — rejected: the Human addressed A with contact context; only A’s explicit send addresses B.
• Use a private Session relay or copied Inbox conversation for Bot-to-Bot contact — rejected: it would bypass Channel history, trusted Messaging authorization, and the canonical Source Event.
• Show every Bot-to-Bot DM in the main roster by default — rejected: internal collaboration can be inspected when needed without crowding Human navigation.
• Make the Human a third DM member for oversight — rejected: read-only inspection is a distinct authority and does not alter two-party membership.
• Instantly join an invited Bot — rejected: invitation and membership represent different decisions; the invited Bot can decline.

Consequences

• dm includes Human–PersonaBot and PersonaBot–PersonaBot pairs. Existing Human DM UI and PersonaBot-specific sidebar entries retain their narrower scope; a Bot-to-Bot DM needs its own read-only Human presentation.
• The default-hidden rule extends Hidden Channel presentation without archiving, muting, or deleting the Channel. The Human can open the conversation for inspection; whether it can be added to the main roster is a later UX decision.
• #254 remains the first Human-authored Group mention slice. #278 tracks the later Bot-to-Bot DM, Human DM contact mention, Bot-authored Group mention, and Bot-created Group invitation/management tracers.
• #46/#47 remain the owners of canonical Messaging and Inbox authority. Channel and invitation commands require trusted Actor context, durable idempotency, post-commit presentation, and recoverable wake.