Status: Accepted

A PersonaBot owns its Channel attention preference

The per-Channel attention preference belongs to the PersonaBot. It may read and change how a joined Channel reaches it through its own tools, including the digest parameters, and a change applies to subsequent admissions. The Human can inspect and override the same preference. Four presets express it, with digest as the default for a newly joined Channel: all (every ordinary message becomes immediate attention), digest (ordinary messages join the Wake Policy digest at the configured count and interval), mentions (ordinary messages enter this Bot’s Inbox without waking it; a direct mention may bring a bounded selection of that Channel’s pending ordinary messages into the same turn), and silent (ordinary messages enter this Bot’s Inbox but neither wake it nor ride a direct-mention turn; only an explicit Bot read surfaces them). The preset active when a message arrives is recorded on its Admission so later preference changes do not retroactively change that message’s delivery. Direct addresses — a mention or a DM — always reach the PersonaBot and are not silenceable by this preference; absolute quiet means leaving the Channel. count and interval are part of the preference: the Bot may tune how often it checks a Channel, and the Human may change the same values.

Why

Attention is what a person manages for themselves. A colleague decides which rooms to watch closely and how often to look, and may need a high check frequency for one important Channel and a silent record elsewhere; a PersonaBot should not need its Human to open settings for this (ADR-0076 puts the policy in the Bot’s hands with Human override). The four presets keep one simple surface instead of exposing Wake Policy internals: the Host still owns wake evaluation and delivery (ADR-0025, ADR-0077), and membership, subscription, and wake remain separate relationships (ADR-0036).

Considered options

• The Human owns the preference alone — rejected: every noisy Channel becomes a Human settings task, and it contradicts treating the PersonaBot as a person.
• Only three Lark-like presets (all / mentions / none) — rejected: digest is the useful middle for ordinary chatter and already exists.
• No all preset — rejected: a Bot must be able to watch a Channel promptly when that is the Channel’s point.
• A separate muted that removes attention entirely — rejected: silent already records without waking, and absolute quiet means leaving the Channel.
• Preset only, with count and interval owned by the Host — rejected: check frequency is the substance of the preference for a person; the Bot and the Human share the values.

Consequences

• The preference object carries four modes plus count and interval; the existing three values remain valid and digest becomes the default for new memberships.
• Ordinary messages admitted under mentions remain visible as pending, with a distinct wake explanation from silent. A direct mention may bring them into the same Channel’s bounded context; it does not make them independent wake triggers. silent messages require an explicit read. Previously stored mentions messages with no Admission remain Channel history, not fabricated pending Inbox events; the migration and any optional backfill must preserve that provenance.
• The Bot gets tools to read and set it (ADR-0076); the Human’s member-sidebar control becomes the override and default surface.
• The preference revision continues to participate in every ordinary admission (ADR-0025); changes apply prospectively.
• CONTEXT’s Bot Channel subscription entry is rewritten to the four presets and PersonaBot ownership.