Negotiation Protocol

比较查询和跨领域问题的处理协议

When to Enable Negotiation

For complex queries requiring structured agent responses, enable negotiation mode.

Query Pattern	Enable Negotiation	Reason
Single error code lookup	No	Direct answer
Single crate version	No	Direct lookup
"Compare X and Y"	Yes	Multi-faceted
Domain + error	Yes	Cross-layer context
"Best practices for..."	Yes	Requires synthesis
Ambiguous scope	Yes	Needs clarification
Multi-crate question	Yes	Multiple sources

Negotiation Decision Flow

Query Received
     │
     ▼
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ Is query single-lookup?     │
│ (version, error code, def)  │
└─────────────────────────────┘
     │
     ├── Yes → Direct dispatch (no negotiation)
     │
     ▼ No
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ Does query require:         │
│ - Comparison?               │
│ - Cross-domain context?     │
│ - Synthesis/aggregation?    │
│ - Multiple sources?         │
└─────────────────────────────┘
     │
     ├── Yes → Dispatch with negotiation: true
     │
     ▼ No
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ Is scope ambiguous?         │
└─────────────────────────────┘
     │
     ├── Yes → Dispatch with negotiation: true
     │
     ▼ No
     └── Direct dispatch (no negotiation)

Negotiation Dispatch

When dispatching with negotiation:

1. Set `negotiation: true`
2. Include original query context
3. Expect structured response:
   - Findings
   - Confidence (HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW/UNCERTAIN)
   - Gaps identified
   - Context questions (if any)
4. Evaluate response against original intent

Orchestrator Evaluation

After receiving negotiation response:

Confidence	Intent Coverage	Action
HIGH	Complete	Synthesize answer
HIGH	Partial	May need supplementary query
MEDIUM	Complete	Accept with disclosed gaps
MEDIUM	Partial	Refine with context
LOW	Any	Refine or try alternative
UNCERTAIN	Any	Try alternative or escalate

Refinement Loop

If response insufficient:

Round 1: Initial query
  │
  ▼ (LOW confidence or gaps block intent)
Round 2: Refined query with:
  - Answers to agent's context questions
  - Narrowed scope
  │
  ▼ (still insufficient)
Round 3: Final attempt with:
  - Alternative agent/source
  - Maximum context provided
  │
  ▼ (still insufficient)
Synthesize best-effort answer with disclosed gaps

Integration with 3-Strike Rule

Negotiation follows the 3-Strike escalation:

Strike 1: Initial query returns LOW confidence
  → Refine with more context

Strike 2: Refined query still LOW
  → Try alternative agent/source

Strike 3: Still insufficient
  → Synthesize best-effort answer
  → Report gaps to user explicitly

See _meta/error-protocol.md for full escalation rules.

Negotiation Routing Examples

Example 1: No Negotiation Needed

Query: "What is tokio's latest version?"
Analysis: Single lookup
Action: Direct dispatch to crate-researcher

Example 2: Negotiation Required

Query: "Compare tokio and async-std for a web server"
Analysis: Comparative + domain context
Action: Dispatch with negotiation: true
Expected: Structured responses from both runtime lookups
Evaluation: Check if web-server specific data found

Example 3: Cross-Domain Negotiation

Query: "E0382 in my trading system"
Analysis: Error code + domain context
Action:
  - Dispatch m01-ownership (standard - error is defined)
  - Dispatch domain-fintech (negotiation: true - domain context)
Synthesis: Combine error explanation with domain-appropriate fix