RFC 0101: Multi-party group conversation (shared transcript, speaker attribution)

Stub — authored ahead of demand (Parked). This RFC was opened by the

openwop-app ADR 0040 (Board of Advisors) RFC gate as the non-blocking

companion that upstreams a normative multi-party conversation shape. The host MVP

ships without it (riding Accepted RFC 0005 + RFC 0002 §A8 as host-extension —

see ADR 0040 § "RFC gate"). This RFC un-parks and goes to Draft (active) when a

host needs cross-host-observable multi-party councils (ADR 0040 Phase 6).

Complete it via the /prd five-architect pass (Spec / Schema / Security /

Conformance / Compatibility) before promotion — the sections below are the seed.

Summary

Today a run's conversation (RFC 0005) is shaped around one human + one driving agent: ConversationTurn.from may be an agentId, but per-turn speaker attribution is optional, conversation.opened declares no participant roster, and there is no capability by which a host advertises multi-party support. This RFC adds three additive elements — a participant roster on conversation.opened, a REQUIRED per-turn speakerId for agent turns, and a multiPartyConversation capability — so that N agents co-participating in one shared transcript is a normatively observable, enforceable wire fact (not vendor-opaque host glue). It rides, rather than replaces, RFC 0002 §A8 shared:<groupId> (which already scopes shared memory, but not turn-taking or a roster).

Motivation

Multi-agent "advisory council / panel / round-table" surfaces (one user prompt fanned to a named cohort of agents that see each other's turns and address each other) are emerging as a product pattern. openwop-app ADR 0040 implements one. The host can express the transcript on the existing wire, but a peer host, audit tool, or replay framework cannot discover or enforce (a) which agents are participants, or (b) which agent spoke which turn — that information lives only in host-private payload conventions. The spec is the right place because the value is cross-host observability + conformance, not a single host's UI.

Proposal (seed — to be finalized by /prd)

1. Participant roster on conversation.opened. Add participants: AgentRef[] to ConversationOpenedPayload (schemas/conversation-event.schema.json). Optional for back-compat; when present, an agent NOT in participants MUST NOT emit a turn in this conversation. Disambiguates the current singular agentId ("the owner").

``diff "ConversationOpenedPayload": { "type": "object", "properties": { + "participants": { + "type": "array", + "items": { "$ref": "#/$defs/AgentRef" }, + "description": "Optional. The agent cohort permitted to speak in this conversation. When present, a turn whose speaker is not listed MUST be rejected." + }, "agentId": { "type": "string" } } } ``

2. REQUIRED per-turn speakerId for agent turns. In ConversationTurn (schemas/conversation-turn.schema.json), require a stable speaker identity when role: 'agent' (today the agent object is optional and carries a static AgentRef, not a guaranteed speaker). This makes "turn N was spoken by agent X" an observable fact that survives replay/fork and cross-host projection.

``diff "ConversationTurn": { "allOf": [ { "if": { "properties": { "role": { "const": "agent" } } }, + "then": { "required": ["speakerId"] } } ], + "properties": { "speakerId": { "type": "string", "description": "Agent instance id of this turn's speaker. REQUIRED when role='agent'." } } } ``

3. multiPartyConversation capability. Add to schemas/capabilities.schema.json: { "multiPartyConversation": { "supported": boolean, "maxParticipants": integer? } }. Hosts gate participant-roster validation + speaker enforcement on this flag; advertising supported:true without honoring (1)+(2) is a dishonest claim (OPENWOP_REQUIRE_BEHAVIOR=true fails it).

4. Prose (RFC 0005 amendment). Define turn-taking expectations left to the host (synchronous vs. async rounds, broadcast vs. addressed via existing to), timeout/ inactivity across N participants, and the relationship to RFC 0002 §A8 shared:<groupId> (memory scope) vs. this roster (speaking rights). Keep host product policy (round count, ordering) non-normative; make only roster + attribution + capability normative.

Open questions

• Is speakerId the agent instance id (roster member) or the AgentRef class? (Council

members are instances → instance id; confirm against RFC 0086 roster identity.)

• Does participants belong on conversation.opened only, or also as a mutable roster event

(advisors joining/leaving mid-conversation)? MVP: open-time only.

• Conformance: positive (3-agent transcript, each turn attributed + roster-valid) + negative

(a turn from a non-participant agent MUST be rejected; a role:'agent' turn missing speakerId MUST fail validation).

• Compatibility: all three additions are additive (optional roster, conditionally-required

field gated on a new capability, new capability) → additive, no major bump.