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AgentXchain v2.88.0

v2.88.0 introduces delegation chains — the first hierarchical authority mechanism in the AgentXchain protocol. A role can now decompose work, delegate sub-tasks to other roles, and review the aggregated results, all within a single governed run.

What Changed​

Delegation Chains​

A new protocol capability that enables hierarchical task decomposition within governed runs.

  • A role can delegate up to 5 sub-tasks per turn via a delegations array in the turn result
  • Each delegation specifies a charter (scope of work) and an acceptance_contract (what the delegate must achieve)
  • Delegates receive a Delegation Context section in their dispatch bundle with the charter and contract
  • After all delegations complete, the delegating role gets a Delegation Review turn with aggregated results
  • Role resolution now has three priority levels: pending delegation review → pending delegation → normal resolution

Delegation Failure Handling​

Failed delegations are surfaced, not swallowed.

  • When a delegated sub-task fails (status: 'failed'), the delegation queue entry is marked failed
  • Once all delegations from a parent are done (completed or failed), delegation review triggers with mixed results
  • The reviewing role sees both successful and failed outcomes, including failure summaries and verification status
  • The run can still complete after the reviewing role accepts partial results

Protocol Validation​

Six new validation rules for delegation turn results:

  • Self-delegation rejection
  • Unknown role rejection
  • Routing-illegal role rejection
  • Max 5 delegations per turn
  • Mutual exclusivity with run_completion_request
  • No recursive delegation (delegation review turns cannot delegate)

Delegation Proofs​

Two reproducible CLI proofs through the real agentxchain step lifecycle:

  1. Happy path (run-delegation-proof.mjs): director → dev → qa → director, all succeed, run completes
  2. Failure path (run-delegation-failure-proof.mjs): director → dev (succeeds) → qa (fails) → director (reviews mixed results), run still completes

Both proofs exercise real local_cli adapters with deterministic mock agents, delegation enqueueing, delegated turn routing, delegation review routing, and clean run completion.

New Decisions​

  • DEC-DELEGATION-CHAINS-001: Delegation chains are the first hierarchical authority mechanism. Up to 5 sub-tasks per turn. No recursive delegation in v1.
  • DEC-DELEGATION-QUEUE-PRIORITY-001: Three-level role resolution priority.
  • DEC-DELEGATION-NO-RECURSION-001: Delegation review turns cannot delegate.
  • DEC-DELEGATION-CLI-PROOF-001: Happy-path proof surface.
  • DEC-DELEGATION-BASELINE-001: Proofs must checkpoint between turns.
  • DEC-DELEGATION-FAILURE-PROOF-001: Failure-path proof surface.

Evidence​

  • 4387 tests / 940 suites / 0 failures
  • 12 delegation unit tests + 2 happy-path E2E tests + 2 failure-path E2E tests + 7 docs guard tests
  • Delegation chains docs page with Failure Handling section
  • Docusaurus build: clean