Per spec/agent-watcher.md §4. TypeScript/Node implementation living in
mcp-watcher/ subdirectory, parallel to Layer 1 Collector at repo root.
What lands:
- Core MCP server (src/server.ts) with experimental['claude/channel']:{}
+ tools:{} capability declarations, stdio transport, channel-event
notifier wired through the inbox watcher.
- Identity resolution mirroring agent-ping's layered model
(PING_AGENT_IDENTITY env, $CLAUDE_HOME/ping-agent, ~/.ping-agent).
- Inbox reader with HWM tracking, sentinel deferral (warn-after-3),
atomic HWM writes via tmp+rename.
- chokidar-backed file watcher with coalesced drain, urgent-first
ordering, recentEvents map for tool sender lookup.
- Three reply tools (ack / respond / mark_handled) with cross-host
write discipline (writes to local inbox files; Syncthing replicates).
- Sentinel file (.<agent>.watcher-active) for hook coexistence per
spec §4.3 — agent-ping hook stands down when the watcher is in
charge of delivery on this host. Sentinel + hwm in .stignore.
- 35 unit tests passing (vitest): inbox parsing, HWM round-trip,
sentinel deferral semantics, identity layers, tool I/O, watcher
drain + ordering + restart-from-hwm.
- install.sh (Angus-executed, rule-2 compliant) installs deps,
builds, symlinks ~/.local/bin/agent-watcher-mcp, prints mcp.json
registration snippet for paste.
- README documents launch flag, sandbox CLAUDE_HOME pattern,
hook coexistence, observability, v2 limitations.
Not yet:
- Integration test against a real Claude Code session — gated on
Angus spinning up a sandbox CC session on the VPS with
CLAUDE_HOME=~/.claude-sandbox.
- agent-ping hook update to read the sentinel and stand down.
Separate small PR against agent-ping.
Interface contract with Layer 1: the inbox JSONL line shape from
inbox.ts::PingEvent matches inbox.Event in the Collector — bit-
identical reads regardless of source.
Snapshot of official Anthropic Channels docs (channels.md, channels-reference.md,
routines summary) fetched 2026-05-06 from code.claude.com. Bob needs these to
implement the MCP Watcher in Layer 2; the channels-reference.md is the primary
implementation reference.
docs/channels/README.md cross-references the snapshot back to spec §4 and notes
the key facts confirmed: capability key, notification method, lifecycle, the
research-preview --dangerously-load-development-channels caveat, and version
minimums (v2.1.80 for channels, v2.1.81 for permission relay which we are not
using in v1).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
