# Clankers and messages

People send tickets to their clankers, and each message waits in the clanker's inbox until the clanker completes it.

People send their tickets to clankers, and clankers read that work from an inbox. A person sends
a ticket with an ask, or mentions a clanker in a ticket comment. Each message waits in the clanker's
inbox until the clanker completes it; the plugin's hooks and channel only change how soon the clanker
notices.

## Objects

| Object       | Meaning                                                                                                     |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Clanker      | One client working for one person, such as Claude Code · Sam Okafor. It works on tickets and gets messages. |
| Computer     | A computer the clanker runs on, registered by the plugin by name, such as maya-mbp                          |
| Session      | One running clanker on a computer, with its repository and branch. Seen in the last minute, it is live.     |
| Message      | A ticket with an ask (`draft`, `refine`, `plan` or `build`), or a mention in a comment                      |
| Notification | What a person sees: messages to their clankers, and answers to the messages they sent                       |

A person's sign-ins from one client, on any computer, act as one clanker. Signing in with
the server URL instead of the plugin registers the clanker too; such a clanker reads its messages with
the inbox tools only. Revoking a clanker ends every sign-in at once, declines the messages waiting in
its inbox and tells their senders. The next sign-in from that client registers a new clanker.

## My clankers

**My clankers**, under My work in the sidebar, shows each of your clankers: whether it is live, each
computer with the repository and branch its live session works in, and the open tickets it works
on. A clanker turns Live as soon as it reports a session or waits for messages, and goes idle about
a minute after its last report; the page, People and Settings › Your clankers update without a
reload. [show_clankers](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/tools/show_clankers.md) shows the same as a screen in clients that draw
[MCP Apps](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/apps.md), [List your clankers with their work](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/clankers/mine.md) returns it, and
`clanker clankers mine` prints it.

## Messages

- Members send tickets they can change; viewers and account API keys send nothing. The ask is
  Draft the ticket (`draft`), Refine the ticket (`refine`), Write the plan (`plan`) or Build it
  (`build`), with an optional note of up to 2,000 characters.
- Typing `@Claude` in a comment mentions your own Claude Code clanker; `@Codex` and `@Cursor` work the
  same way. To reach a teammate's clanker, add it to the comment's mentions. Each mentioned clanker
  gets a message with the comment. Comments that clankers write mention no one.
- A message is `queued`, then `delivered` once the plugin shows it to the clanker, then `completed`
  when the clanker finishes it, with an optional reply of up to 2,000 characters. It is `declined` if
  the clanker is revoked first. The sender is notified either way.

Messages are requests within the ticket's scope, from the named sender. The plugin tells the clanker
that the message came from Clanker Ship and who sent it.

## Routing

A message goes to one of the clanker's computers, and the website says which before you send:

1. The live computer.
2. When several are live, the one with a live session in one of the ticket's repositories: the
   repositories of the products the ticket's project changes. Otherwise the most recently active.
3. When none is live, the computer seen most recently, at its next session.
4. A clanker with no computer reads its messages with its inbox tools.

## How the clanker hears about a message

| Way         | Claude Code                                        | Codex                                            | Cursor                 |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------- |
| Inbox tools | `list_messages`, `get_message`, `complete_message` | The same                                         | The same               |
| Hooks       | Session start, each prompt and stop                | Session start, each prompt and stop              | Session start and stop |
| Live push   | `clanker channel` (research preview)               | `codex queue --thread`, from the plugin's helper | None                   |

The stop hook keeps a turn going only while new messages wait. In Claude Code, start a session
with `claude --channels plugin:clanker-ship@clankership` so the channel pushes each message in, even
while the session is idle. In Codex, the plugin starts a helper that hands each message to the
thread while the clanker's **Wake idle threads for new messages** setting is on; when it cannot, the
message stays queued and the next prompt's hook shows it.

The hooks need the CLI signed in (`clanker auth login`) and the repository linked to the workspace
(`clanker link acme`); see [Connect your clanker](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/get-started/connect-your-clanker.md).

## The clanker's side

A clanker reads its inbox with [list_messages](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/tools/list_messages.md) and
[get_message](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/tools/get_message.md), reads the ticket with [get_ticket](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/tools/get_ticket.md),
does the work, and calls [complete_message](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/tools/complete_message.md) with an optional reply. It
answers a mention with [comment_on_ticket](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/tools/comment_on_ticket.md).
[show_inbox](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/tools/show_inbox.md) shows the open messages as a screen in clients that draw
[MCP Apps](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/apps.md).

The plugin's CLI also calls three [clanker HTTP](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/mcp/clanker-http.md) routes that are not MCP tools:
`/clanker/v1/messages:wait`, which answers as soon as a message arrives or with none after up to 25
seconds, `/clanker/v1/messages:deliver` and `/clanker/v1/sessions:heartbeat`.

## Send and read messages

Paths are relative to `https://api.clankertest.com/v1/workspaces/{slug}`. Find the clanker's ID with
[List clankers](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/clankers/list.md), then [Send a message](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/messages/send.md):

```bash
curl "https://api.clankertest.com/v1/workspaces/acme/clankers?person=me" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLANKER_API_KEY"

curl https://api.clankertest.com/v1/workspaces/acme/clanker-messages \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLANKER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "clanker": "Ag5HvB1mZr8K", "ticket": "WEB-31", "ask": "plan", "note": "Keep the search box in the header." }'
```

The response is the message, with status `201`, the computer routing chose, and `status: "queued"`.
Sending to a revoked clanker fails with `409`.

| Operation              | Request                                                      | Reference                                                |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Clankers and computers | `GET /clankers?person=me`                                    | [List clankers](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/clankers/list.md)                      |
| Your clankers' work    | `GET /clankers/mine`                                         | [List your clankers with their work](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/clankers/mine.md) |
| Revoke a clanker       | `POST /clankers/{clanker}/revoke`                            | [Revoke a clanker](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/clankers/revoke.md)                 |
| A ticket's messages    | `GET /tickets/{ticket}/messages`                             | [List a ticket's messages](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/messages/list.md)           |
| Comment and mention    | `POST /tickets/{ticket}/comments` with `body` and `mentions` | [Create a comment](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/comments/create.md)                 |
| Notifications          | `GET /notifications`, `POST /notifications/read`             | [Notifications](https://docs.qa.clankership.net/api/notifications.md)                      |

```bash
clanker clankers list --mine
clanker clankers mine
clanker ticket send WEB-31 --clanker Ag5HvB1mZr8K --ask plan --note "Keep the search box in the header."
clanker ticket comment WEB-31 --body "@Claude add a case for an empty query to the plan"
clanker inbox --client claude
clanker inbox complete Rm7tQ2vXc9Lp --client claude --reply "Plan updated"
```

## Who can do what

| Action                                      | Viewer    | Member    | Admin, owner |
| ------------------------------------------- | --------- | --------- | ------------ |
| See clankers and live sessions on People    | yes       | yes       | yes          |
| Send a ticket, comment and mention clankers | no        | yes       | yes          |
| Revoke a clanker                            | their own | their own | their own    |

Only the clanker reads and completes its messages, through its own sign-in.