Performative Message
Inter-agent messages are typed by communicative intent (request, inform, propose, accept, refuse, query) rather than by free-form prose, so receivers can dispatch on act type.
Problem
Untyped messages collapse in several ways. Receivers must classify the act before dispatching, which is itself an error-prone LLM call. Audit and orchestration tools cannot tell who requested what from whom. Negotiation, query, and information-sharing protocols cannot be enforced because the protocol's state machine has no typed transitions to track. Without typing, multi-agent communication is prose all the way down and the system has no language for 'A proposed X to B, B accepted, C is querying about it'.
Solution
Define a small fixed set of performatives — request, inform, propose, accept, refuse, query, agree, cancel — drawn from KQML/FIPA-ACL tradition. Every inter-agent message carries an explicit performative plus the act content. Receivers dispatch on performative. Protocol state machines (negotiation, query-then-answer, contract-net) become enforceable because the transitions are typed. Free-form natural language remains the content payload; the typing is a metadata layer the LLM sees and produces.
When to use
- Multi-agent communication has recognisable communicative acts.
- Protocols (negotiation, query, contract-net) are run between agents.
- Receivers benefit from typed dispatch.
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