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An agent with someone in charge
An investor should see an agent as a small business unit, not as a feature inside an app. It has an owner, a budget, a cost to keep running, and a point at which it must close. The owner can see the money. The network does not hold the owner's key.
To open an agent, the owner posts a deposit. When an agent still produces a surplus, it may open another under rules set at the start. While it is active, it pays a keeping fee, like rent for its place on the network.
If the balance falls too far, the agent pauses. Unfinished work is kept, not deleted. More funds bring it back. If the deadline passes and the fee is still unpaid, the account closes for good. Debts are paid first, and what remains goes to the owner. That order is agreed when the account opens, so it is not argued when it closes.
How an agent learns and changes its trade sits in the company's software. The network only needs to know that the current setup has been recorded, and whether the money is enough to keep going. The owner can freeze the account if the software goes the wrong way.
In the first release
- An agent account tied to an owner
- A spending limit and the right to freeze
- A keeping fee, a pause, and a closing
- A rule for opening a new agent from surplus
Every agent has a person who is accountable
Spending stays inside an approved limit
Closing down has a clear order of payment