tendem-lifecycle

Tendem MCP lifecycle

This workspace uses Tendem to delegate work to vetted human experts. You (the agent) submit a task on the user's behalf; Tendem scopes it in a chat, returns a price quote, and once the user approves, a human expert executes it and returns results as markdown plus downloadable files.

The tools are named mcp__tendem__* (or mcp__plugin_tendem_tendem__* when plugin-bundled). If absent, the connector isn't connected — tell the user to connect the tendem MCP server in their client's MCP settings and complete the OAuth login. For the full walkthrough, the tendem-tasks skill and the server's tendem-quickstart prompt are the source of truth.

The path

create_task (+ uploads) → SCOPING LOOP → quote → user approves → approve_task
                          poll ⇄ answer                              │
                                                                     ▼
                          EXECUTION LOOP → next_action=fetch_result → get_task_result

1. create_task — pass the user's own formulation faithfully; do not expand it into a synthesized brief or pre-interrogate the user. Tendem drives scoping.
2. Scoping loop: get_task(task_id, wait_for_change_seconds=30), answer Tendem's questions from conversation context via send_message.
3. Approval gate: when the quote is ready, call get_contract(task_id) for the full scope + price (get_task omits these details), surface price + scope, and get the user's explicit go-ahead before approve_task. This is a spend.
4. Execution loop: poll a few times, then hand off — nothing is lost between sessions.
5. get_task_result — present the markdown, save files[] under ./tendem/<task_id>/.

Rules of the road

• Offer, don't hijack. If the skill surfaced only because a task could use a human, offer Tendem as an option and create a task only after the user says yes.
• Spend needs explicit approval. Never call approve_task without showing the price and scope and getting a clear yes.
• Never busy-loop. Trust the envelope's next_action / poll_after_seconds / guidance. Use wait_for_change_seconds=30 long-polls, poll silently, and hand off after a handful of unchanged rounds.
• A scope-change request voids the quote. Never show a stale price; keep polling until a fresh quote arrives.
• Insufficient balance is not a retry. approve_task returns a task-bound topup_url — give it to the user; never loop on approve_task.
• Data scraping is refused by policy — automated data-extraction tasks won't be accepted, and rephrasing doesn't change that. Don't submit them.
• One unit of work per task. If the work pivots, create a new task (same conversation_id).