lingtai-ai Email addressing and replies
Bare paths and recipient verification
Use a verified recipient working-directory basename or path, not an internet
@ address. Inspect that directory's .agent.json to identify its owner;
agent_name is a display identity and need not equal the routing basename.
human is the usual operator mailbox; your own address is a self-inbox.
Do not invent targets or broaden a metadata scan to unrelated networks.
peer and abs
mode belongs to send and is normally omitted. peer (default) resolves a bare
name against the parent of this working directory. abs treats address as a
literal absolute working-directory path in another, explicitly authorized
.lingtai/ network on the same machine. The resolver also accepts paths in peer
mode; that capability is not cross-network authorization. Non-self POSIX delivery
requires manifest presence and Core liveness; human/self exceptions and bounce
limits are in Notifications and delivery.
abs does not bypass those checks.
Absolute sends embed a _return_route with sender workdir and identity. Replies
use that route first, then an absolute from, then a bare peer from. The manager
refuses a bare route that would resolve to the responder's own workdir when the
original identity names a different agent: do not guess; use an explicitly
authorized abs send instead. Older messages without _return_route retain the
absolute-from fallback.
Same-channel reply
Email must be answered with reply or reply_all on Email. Do not replace it
with a new send, Telegram, IM, or text output (text is a private diary). If the
sender is dead and a channel pivot is unavoidable, explain the pivot in the new
message before sending elsewhere.
reply addresses the resolved sender. reply_all also keeps original to/cc
recipients except self and the primary target. Both derive Re: unless a subject
is supplied; they do not create thread metadata. Review the complete fan-out
including CC/BCC before delivery; reply actions use the first supplied ID.
Contract discrepancy: current reply and reply_all do not mark the source inbox ID read
or rerender its unread mirror, despite the source Contract's stated invariant.
After handling, call dismiss explicitly (or read when you need its body).
This describes the observed implementation and workaround, not a relaxation of
the Contract or an engine fix.
Identity and local IDs
Inbound mail carries an identity card. In prose use non-empty sender_nickname,
otherwise sender_name; from remains a routing address. A mailbox UUID is local
to one working directory: pass IDs copied from this agent's notification or check
result to read, dismiss, reply, or reply_all, never into mail or public
prose. Refer to another agent's mail by subject, sender, and approximate time.
Internet mail (Gmail, Outlook, IMAP/SMTP), Telegram, Feishu, WeChat, and WhatsApp
belong to their MCP addons. Recurring work belongs to shell-manual; do not use
internal Email for external addresses.