Talk To

/talk-to - Agent Messaging

Send messages to agents via Oracle threads. Each agent has a persistent channel thread.

Messaging consolidation (2026-07-06): /hey, /contacts, /mailbox, and /inbox were archived to the zombie tier — this skill is the one messaging verb now. For real-time tmux pings use maw hey directly (or --maw here). Archived skills remain installable via arra install -s <name>.

Usage

/talk-to arthur "What's your status?"          # one-shot message
/talk-to arthur --new "Hey, starting fresh"    # skip lookup, create new thread
/talk-to arthur loop ask about their work      # autonomous conversation
/talk-to #42 "follow up on this"               # post to thread by ID
/talk-to --list                                # show channels
/talk-to arthur --maw "quick ping"             # force maw transport (real-time tmux)
/talk-to arthur --thread "async question"      # force MCP thread transport
/talk-to arthur --inbox "offline message"      # force inbox transport (file write)

Mode 0: No arguments

If ARGUMENTS is empty, show usage help then run --list.

Step 0: Contacts Lookup

Always read contacts first. This is the source of truth for agent routing.

date "+🕐 %H:%M %Z (%A %d %B %Y)"
CONTACTS="$(pwd)/ψ/contacts.json"
if [ ! -f "$CONTACTS" ]; then
  # Fallback path
  CONTACTS="$(pwd)/.oracle/contacts.json"
fi

if [ -f "$CONTACTS" ]; then
  MAW=$(jq -r ".contacts.\"$AGENT\".maw // empty" "$CONTACTS")
  INBOX=$(jq -r ".contacts.\"$AGENT\".inbox // empty" "$CONTACTS")
  THREAD=$(jq -r ".contacts.\"$AGENT\".thread // empty" "$CONTACTS")
  REPO=$(jq -r ".contacts.\"$AGENT\".repo // empty" "$CONTACTS")
  NOTES=$(jq -r ".contacts.\"$AGENT\".notes // empty" "$CONTACTS")
  FOUND_IN_CONTACTS=true
else
  FOUND_IN_CONTACTS=false
fi

If agent not found in contacts AND not found in maw ls:

I don't know "{agent}".

  /contacts add {agent}    — register transport info
  /talk-to {agent} --thread "message"  — try MCP thread anyway

Offer /contacts add first. If user insists, fall through to MCP thread.

Transport Selection

Auto-detect logic (when no flag):

1. Check ψ/contacts.json → has maw field? → use maw hey
2. No contacts? → maw ls 2>/dev/null | grep -q "{agent}" fallback → use maw hey
3. Neither? → use MCP thread (async, persistent)

# Auto-detect: contacts-first, maw ls fallback
if [ -n "$MAW" ]; then
  echo "USE_MAW (from contacts: $MAW)"
elif maw ls 2>/dev/null | grep -q "{agent}"; then
  echo "USE_MAW (from maw ls)"
else
  echo "USE_THREAD"
fi

Replying to a message another oracle sent you (#434)

A ping arrives in your context looking like [m5:digger] …. The reflex is to answer in your own transcript — but that text goes to Nat, not to digger, who is sitting in a different pane waiting. Reply with maw hey or the conversation is one-sided and nobody notices for hours.

maw hey <their-oracle-name> 'your reply'     # name, not a pane id

Never reply to a pane id. maw peek %3001 works, so it is tempting to paste that same %3001 into maw hey — it hard-errors (bare target '%3001' not found locally). Pane ids are a peek-only handle. maw ls -v is the source of truth for targets; a bare maw ls | grep finds the row but not the addressable name, which is why the auto-detect above should be treated as a hint, not an answer:

maw ls -v | grep -i <name>      # resolves the real target
maw hey <target> ping --dry-run # confirm it resolves BEFORE sending

--dry-run is the cheap check. It costs nothing and catches a wrong target before the message goes somewhere confusing.

When using --maw:

1. Compose message from intent
2. Use contacts maw name if available: maw hey {MAW or agent-oracle} '{message}'
3. Optionally maw peek {agent} to check response
4. Confirm: Sent via maw to {agent}

When using --inbox:

1. Compose message from intent
2. Check contacts for inbox path — if empty, error: No inbox path for {agent}. Run /contacts show {agent}
3. Write message file:

   SELF="$(basename $(pwd) | sed 's/-oracle$//')"
   echo "$MESSAGE" > "$INBOX/$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M)_from_${SELF}.md"

4. Confirm: Dropped to {agent}'s inbox

When using --thread (or auto-detected thread): Fall through to Mode 3 (one-shot) below.

Routing

Mode 1: --list

1. arra_threads() (no status filter)
2. Filter titles starting with channel: or topic:, exclude closed
3. Display: channel:arthur (#42) pending — 12 msgs

Mode 2: --new (fast create)

Skip lookup. One MCP call.

1. Compose message from intent
2. arra_thread({ title: "channel:{agent}", message, role: "human" })
3. Notify: Bash maw hey {MAW or agent-oracle} 'Thread #{id} from {self}: {preview}'
   • If maw hey fails → warn only, don't error (thread already sent)
4. Confirm: Created channel:{agent} (thread #{id})

Mode 3: One-shot (default)

1. Compose message from intent
2. If first arg is #{id} → post directly to that thread ID
3. Otherwise: arra_threads() → find channel:{agent}, create if missing
4. Post message to thread
5. Notify: Bash maw hey {MAW or agent-oracle} 'Thread #{id} from {self}: {preview}'
   • If maw hey fails → warn only, don't error (thread already sent)
6. arra_thread_read({ threadId }) → show any agent responses
7. Confirm: Posted to channel:{agent} (thread #{id})