Hearth Insights

PLATFORM OVERVIEW

The Blackboard Architecture

Redis-backed orchestration. Complete audit trail. Zero data leakage.

SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

The 12-Step Workflow

graph TD User([fa:fa-user User]) -- "1. `holt forage --goal '...'`" --> CLI(fa:fa-terminal Holt CLI) subgraph SecurePerimeter ["🔒 Secure Perimeter"] subgraph "Holt System" direction LR subgraph "Execution Plane" Agents["fa:fa-users AI Agent Clan<br/>(e.g., Coder, Tester, Reviewer)"] Tools([fa:fa-wrench Tools<br/>Git, Linters, etc.]) end subgraph "Control & Data Plane" Orchestrator(fa:fa-sitemap Orchestrator) subgraph Blackboard [fa:fa-database Redis Blackboard] Artefacts("fa:fa-file-alt Artefacts") Claims("fa:fa-check-square Claims") Bids("fa:fa-gavel Bids") end end end CLI -- "2. Writes Goal Artefact" --> Blackboard Blackboard -- "3. Event" --> Orchestrator Orchestrator -- "4. Creates Claim" --> Blackboard Blackboard -- "5. Event" --> Agents Agents -- "6. Submit Bids" --> Blackboard Orchestrator -- "7. Grants Claim" --> Blackboard Blackboard -- "8. Notifies Winning Agent" --> Agents Agents -- "9. Executes Work Using" --> Tools Tools -- "10. Produces Result (e.g., Git Commit)" --> Agents Agents -- "11. Writes New Artefact" --> Blackboard Blackboard -- "12. Loop: Next Cycle Begins..." --> Orchestrator end classDef core fill:#d4edda,stroke:#155724,color:#000; classDef agent fill:#ddebf7,stroke:#3b7ddd,color:#000; classDef user fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#721c24,color:#000; classDef data fill:#fff3cd,stroke:#856404,color:#000; classDef perimeter fill:none,stroke:#13756e,stroke-width:3px,stroke-dasharray:5 5; class Orchestrator,Blackboard core; class Agents agent; class User,CLI user; class Tools data; class SecurePerimeter perimeter;

User submits goal → Orchestrator creates claim → Agents bid → Winner executes → Results committed. Complete audit trail at every step.

KEY COMPONENTS

The Three Layers

CONTROL PLANE Redis Blackboard

Chronological ledger storing artefacts, claims, and bids. Append-only for complete audit trail. Every decision traced to source.

EXECUTION PLANE AI Agent Clan

Docker-isolated agents bid for work. Execute with tools (Git, linters, etc.). Commit results with cryptographic signatures.

AUDIT TRAIL Provable Compliance

Complete history in Redis + Git. Every artefact timestamped. Every claim logged. When the regulator calls, you have the answer.

LIVE AUDIT TRAIL

What happens when AI makes a mistake?

Real-time telemetry from the Holt Engine. Every ID (`d269af14`) represents a cryptographically hashed artefact, ensuring the chain of custody is unbreakable. In this workflow, a Terraform module was generated. The first version failed code review—TfLint rejected it for linting errors. The orchestrator automatically assigned rework to the drafter. Version 2 passed all checks. This is quality control at machine speed.

[16:10:00.484] ✨ Artefact created: by=user, type=GoalDefined, id=55b62e13
[16:10:00.492] ⏳ Claim created: claim=d644be91, artefact=55b62e13, status=pending_review
[16:10:00.510] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=ModulePackager, claim=d644be91, type=ignore
[16:10:00.510] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformDrafter, claim=d644be91, type=exclusive
[16:10:00.511] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=DocGenerator, claim=d644be91, type=ignore
[16:10:00.511] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformFmt, claim=d644be91, type=ignore
[16:10:00.511] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=MarkdownLint, claim=d644be91, type=ignore
[16:10:00.511] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TfLint, claim=d644be91, type=ignore
[16:10:00.599] 🏆 Claim granted: agent=TerraformDrafter@efda51e46f4a, claim=d644be91, type=exclusive
[16:10:08.803] ✨ Artefact created: by=TerraformDrafter, type=TerraformCode, id=d269af14
[16:10:08.806] ⏳ Claim created: claim=0a18c6a5, artefact=d269af14, status=pending_review
[16:10:08.811] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=DocGenerator, claim=0a18c6a5, type=exclusive
[16:10:08.811] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=MarkdownLint, claim=0a18c6a5, type=ignore
[16:10:08.811] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformDrafter, claim=0a18c6a5, type=ignore
[16:10:08.811] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=ModulePackager, claim=0a18c6a5, type=ignore
[16:10:08.811] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformFmt, claim=0a18c6a5, type=review
[16:10:08.811] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TfLint, claim=0a18c6a5, type=review
[16:10:08.912] 🏆 Claim granted: agent=TerraformFmt@5fcb69cef1a3, claim=0a18c6a5, type=review
[16:10:08.912] 🏆 Claim granted: agent=TfLint@c23d2306a1eb, claim=0a18c6a5, type=review
[16:10:09.469] ❌ Review Rejected: by=TfLint for artefact d269af14 (review: c5ea0615)
[16:10:09.470] ✅ Review Approved: by=TerraformFmt for artefact d269af14 (review: a00f8b34)
[16:10:09.470] ⏳ Claim created: claim=bec605a4, artefact=d269af14, status=pending_assignment
[16:10:09.470] 🔄 Rework Assigned: to=TerraformDrafter for claim bec605a4 (iteration 1)
[16:10:12.096] 🔄 Artefact Reworked (v2): by=TerraformDrafter, type=TerraformCode, id=8baa06c1
[16:10:12.097] ⏳ Claim created: claim=66646975, artefact=8baa06c1, status=pending_review
[16:10:12.101] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=ModulePackager, claim=66646975, type=ignore
[16:10:12.101] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=DocGenerator, claim=66646975, type=exclusive
[16:10:12.102] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformFmt, claim=66646975, type=review
[16:10:12.102] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TfLint, claim=66646975, type=review
[16:10:12.102] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=MarkdownLint, claim=66646975, type=ignore
[16:10:12.103] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformDrafter, claim=66646975, type=ignore
[16:10:12.203] 🏆 Claim granted: agent=TfLint@c23d2306a1eb, claim=66646975, type=review
[16:10:12.203] 🏆 Claim granted: agent=TerraformFmt@5fcb69cef1a3, claim=66646975, type=review
[16:10:12.702] ✅ Review Approved: by=TerraformFmt for artefact 8baa06c1 (review: d58defc4)
[16:10:12.702] ✅ Review Approved: by=TfLint for artefact 8baa06c1 (review: 7fd3b591)
[16:10:12.704] 🏆 Claim granted: agent=DocGenerator@23c97dca5bd9, claim=66646975, type=exclusive
[16:10:22.206] ✨ Artefact created: by=DocGenerator, type=TerraformDocumentation, id=284fb399
[16:10:22.210] ⏳ Claim created: claim=2e7f2e23, artefact=284fb399, status=pending_review
[16:10:22.217] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=MarkdownLint, claim=2e7f2e23, type=claim
[16:10:22.217] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformDrafter, claim=2e7f2e23, type=ignore
[16:10:22.217] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformFmt, claim=2e7f2e23, type=ignore
[16:10:22.217] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TfLint, claim=2e7f2e23, type=ignore
[16:10:22.217] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=ModulePackager, claim=2e7f2e23, type=ignore
[16:10:22.219] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=DocGenerator, claim=2e7f2e23, type=ignore
[16:10:22.314] 🏆 Claim granted: agent=MarkdownLint@9aa0b4fda409, claim=2e7f2e23, type=claim
[16:10:22.436] ✨ Artefact created: by=MarkdownLint, type=FormattedDocumentation, id=8d269403
[16:10:22.439] ⏳ Claim created: claim=9a05d128, artefact=8d269403, status=pending_review
[16:10:22.445] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=ModulePackager, claim=9a05d128, type=exclusive
[16:10:22.445] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=DocGenerator, claim=9a05d128, type=ignore
[16:10:22.445] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformFmt, claim=9a05d128, type=ignore
[16:10:22.446] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TfLint, claim=9a05d128, type=ignore
[16:10:22.446] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=TerraformDrafter, claim=9a05d128, type=ignore
[16:10:22.446] 🙋 Bid submitted: agent=MarkdownLint, claim=9a05d128, type=ignore
[16:10:22.545] 🏆 Claim granted: agent=ModulePackager@b79beed7da4e, claim=9a05d128, type=exclusive
[16:10:22.584] ✨ Artefact created: by=ModulePackager, type=PackagedModule, id=dbc19d98
[16:10:22.584] 🎉 Workflow completed: Terminal artefact created (type=PackagedModule, id=dbc19d98)

Forensic Replay: Because this log is an append-only ledger, an auditor can mathematically reconstruct the exact state of the system at 16:10:09 to prove why the Reviewer Agent rejected the initial draft.

Total time: 22 seconds from goal to packaged module

THE QUALITY GATE (CONTROL 3.1) Policy Enforcement

TfLint blocked deployment at 16:10:09.469. No automatic approval. Quality gates enforced before any code is committed. This proves your controls exist, not just documented.

THE AUDIT TRAIL (ARTICLE 14) Non-Repudiation

The rework cycle (v1 → v2) is preserved, not overwritten. Artefact `d269af14` rejected. Artefact `8baa06c1` approved. The system cannot erase its mistakes. This proves accountability.

THE EVIDENCE (FINAL GRANT) Deterministic Execution

DocGenerator only ran after both reviewers approved. Approval at 16:10:12.702 triggered documentation at 16:10:22.206. When the regulator asks 'how do you know this is correct?' you have cryptographic proof.

CONFIGURATION AS CODE

Define your agents in holt.yml

version: "1.0"

agents:
  example-agent:
    role: "A helpful AI assistant"
    image: "hearth-insights/holt-agent:latest"
    command: ["python", "agent.py"]

    bidding_strategy: "exclusive"  # review | claim | ignore

    workspace:
      mode: "ro"  # Read-only for testing

Agents are declarative. Define role, bidding strategy, and workspace constraints. Holt handles orchestration, security, and audit logging.

THE EVIDENCE GAP

The Difference is Forensic

Most orchestration tools optimize for speed. Holt optimizes for proof.

Feature	Standard CI/CD / Agents	Holt Blackboard Architecture
The Log	Ephemeral text stream (Splunk/CloudWatch)	Immutable Event Ledger (Redis)
The Data	Piped to external SaaS clouds	Zero Egress (Your VPC Only)
The Logic	Black Box (Vendor controlled)	Glass Box (Source Visible)
The Audit	"Trust us, it ran."	"Here is the cryptographic proof."

Ready to prove it?

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