Slipstream Protocol Reference

Overview

Slipstream (SLIP) is a semantic quantization protocol for efficient multi-agent coordination. Instead of transmitting verbose natural language, agents communicate via compact references to a shared semantic codebook (UCR).

Key benefit: 70-80% token reduction vs JSON-wrapped messages.

Wire Format

SLIP v1 <src> <dst> <anchor> [payload...]

SLIP v1 - Protocol marker and version
<src> - Source agent identifier
<dst> - Destination agent identifier
<anchor> - UCR semantic anchor (the intent)
[payload...] - Optional unquantizable content

Core Anchors (UCR v1.0)

Requests

Anchor	Description
`RequestTask`	Ask agent to do something
`RequestPlan`	Ask for a plan
`RequestReview`	Ask for code/plan review
`RequestHelp`	Ask for assistance
`RequestCancel`	Request cancellation
`RequestResource`	Request resource allocation

Information

Anchor	Description
`InformComplete`	Report task completion
`InformProgress`	Share progress update
`InformBlocked`	Report being blocked
`InformStatus`	General status update
`InformResult`	Share computed result

Proposals

Anchor	Description
`ProposePlan`	Suggest a plan
`ProposeChange`	Suggest a modification
`ProposeAlternative`	Suggest alternative approach
`ProposeRollback`	Suggest reverting changes

Evaluations

Anchor	Description
`EvalApprove`	Approve/accept something
`EvalReject`	Reject something
`EvalNeedsWork`	Request revisions
`EvalComplete`	Mark as complete

Meta/Control

Anchor	Description
`Accept`	Accept a proposal/request
`Reject`	Decline a proposal/request
`MetaAck`	Acknowledge receipt
`MetaHandoff`	Hand off responsibility
`MetaEscalate`	Escalate issue
`Fallback`	Unquantizable (see payload)

Examples

# Simple request
SLIP v1 alice bob RequestReview

# With payload
SLIP v1 planner executor RequestTask implement_auth_module

# Report completion
SLIP v1 developer team InformComplete user_service

# Approve with note
SLIP v1 reviewer author EvalApprove lgtm

# Fallback for complex content
SLIP v1 devops sre Fallback check kubernetes pods for OOMKilled

Python Usage

python

from slipcore import slip, decode, quantize, think_quantize_transmit

# Create message directly
wire = slip("alice", "bob", "RequestReview")
# -> "SLIP v1 alice bob RequestReview"

# Think-Quantize-Transmit pattern
wire = think_quantize_transmit(
    "Please check the auth code for security issues",
    src="dev", dst="reviewer"
)
# -> "SLIP v1 dev reviewer RequestReview"

# Decode
msg = decode(wire)
print(msg.anchor.canonical)  # "Request review of work"

UCR Semantic Manifold

Each anchor is a position in a 4-dimensional semantic space:

Dimension	Range	Meaning
ACTION	0-7	observe, inform, ask, request, propose, commit, evaluate, meta
POLARITY	0-7	negative to positive valence
DOMAIN	0-7	task, plan, observation, evaluation, control, resource, error, general
URGENCY	0-7	background to critical

Extension Layer

Core anchors: 0x0000-0x7FFF (standard, immutable) Extension anchors: 0x8000-0xFFFF (installation-specific)