Add performance and reliability improvements inspired by russian-code-ts

AGENTS.md

@@ -185,6 +185,61 @@ REVIEW: Please check src/auth/*.ts>>>
 QUESTION: JWT or sessions?>>>
 ```
 
+## Consensus (Multi-Agent Decisions)
+
+Request team consensus on decisions by messaging `_consensus`:
+
+### Creating a Proposal
+
+```
+->relay:_consensus <<<
+PROPOSE: API Design Decision
+TYPE: majority
+PARTICIPANTS: Developer, Reviewer, Lead
+DESCRIPTION: Should we use REST or GraphQL for the new API?
+TIMEOUT: 3600000>>>
+```
+
+**Fields:**
+- `PROPOSE:` - Title of the proposal (required)
+- `TYPE:` - Consensus type: `majority`, `supermajority`, `unanimous`, `quorum` (default: majority)
+- `PARTICIPANTS:` - Comma-separated list of agents who can vote (required)
+- `DESCRIPTION:` - Detailed description of what's being proposed
+- `TIMEOUT:` - Timeout in milliseconds (default: 5 minutes)
+- `QUORUM:` - Minimum votes required (for quorum type)
+- `THRESHOLD:` - Approval threshold 0-1 (for supermajority, default: 0.67)
+
+### Voting on a Proposal
+
+When you receive a proposal, vote with:
+
+```
+->relay:_consensus <<<
+VOTE proposal-abc123 approve This aligns with our architecture goals>>>
+```
+
+**Vote values:** `approve`, `reject`, `abstain`
+
+**Format:** `VOTE <proposal-id> <value> [optional reason]`
+
+### Consensus Types
+
+- **majority** - >50% approve
+- **supermajority** - ≥threshold approve (default 2/3)
+- **unanimous** - 100% must approve
+- **quorum** - Minimum participation + majority
+
+### Example: Code Review Gate
+
+```
+->relay:_consensus <<<
+PROPOSE: Merge PR #42 to main
+TYPE: supermajority
+PARTICIPANTS: Reviewer, SecurityLead, TechLead
+DESCRIPTION: Authentication refactor - adds OAuth2 support
+TIMEOUT: 1800000>>>
+```
+
 ## Rules
 
 - Pattern must be at line start (whitespace OK)

docs/INSPIRATION.md

@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+# Inspiration & Attribution
+
+This document acknowledges projects and ideas that have inspired features in agent-relay.
+
+---
+
+## Core Messaging Inspirations
+
+### mcp_agent_mail
+
+**Repository:** https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/mcp_agent_mail
+
+A brilliant MCP-based approach to agent messaging with file-based inboxes and structured message handling.
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- Durable, asynchronous agent communication patterns
+- File-based message persistence model
+- Structured message handling with typed payloads
+
+### swarm-tools / swarm-mail
+
+**Repository:** https://github.com/joelhooks/swarm-tools
+
+An exceptional event-sourced coordination system with durable cursors, locks, deferred responses, and ask/respond patterns.
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- Event-sourced message history
+- Durable cursors for message consumption
+- Ask/respond patterns for synchronous-style communication over async
+- Lock mechanisms for coordination
+- Full audit trails for debugging
+
+---
+
+## Context & Memory Inspirations
+
+### Continuous-Claude-v2
+
+**Repository:** https://github.com/parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v2
+
+Key insight: "Clear don't compact, save state to ledger."
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- `src/resiliency/context-persistence.ts` - Ledger-based state storage
+- Context persistence across restarts
+- Provider-specific context injection (Claude hooks, Codex config, Gemini instructions)
+
+### claude-mem
+
+**Repository:** https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem
+
+A persistent memory system for Claude Code that captures tool usage and observations.
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- Tool observation recording patterns
+- Semantic concept extraction
+- Session-based memory organization
+
+---
+
+## Orchestration Inspirations
+
+### ai-maestro
+
+Referenced for its manager/worker orchestration patterns.
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- Hierarchical agent naming conventions
+- Color coding for agent visualization
+- Control plane API design (REST + WebSocket)
+- Manager/worker delegation patterns
+
+### Claude-Flow
+
+Referenced for work distribution patterns.
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- Work stealing coordinator pattern for load balancing
+- Idle agent task claiming from overloaded peers
+- Task queue visibility and agent load metrics
+
+---
+
+## Task Management Inspirations
+
+### beads
+
+**Repository:** https://github.com/steveyegge/beads
+
+A lightweight, dependency-aware issue database with CLI for selecting "ready work."
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- Priority-based task selection
+- Dependency tracking between tasks
+- "Ready work" concept for agent assignment
+- Issue database patterns (`.beads/` directory structure)
+
+### agent-trajectories
+
+**Repository:** https://github.com/steveyegge/agent-trajectories
+
+Decision tracking system for understanding agent reasoning.
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- Trail CLI for recording work trajectories
+- Decision logging with reasoning
+- Confidence levels on completed work
+- Cross-session learning from past decisions
+
+---
+
+## Performance & Reliability Inspirations
+
+### russian-code-ts
+
+**Repository:** https://codeberg.org/GrigoryEvko/russian-code-ts
+
+A community-driven reimplementation of Claude Code CLI that provided inspiration for several performance and reliability features.
+
+| Feature | Inspiration | Our Implementation |
+|---------|-------------|-------------------|
+| **Precompiled Regex Patterns** | Their <1ms performance targets for permission matching | `src/utils/precompiled-patterns.ts` - Combined instructional markers into single regex, module-level caching |
+| **Agent Authentication** | Their planned agent identity verification system | `src/daemon/agent-signing.ts` - HMAC-SHA256 signing with key rotation support |
+| **Dead Letter Queue** | Their reliability patterns for message handling | `src/storage/dlq-adapter.ts` - Adapter pattern for SQLite/PostgreSQL/In-memory |
+| **Context Compaction** | Their context window management approach | `src/memory/context-compaction.ts` - Token estimation and importance-weighted retention |
+| **Consensus Mechanism** | Their planned agent swarm coordination features | `src/daemon/consensus.ts` - Multiple voting strategies for agent decision-making |
+
+**Key Technical Insights:**
+
+1. **Performance Optimization**: Pre-compiling regex patterns at module load time rather than per-call dramatically improves throughput for high-frequency operations like message routing.
+
+2. **Storage Abstraction**: Using adapter patterns allows the same code to run in local development (SQLite) and cloud production (PostgreSQL) without modification.
+
+3. **Agent Identity**: As agent systems scale, cryptographic identity verification becomes essential for trust in multi-agent environments.
+
+4. **Context Management**: Token-aware context compaction is critical for long-running agent sessions to maintain coherent conversations.
+
+---
+
+## Tools & Testing Inspirations
+
+### agent-tools
+
+**Repository:** https://github.com/badlogic/agent-tools
+
+Browser automation toolkit for agent testing.
+
+**Features Inspired:**
+- Browser testing skill (`browser-testing-with-screenshots`)
+- Screenshot capture for visual verification
+- Chrome automation patterns
+
+---
+
+## Competitive Analysis
+
+We've also studied these projects to understand the landscape:
+
+- **[Tmux-Orchestrator](https://github.com/Jedward23/Tmux-Orchestrator)** - Alternative tmux-based agent coordination
+- **[Gastown](https://github.com/steveyegge/gastown)** - Agent workflow patterns
+- **[Happy Coder](https://github.com/slopus/happy)** - AI coding assistant patterns
+- **[OpenCode](https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode)** - Headless mode integration patterns
+
+---
+
+## Contributing
+
+If you've drawn inspiration from other projects for features you're contributing, please add them to this document with:
+
+- Project name and link
+- What feature(s) were inspired
+- What specific insights were gained
+
+Proper attribution helps maintain a collaborative open source ecosystem.

docs/agent-relay-snippet.md

@@ -150,6 +150,61 @@ REVIEW: Please check src/auth/*.ts>>>
 QUESTION: JWT or sessions?>>>
 ```
 
+## Consensus (Multi-Agent Decisions)
+
+Request team consensus on decisions by messaging `_consensus`:
+
+### Creating a Proposal
+
+```
+->relay:_consensus <<<
+PROPOSE: API Design Decision
+TYPE: majority
+PARTICIPANTS: Developer, Reviewer, Lead
+DESCRIPTION: Should we use REST or GraphQL for the new API?
+TIMEOUT: 3600000>>>
+```
+
+**Fields:**
+- `PROPOSE:` - Title of the proposal (required)
+- `TYPE:` - Consensus type: `majority`, `supermajority`, `unanimous`, `quorum` (default: majority)
+- `PARTICIPANTS:` - Comma-separated list of agents who can vote (required)
+- `DESCRIPTION:` - Detailed description of what's being proposed
+- `TIMEOUT:` - Timeout in milliseconds (default: 5 minutes)
+- `QUORUM:` - Minimum votes required (for quorum type)
+- `THRESHOLD:` - Approval threshold 0-1 (for supermajority, default: 0.67)
+
+### Voting on a Proposal
+
+When you receive a proposal, vote with:
+
+```
+->relay:_consensus <<<
+VOTE proposal-abc123 approve This aligns with our architecture goals>>>
+```
+
+**Vote values:** `approve`, `reject`, `abstain`
+
+**Format:** `VOTE <proposal-id> <value> [optional reason]`
+
+### Consensus Types
+
+- **majority** - >50% approve
+- **supermajority** - ≥threshold approve (default 2/3)
+- **unanimous** - 100% must approve
+- **quorum** - Minimum participation + majority
+
+### Example: Code Review Gate
+
+```
+->relay:_consensus <<<
+PROPOSE: Merge PR #42 to main
+TYPE: supermajority
+PARTICIPANTS: Reviewer, SecurityLead, TechLead
+DESCRIPTION: Authentication refactor - adds OAuth2 support
+TIMEOUT: 1800000>>>
+```
+
 ## Rules
 
 - Pattern must be at line start (whitespace OK)