v2026.8.18

AIWG 2026.8.18 - Negotiated agents, canonical installs

Release date: 2026-08-23
Channel: stable

AIWG 2026.8.18 makes two boundaries more dependable: the boundary between
different agent protocol versions, and the boundary between a provider session
and the AIWG installation it is allowed to maintain. It also turns the optional
Flow graph profile into a usable execution surface with validation, replay, and
operator visibility.

The common thread is continuity. An A2A peer can evolve its wire protocol
without forcing the mission model to fork. A provider can start with a
different PATH without moving the canonical AIWG installation. A graph run
can cross agent, tool, Sandbox, and durable-code nodes without losing its
identity or evidence trail.

What this changes for you

A2A peers can negotiate 1.0 without abandoning 0.3

The Bridge and A2A client now select compatible AgentCard interfaces and route
through versioned codecs. Messages, tasks, artifacts, status changes, streaming
events, and webhooks are normalized into the same internal mission model, so
the rest of AIWG does not need parallel implementations for each wire version.

Selection is explicit and downgrade-resistant. If a peer advertises 1.0, AIWG
uses the compatible 1.0 interface; if only 0.3 is available, the existing path
continues to work. Golden fixtures and integration coverage keep both forms
observable rather than relying on permissive parsing.

The compatibility guide describes the supported envelopes and negotiation
behavior:

docs/a2a-protocol-compatibility.md

Every provider maintains the same AIWG installation

AIWG now persists a provider-neutral canonical installation record in the
resolved user configuration directory. The record identifies the install
method, canonical root, update strategy, absolute package-manager executable,
release channel, and development mode.

This closes a subtle but costly failure mode on machines with more than one
Node manager. A Codex session resolving Homebrew first and a Claude session
resolving nvm first can no longer update different global prefixes merely
because their process environments differ. Refresh and background maintenance
use the recorded strategy. If the running CLI does not match the record, AIWG
stops and explains how to inspect or deliberately change it.

Inspect the current identity with:

aiwg installation show
aiwg version --json
aiwg runtime-info

After intentionally moving an installation or changing Node-manager versions,
use aiwg installation adopt for the current installation or
aiwg installation switch with an explicit root and method. AIWG will not
silently create a second installation as a repair shortcut.

The optional graph profile now has an execution surface

The graph-pattern addon extends the existing Flow model with validated graph
playbooks and commands for scaffolding, explanation, dry runs, replay, and
conformance checks. Its runtime dispatches agent, tool, Sandbox, and
durable-code nodes through explicit adapters while preserving stable run and
invocation identities.

The profile remains optional. A focused task still belongs in a direct agent
call or bounded loop. Use the graph profile when conditional routes, guarded
cycles, joins, reducers, or mixed runtimes need to be explicit and replayable.

Graph state also reaches Cockpit as a read-only projection, including active
nodes, edges, checkpoints, degraded outcomes, and operator decisions. Mission
and Flow remain the durable execution authorities; Cockpit presents their
state without becoming another scheduler.

Security and reliability details

• Graph metadata records requested and realized capabilities separately and
  defines fail-closed, policy-degraded, and evidence-degraded outcomes.
• Sandbox graph nodes use a versioned event contract for dispatch, retry,
  checkpoint, resume, cancellation, and terminal lineage.
• The Flow static-site deployment guide now makes DNS, tunnel, Caddy, volume,
  workflow, and operator handoff boundaries explicit.
• The canonical installation record migrates existing channel and development
  settings while preserving startup-check state and release selection.

Package matrix

aiwg@2026.8.18
@aiwg/cli@2026.8.18
@aiwg/cockpit@2026.8.18

Upgrade

Upgrade the package set together, then regenerate provider context:

npm install --global aiwg@2026.8.18
npm install --global @aiwg/cli@2026.8.18
npm install --global @aiwg/cockpit@2026.8.18
aiwg regenerate

Existing installations migrate their legacy channel state on first canonical
identity resolution. Run aiwg installation show after upgrading to confirm
that the recorded and actual roots are aligned.

Rollback

Roll all three npm packages back together to 2026.8.17, then regenerate
provider context. If 2026.8.18 has already written a canonical installation
record, keep it and explicitly adopt or switch only if the rollback changes the
actual installation root or package-manager executable. Preserve graph-run and
A2A evidence so rollback does not erase completed mission history.