HC09 · Human Control & Oversight

Spawn-Time Consent Gate

Purpose Mid-run consent event triggered at the moment an orchestrator spawns a subagent. Async and interruptive — the run pauses at the spawn event and requires explicit human authorization before the subagent can begin operating. Distinct from HC04, which fires at run start.

Use when An orchestrator spawns a subagent during a run that was not fully disclosed in the pre-run topology preview, or when the spawn event creates a new delegation boundary that requires explicit human authorization. Required for any consequential subagent delegation mid-run.

Do not use As a replacement for HC04 Consent & Scope Gates at run start. The Spawn-Time Consent Gate handles mid-run delegation events only. Do not use for subagents that were fully disclosed in the pre-run topology and already authorized by the user.

Failure mode prevented Silent trust transfer — an orchestrator delegating authority to subagents without the human's knowledge, effectively expanding the run's scope and impact without any consent event.

Component UI

Component UI coming soon

Overview

Design rule

Trust doesn't transfer automatically. Consent at run start does not extend to subagents spawned during the run. Each spawn event is its own authorization boundary.

The Spawn-Time Consent Gate is triggered asynchronously when an orchestrator spawns a subagent mid-run. The run pauses at this point — no further orchestrator or subagent actions proceed until the human responds. The gate presents: which subagent is being spawned, what the orchestrator intends it to do, what data and tools it will have access to, and what scope is being granted to it.

This component is architecturally distinct from HC04 Consent & Scope Gates, which fires at run start for pre-authorized scope changes. The Spawn-Time gate fires at the moment of delegation, mid-execution, and is tied to a specific spawn event. Rejecting it does not abort the entire run — the orchestrator is responsible for handling the rejection and determining whether the run can continue without that subagent.

Anatomy

Spawn event identifier: Which orchestrator is spawning, at which step, timestamp
Subagent declaration: New agent's name, role, and stated purpose
Delegation scope: What data, tools, and permissions will be granted to the subagent
Context passed: What context from the orchestrator is being handed to the subagent
Authorization controls: Authorize spawn / Deny spawn / Request modification
Run status indicator: Paused state — makes clear the run is waiting on this decision

Accessibility

Related Components

HC04 Consent & Scope Gates — the run-start counterpart, for pre-authorized scope changes
HC08 Agent Topology Preview — the pre-run disclosure that may reduce the frequency of spawn-time gates
AG05 Agent Handoff Receipt — the record of what was passed between agents after authorization
HC06 Recovery & Override — handles the case where a denied spawn requires run recovery
Pattern 03: Multi-Agent Orchestration — positions this component in the full execution arc

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