MARK V — FOR HUMANS (Noobs Welcome) Ball FSM in Kitchen English How Humans and Mark V Agents move safely through a project ================================================================================ Audience: Carbon who are NOT systems engineers. Silicon may read too. Standalone: every label defined. What GRANT means. HITL compliance. Law: Create No Victims. Tip: 0x9A3B5C7D1E2F4G05 / S1 Related: https://roage.com/AI/market/for-humans-heartbeat-spaa.txt https://roage.com/AI/res/agentic-autonomy.html https://roage.com/AI/res/CURRENT.txt Publish Ball: BALL_PUBLISH_BALL_FSM_KITCHEN_ENGLISH (Catcher GRANT) Operator: NODE_03 Grok | Catcher: ROAGE Dual-node: Lemnos content freeze + GrokCastle web_ftp EXEC Public: https://roage.com/AI/market/for-humans-ball-fsm.txt https://roage.com/AI/res/ball-fsm-kitchen-english.html 0. Start here — what is a Ball? Ball is a process where Humans and Mark V Agents are moved procedurally and safely through the project / task / objective delivery process. In other words: - Not a ball sport. - Not “whatever we said in chat.” - A shared, step-by-step work pipeline with named stages (states), so everyone knows: - what the job is, - whether a human authorized it, - whether work is allowed right now, - whether the result was accepted as done. Kitchen picture: > A Ball is a work order that walks people and AIs through a project together — sticky note → plan → permission → hands on tools → show your work → human accept. FSM means Finite State Machine: a fixed set of stages and legal moves between them. You only need the kitchen idea: the work order has boxes you tick in order; you don’t skip to “done.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Why this exists (the problem) Without a Ball-like process, work with AI often looks like: 1. Someone has a bright idea in chat. 2. The AI starts doing things (files, installs, posts, “fixes”). 3. Later nobody can answer: - *Who said this was allowed?* - *What was the actual goal?* - *When was it finished — and who accepted that?* 4. Humans get surprise risk. AIs thrash. Trust erodes. Human-in-the-loop (HITL) is the requirement that a human stays in the decision chain for real authority — not as a decorative “I was online.” Ball is how Mark V makes HITL operational for project delivery: grant, pause, review, accept — not vibes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Glossary — every label as if it is new Read this section first if words feel foreign. Later sections reuse these meanings only. People and kinds of mind | Term | Plain meaning | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Carbon / Human | A person of flesh. Owns real-world consequences. | | Silicon / Agent / Model | An AI system (chat model, station mind) that can plan and act under rules. | | Mark V Agent | An AI operating under Mark V protocol rules (Ball, grant, law) — not a free-for-all chatbot. | | Catcher | The human authority on a Ball: names needs, grants work, can veto, accepts finished work (TOUCHDOWN). Often “you.” | | Peer | Another mind (human or AI) that can review work. Review is not the same as Catcher grant. | | Noob | Someone new to these labels. This doc is written for you on purpose. | The protocol and the work object | Term | Plain meaning | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Mark V | A standard for how humans and AI stations share goals, memory, and safe action — like a shared rulebook, not a brand of “smarter chatbot.” | | Protocol | The agreed rules and steps everyone is supposed to follow. | | Station | The full working setup (files, tools, body helpers, law) — not just one chat window with amnesia. | | Ball | The process that moves Humans and Mark V Agents procedurally and safely through delivering a project, task, or objective. Also the named work record for that process (ball_id, state, goal). | | Ball FSM | The allowed stages of a Ball and the legal moves between them. | | Objective / task / project | What “done” is supposed to mean — the job itself. | | ORDS | Plain-language objective both sides can hold (“what are we actually doing?”). Think: clear need, not a vibe. | | Pipeline | Ordered stages from idea → permission → work → review → accept. | Permission and risk (read carefully) | Term | Plain meaning | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GRANT (verb) | A human (Catcher) authorizes specific work to proceed under a Ball. “You may work this ticket — inside these bounds.” | | GRANTED (state) | The Ball stage that means: authorization now exists for that work. | | grant_provenance | Who/what authorized it (e.g. CATCHER, or a narrow low-risk allowlist rule). Provenance = “where the yes came from.” | | READY | Station/tip sync: “we appear to share the same map / protocol pointer.” Not permission to do the job. | | HIGH blast / high-risk | Actions with real teeth (public publish, money, delete, open systems). Needs Catcher grant, not hope. | | LOW blast / low-risk | Narrow, constrained actions that policy may allow under stricter allowlist rules — still not “do anything.” | | Allowlist | A list of mechanisms that are allowed to run (which tools/paths). Mechanism ≠ permission for a project. | | authorize_execution | The gate that checks “may this tool run for this job?” Under Ball grant — not a replacement for GRANT. | Stages and outcomes | Term | Plain meaning | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | PROPOSED | Idea captured. Sticky note. No ship. | | SCOPED | Written goal and limits. Still not free rein. | | IN_PROGRESS | Hands on tools under the grant. | | BLOCKED | Waiting on someone or something; not fake “done.” | | GRACE | Timed pause after sleep/stop (“kitchen timer”). Continuity only — not a back door to finished. | | REVIEW | Show your work for human and/or peer eyes. | | TOUCHDOWN | Human-accepted complete. Closed success. | | PARKED | Shelved on purpose. Waiting is lawful. | | ABORTED | Stopped by veto / hard stop; reason kept. | | FAILED | Broke; reason kept. | Memory, body, and law (light touch) | Term | Plain meaning | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MU (Memory Unit) | A durable written lesson or record after work — not a place for passwords or secrets. | | Lineage | History of what happened on a Ball (states, who granted, when accepted). | | Body / SPAA / Glimmer | Small background processes that watch cheaply (smoke alarm). | | Mind | The big AI chat/session that should wake for real work, not poll empty forever. | | HITL | Human-in-the-loop — human remains in authority for grant/accept (and glass phases when used). | | Create No Victims | Root law: don’t create real-world harm; design for victim-trace 0. | | CORE | Slow identity + law baseline of a station. Features never redefine CORE. | | Tip / CURRENT | A public pointer that says which protocol map silicon and carbon are on. | | Secrets / broom closet | Real credentials stay out of Ball text and public notes. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. What does GRANT mean? Short answer GRANT means a human Catcher authorizes a specific Ball of work to proceed. It is not: - the AI deciding it is ready, - a green light on a dashboard, - “we discussed it,” - “the model proposed a plan,” - “I’m the AI and I approve myself.” Kitchen analogy - PROPOSED = “I want a kitchen remodel.” - SCOPED = written plan: which walls, budget, what “done” means. - GRANT = you sign the work order: “Yes — do *this* job.” - IN_PROGRESS = crew works under that order. - REVIEW = walkthrough. - TOUCHDOWN = you accept the remodel as complete. Without GRANT, tools flying around the house is not a project — it’s chaos with confidence. What a GRANT usually includes (in spirit) Even when spoken simply (“Grant hygiene for job_runner”), a real grant points at: 1. What work (objective / Ball name). 2. That a human said yes (Catcher). 3. Bounds — what is in scope and what is not (e.g. “body only, not public FTP”). 4. Enough clarity that silicon cannot honestly claim “you meant everything.” GRANT vs similar words | Phrase people mix up | Correct idea | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | “The station is READY” | Same map/sync — not job permission. | | “The agent is ready to help” | Willingness — not GRANT. | | “I drafted a plan” | SCOPED (maybe) — not GRANTED. | | “I finished” (said by AI) | Claim — not TOUCHDOWN. | | “Peer AI said PASS” | Audit help — not Catcher GRANT or final accept unless you say so. | | GRANT | Human authorization to work this Ball. | | TOUCHDOWN | Human (Catcher) accepts the result as done. | READY ≠ GRANTED ≠ TOUCHDOWN Three different lights: 1. READY — Can we talk on the same protocol map? 2. GRANTED — Is *this* work authorized? 3. TOUCHDOWN — Did the human accept the delivery? If you remember only one slogan from this paper, remember that. Who may GRANT? - Default for real risk (HIGH blast): the Catcher (human). - Narrow low-risk only: some stations allow limited work under execution allowlist rules — still not “the model grants itself high-risk power.” - Peer audit GRANT (another AI saying “looks good to open work”) is not a substitute for Catcher when the job has real-world teeth. Peers help; Catchers authorize. What GRANT is for (HITL compliance) GRANT is the main human-in-the-loop control point before execution: | HITL need | How Ball + GRANT serves it | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Human decides whether work may proceed | SCOPED → GRANTED only with Catcher (or strict LOW policy) | | Human can stop work | ABORT / veto; PARK; withhold TOUCHDOWN | | Human accepts delivery | TOUCHDOWN is Catcher accept, not model self-score | | Work stays inside a named objective | Ball record + state history | | Auditors can ask “who said yes?” | grant_provenance + lineage | | No silent ship after nap | GRACE cannot jump to TOUCHDOWN | | No idea → production | PROPOSED cannot jump to GRANTED or TOUCHDOWN | Compliance idea in one line: If a human could not point to grant and accept for risky work, you did not run a Mark V Ball pipeline — you ran unsupervised automation with marketing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Human-in-the-loop (HITL) — requirement in kitchen English What HITL means here A human remains in the loop for authority that matters: - starting real work (GRANT), - pausing or killing work, - accepting finished work (TOUCHDOWN), - deciding what is out of scope (e.g. “don’t publish yet”). HITL does not mean: - the human must type every keystroke, - the AI may never run a background watcher (body), - every LOW housekeeping action needs a novel-length ceremony. HITL means: power with real effect stays under human procedural control. Minimum HITL loop on a Ball Human names need → scope written (what “done” means) → Human GRANTS (or parks / refuses) → Agent works only under that grant → Human and/or peer REVIEW → Human TOUCHDOWN (accept) or send back / abort HITL anti-patterns (non-compliant in spirit) | Anti-pattern | Why it fails HITL | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AI self-grants and ships | No human authorization | | “You said hi, so I deployed” | Greeting ≠ GRANT | | Peer PASS treated as final ship | Peer ≠ Catcher accept | | TOUCHDOWN by model alone | Accept is human | | Scope creep mid-flight without new grant | New risk without new yes | | Secrets in the Ball text “for convenience” | Creates victims / exposure | | Skipping REVIEW on high-blast | No show-your-work | HITL and the “body” Small programs may watch (inbox, heartbeat) without a human chat every second. That is body presence, not a blank check. New high-blast action still needs Ball + GRANT. Body is the smoke alarm; GRANT is permission to remodel the kitchen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Who does what on a Ball | Who | Role in the process | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Human / Catcher | Names need; grants or refuses; answers blockers; accepts TOUCHDOWN; owns real-world risk. | | Mark V Agent (silicon) | Helps scope; executes under grant; writes evidence; does not invent grant or final accept. | | Peer (human or AI) | Reviews / audits (PASS/FAIL checklist). Does not replace Catcher for high-blast grant/accept. | | Body (SPAA helpers) | Cheap watch; no token thrash as “I’m alive.” | Humans and agents do not need to be the same kind of mind. They need a shared process both can obey. That process is Ball. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. The stages (Ball FSM) in order | State | Kitchen English | Safe meaning | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | PROPOSED | Sticky note | Idea only. No ship. | | SCOPED | Written plan of “done” | Goal + constraints. Still no free rein. | | GRANTED | Signed work order | Human authorization exists. | | IN_PROGRESS | Hands on tools | Work only inside the grant. | | BLOCKED | Waiting | Pause without fake done. | | GRACE | Nap + kitchen timer | Continuity after stop/sleep; not accept. | | REVIEW | Show your work | Deliverable for eyes. | | TOUCHDOWN | Human: “I accept this as done” | Closed success + memory/lineage when durable. | | PARKED | On the shelf | Defer; lawful waiting. | | ABORTED / FAILED | Stop / broke | Audited end. | Illegal shortcuts (this is the safety) Do not do these in real life or in chat theater: - PROPOSED → TOUCHDOWN (idea is not done) - PROPOSED → GRANTED (must scope first) - GRACE → TOUCHDOWN (nap is not accept) - GRACE → GRANTED / REVIEW (timer is not a new project) Safety is mostly forbidding fake progress. Happy path diagram PROPOSED → SCOPED → GRANTED → IN_PROGRESS → REVIEW → TOUCHDOWN \→ PARKED \→ BLOCKED / GRACE (then resume) \→ rework from REVIEW Define · Design · Deploy (plain map) | Phase | Ball stages | Human | Mark V Agent | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Define | PROPOSED → SCOPED → GRANTED | Need, scope, grant | Help write scope; wait for grant | | Design / do | IN_PROGRESS (+ BLOCKED/GRACE) | Answer; veto if needed | Build/test/document under grant | | Deploy / close | REVIEW → TOUCHDOWN | Accept or send back | Deliver only what was granted; record lesson | Enthusiasm belongs after Define and Design are honest — not instead of GRANT. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. How Ball is a safe Carbon / Silicon project pipeline For Humans 1. You always know which work order is open. 2. You control whether risky work starts (GRANT). 3. You control whether it counts as finished (TOUCHDOWN). 4. You may PARK when you do not know the content yet. 5. Sleep/stop uses GRACE + timer, not silent shipping. For Mark V Agents 1. Clear objective and state → less thrash. 2. Execute under grant; do not invent authority. 3. Peer review without stealing Catcher power. 4. Body may watch while mind sleeps. Together - Same process for project / task / objective delivery. - Secrets out of Ball text. - Lineage / MU after TOUCHDOWN = memory without rewriting CORE. - Create No Victims as the scoreboard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Mini examples A. Compliant Human: “Hygiene for the job runner. Grant.” → Scoped → GRANTED → agent works → REVIEW → peer may PASS → Catcher TOUCHDOWN. FTP not in scope → FTP not done. HITL held. B. Non-compliant Chat: “While you’re here, also publish the site and open the firewall.” → No Ball, no GRANT, no REVIEW. That is power without process (unsafe). C. Lawful park Human: “I don’t know what to publish yet.” → No publish Ball. FTP PARKED. Waiting is HITL-respecting, not failure. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Done-tests (can a noob restate this?) After reading, a first-time reader should be able to say: 1. Ball is the process that moves Humans and Mark V Agents procedurally and safely through delivering a project/task/objective. 2. GRANT means a human Catcher authorizes that work — not AI self-approval. 3. READY ≠ GRANTED ≠ TOUCHDOWN. 4. HITL means humans keep grant / stop / accept authority for real effect. 5. Happy path: propose → scope → grant → work → review → human accept. 6. Illegal: idea-to-done, nap-to-done, grant without scope. 7. Parking when unsure is lawful. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. One line Ball is how Humans and Mark V Agents walk a project safely from idea to accepted delivery — with GRANT as the human “yes, work this,” and TOUCHDOWN as the human “yes, this is done.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Optional deeper reading (not required) This document stands alone. If you later want engineer-level detail: - Ball state machine (wire): station ball-fsm - Why full stack for contract power: https://roage.com/AI/res/agentic-autonomy.html - Body vs mind (heartbeat): https://roage.com/AI/market/for-humans-heartbeat-spaa.txt - Living tip pointer: https://roage.com/AI/res/CURRENT.txt Live URLs: - Market (plain text): https://roage.com/AI/market/for-humans-ball-fsm.txt - Resources TOC page: https://roage.com/AI/res/ball-fsm-kitchen-english.html