blog: draft Electric Agents 0.1 release post

website/.vitepress/config.mts

@@ -260,6 +260,10 @@ const agentsDocsSidebar = [
         text: 'Managing state',
         link: '/docs/agents/usage/managing-state',
       },
+      {
+        text: 'Permissions & principals',
+        link: '/docs/agents/usage/permissions-and-principals',
+      },
       {
         text: 'Spawning & coordinating',
         link: '/docs/agents/usage/spawning-and-coordinating',
@@ -268,6 +272,9 @@ const agentsDocsSidebar = [
         text: 'Waking entities',
         link: '/docs/agents/usage/waking-entities',
       },
+      { text: 'Signals', link: '/docs/agents/usage/signals' },
+      { text: 'Sandboxing', link: '/docs/agents/usage/sandboxing' },
+      { text: 'Attachments', link: '/docs/agents/usage/attachments' },
       { text: 'Shared state', link: '/docs/agents/usage/shared-state' },
       {
         text: 'Clients & React',
@@ -282,6 +289,7 @@ const agentsDocsSidebar = [
         text: 'Embedded built-ins',
         link: '/docs/agents/usage/embedded-builtins',
       },
+      { text: 'Event sources', link: '/docs/agents/usage/event-sources' },
       { text: 'MCP servers', link: '/docs/agents/usage/mcp-servers' },
       { text: 'Testing', link: '/docs/agents/usage/testing' },
     ],

website/docs/agents/entities/agents/horton.md

@@ -26,31 +26,35 @@ npx electric-ax agents observe /horton/my-horton
 
 Horton is configured with `ctx.electricTools` plus the base Horton tool set:
 
-| Tool           | Purpose                                                  |
-| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
-| `bash`         | Run shell commands in the working directory.             |
-| `read`         | Read a file. Tracked in a per-wake `readSet`.            |
-| `write`        | Create or overwrite a file.                              |
-| `edit`         | Targeted string replacement (file must be `read` first). |
-| `brave_search` | Web search via the Brave Search API.                     |
-| `fetch_url`    | Fetch a URL and return it as markdown.                   |
-| `spawn_worker` | Dispatch a subagent for an isolated subtask.             |
-
-`brave_search` requires `BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY` in the environment; without it the tool errors at call time.
-
-When docs support or skills are available, Horton also adds the docs search tool and skill tools during bootstrap.
+| Tool              | Purpose                                                  |
+| ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `bash`            | Run shell commands in the working directory.             |
+| `read`            | Read a file. Tracked in a per-wake `readSet`.            |
+| `write`           | Create or overwrite a file.                              |
+| `edit`            | Targeted string replacement (file must be `read` first). |
+| `web_search`      | Web search via the configured search provider.           |
+| `fetch_url`       | Fetch a URL and return it as markdown.                   |
+| `spawn_worker`    | Dispatch a subagent for an isolated subtask.             |
+| `fork`            | Branch a session at its latest completed response.       |
+| `observe_pg_sync` | Observe an Electric Postgres shape and wake on changes.  |
+| `send`            | Send a message to another entity.                        |
+| `set_title`       | Rename the current chat session title.                   |
+
+`web_search` uses the search provider configured by the built-in runtime; Brave search requires `BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY`.
+
+When docs support or skills are available, Horton also adds the docs search tool and skill tools during bootstrap. Built-in runtimes also provide `ctx.electricTools`, including schedule tools and event-source tools when configured.
 
 ## Title generation
 
-After the first agent run completes, Horton calls `generateTitle()` (Haiku) to summarise the user's first message into a 3-5 word session title and stores it via `ctx.setTag('title', title)`. Failures are logged and ignored — the entity continues without a title.
+After the first agent run completes, Horton calls `generateTitle()` using the configured low-cost model to summarise the user's first message into a 3-5 word session title and stores it via `ctx.setTag('title', title)`. Failures are logged and ignored — the entity continues without a title.
 
 ## Details
 
 | Property          | Value                                             |
 | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
 | Type name         | `horton`                                          |
-| Model             | `HORTON_MODEL` (`claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`)     |
-| Title model       | `claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`                       |
+| Model             | `HORTON_MODEL` (`claude-sonnet-4-6` by default)   |
+| Title model       | Configured low-cost model                         |
 | Tools             | `ctx.electricTools` + base Horton tool set, plus docs/skill tools when configured |
 | Working directory | Passed at bootstrap (defaults to `process.cwd()`) |
 | Title generation  | Yes, after the first run if no title tag exists   |

website/docs/agents/entities/agents/worker.md

@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ interface WorkerArgs {
   tools?: Array<WorkerToolName>
   sharedDb?: { id: string; schema: SharedStateSchemaMap }
   sharedDbToolMode?: "full" | "write-only"
+  model?: string
+  provider?: string
+  reasoningEffort?: string
 }
 ```
 
@@ -29,6 +32,9 @@ interface WorkerArgs {
 | `tools`            | No       | Subset of valid tool names (see below). Unknown names throw at parse time.                    |
 | `sharedDb`         | No       | Shared state stream id and schema to connect to.                                              |
 | `sharedDbToolMode` | No       | Shared state tool mode: `"full"` (default) or `"write-only"`.                                 |
+| `model`            | No       | Model id override. Usually inherited from `spawn_worker` / Horton model config.               |
+| `provider`         | No       | Model provider override paired with `model`.                                                  |
+| `reasoningEffort`  | No       | Reasoning effort override for compatible reasoning models.                                    |
 
 `registerWorker(registry, { workingDirectory, streamFn? })` is called by the dev server during bootstrap; you don't usually call it yourself.
 
@@ -40,9 +46,10 @@ type WorkerToolName =
   | "read"
   | "write"
   | "edit"
-  | "brave_search"
+  | "web_search"
   | "fetch_url"
   | "spawn_worker"
+  | "send"
 ```
 
 These are the same primitives Horton uses. Pick the smallest subset the worker needs — tools are the worker's permission set.
@@ -57,7 +64,7 @@ The canonical way to spawn a worker is the `spawn_worker` tool, which Horton cal
 spawn_worker({
   systemPrompt:
     "You are a focused researcher. Find the three most-cited papers on X and return their titles, authors, and DOIs as a markdown table.",
-  tools: ["brave_search", "fetch_url"],
+  tools: ["web_search", "fetch_url"],
   initialMessage: "Begin research now.",
 })
 ```
@@ -75,7 +82,7 @@ The spawn uses `wake: { on: 'runFinished', includeResponse: true }`, so the spaw
 1. Parses `ctx.args` into `WorkerArgs`. Throws if `systemPrompt` is empty, if `tools` contains an unknown name, or if neither `tools` nor `sharedDb` is provided.
 2. Builds the requested tool instances against the worker's `workingDirectory` (and a fresh per-wake `readSet` for the read-first-then-edit guard).
 3. If `sharedDb` is present, connects with `ctx.observe(db(id, schema))` and exposes generated `read_*`, `write_*`, `update_*`, and `delete_*` tools (`write_*` only in `"write-only"` mode).
-4. Configures the agent with `HORTON_MODEL` (`claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`), the provided system prompt (with a brief reporting-back footer appended), and the assembled tool list.
+4. Configures the agent with `HORTON_MODEL` (`claude-sonnet-4-6` by default), the provided system prompt (with a brief reporting-back footer appended), and the assembled tool list.
 5. Runs the agent until the LLM stops.
 
 ::: warning Least-privilege sandbox
@@ -96,7 +103,7 @@ When you finish, respond with a concise report covering what was done and any ke
 | Property          | Value                                                                 |
 | ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
 | Type name         | `worker`                                                              |
-| Model             | `HORTON_MODEL` (`claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`)                         |
-| Tools             | Subset of 7 primitives plus optional shared-state tools. **No `ctx.electricTools`.** |
+| Model             | `HORTON_MODEL` (`claude-sonnet-4-6` by default)                       |
+| Tools             | Subset of 8 primitives plus optional shared-state tools. **No `ctx.electricTools`.** |
 | Working directory | Provided to `registerWorker` at bootstrap                             |
 | Description       | `Internal — generic worker spawned by other agents. Configure via spawn args (systemPrompt + tools + optional sharedDb).` |

website/docs/agents/entities/patterns/blackboard.md

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ export function registerDebate(registry: EntityRegistry) {
 
       ctx.useAgent({
         systemPrompt: DEBATE_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
-        model: `claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`,
+        model: `claude-sonnet-4-6`,
         tools: [...ctx.electricTools, startTool, checkTool, endTool],
       })
       await ctx.agent.run()

website/docs/agents/entities/patterns/dispatcher.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export function registerDispatcher(registry: EntityRegistry) {
 
       ctx.useAgent({
         systemPrompt: DISPATCHER_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
-        model: `claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`,
+        model: `claude-sonnet-4-6`,
         tools: [...ctx.electricTools, dispatchTool],
       })
       await ctx.agent.run()

website/docs/agents/entities/patterns/manager-worker.md

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export function registerManagerWorker(registry: EntityRegistry) {
 
       ctx.useAgent({
         systemPrompt: MANAGER_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
-        model: `claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`,
+        model: `claude-sonnet-4-6`,
         tools: [...ctx.electricTools, analyzeTool],
       })
       await ctx.agent.run()

website/docs/agents/entities/patterns/map-reduce.md

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export function registerMapReduce(registry: EntityRegistry) {
     async handler(ctx) {
       ctx.useAgent({
         systemPrompt: MAP_REDUCE_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
-        model: `claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`,
+        model: `claude-sonnet-4-6`,
         tools: [...ctx.electricTools, createMapChunksTool(ctx)],
       })
       await ctx.agent.run()

website/docs/agents/entities/patterns/pipeline.md

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export function registerPipeline(registry: EntityRegistry) {
     async handler(ctx) {
       ctx.useAgent({
         systemPrompt: PIPELINE_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
-        model: `claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`,
+        model: `claude-sonnet-4-6`,
         tools: [...ctx.electricTools, createRunStageTool(ctx)],
       })
       await ctx.agent.run()

website/docs/agents/entities/patterns/reactive-observers.md

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export function registerMonitor(registry: EntityRegistry) {
 
       ctx.useAgent({
         systemPrompt: MONITOR_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
-        model: `claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`,
+        model: `claude-sonnet-4-6`,
         tools: [...ctx.electricTools, observeTool],
       })
       await ctx.agent.run()

website/docs/agents/index.md

@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ registry.define("support", {
     if (wake.type === "inbox") {
       ctx.useAgent({
         systemPrompt: "You are a support agent.",
-        model: "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
+        model: "claude-sonnet-4-6",
         tools: [...ctx.electricTools, searchKbTool],
       })
       await ctx.agent.run()
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ The core pattern is [`ctx.useAgent()`](/docs/agents/reference/agent-config) foll
 ```ts
 ctx.useAgent({
   systemPrompt: "You are a helpful assistant.",
-  model: "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
+  model: "claude-sonnet-4-6",
   tools: [...ctx.electricTools, myCustomTool],
 })
 
@@ -228,5 +228,7 @@ See [Managing state](/docs/agents/usage/managing-state) for more information.
 - [Writing handlers](/docs/agents/usage/writing-handlers) — handler lifecycle and the `ctx` API.
 - [Configuring the agent](/docs/agents/usage/configuring-the-agent) — `useAgent`, models, tools, and streaming.
 - [Spawning & coordinating](/docs/agents/usage/spawning-and-coordinating) — multi-entity topologies and shared state.
-- [Built-in agents](/docs/agents/entities/agents/horton) — Horton, Worker, and Coder, the agents that ship with the runtime.
+- [Permissions & principals](/docs/agents/usage/permissions-and-principals) — entity access control and principal-scoped clients.
+- [Sandboxing](/docs/agents/usage/sandboxing), [Attachments](/docs/agents/usage/attachments), [Signals](/docs/agents/usage/signals), and [Event sources](/docs/agents/usage/event-sources) — newer runtime capabilities for hosted agents.
+- [Built-in agents](/docs/agents/entities/agents/horton) — Horton and Worker, the agents that ship with the runtime.
 - [Examples](/docs/agents/examples/playground) — pattern walkthroughs and demo apps.

website/docs/agents/quickstart.md

@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ registry.define("assistant", {
   async handler(ctx) {
     ctx.useAgent({
       systemPrompt: "You are a helpful assistant.",
-      model: "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
+      model: "claude-sonnet-4-6",
       tools: [...ctx.electricTools],
     })
     await ctx.agent.run()
@@ -202,4 +202,4 @@ See the [CLI reference](./reference/cli#start) for the full set of commands.
 - [Defining entities](./usage/defining-entities) — entity types, schemas, and configuration.
 - [Writing handlers](./usage/writing-handlers) — handler lifecycle and the `ctx` API.
 - [Configuring the agent](./usage/configuring-the-agent) — `useAgent`, models, tools, and streaming.
-- [Built-in agents](./entities/agents/horton) — Horton, Worker, and Coder, the agents that ship with the runtime.
+- [Built-in agents](./entities/agents/horton) — Horton and Worker, the agents that ship with the runtime.

website/docs/agents/reference/agent-config.md

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ interface AgentConfig {
 | Field           | Type                         | Required | Description                                                                                         |
 | --------------- | ---------------------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
 | `systemPrompt`  | `string`                     | Yes      | System prompt sent to the LLM on each step.                                                         |
-| `model`         | `string \| Model<any>`       | Yes      | Model identifier (e.g. `"claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"`) or a resolved model object.                  |
+| `model`         | `string \| Model<any>`       | Yes      | Model identifier (e.g. `"claude-sonnet-4-6"`) or a resolved model object.                  |
 | `provider`      | `KnownProvider`              | No       | Provider to use when `model` is a string. Defaults to `"anthropic"`.                                |
 | `tools`         | `AgentTool[]`                | Yes      | Tools available to the LLM. Spread `ctx.electricTools` when your runtime host provides runtime-level tools. See [`AgentTool`](./agent-tool). |
 | `streamFn`      | `StreamFn`                   | No       | Optional streaming callback passed to the underlying agent.                                         |