TERVOS.yaml Manifest Reference

Complete field reference for the TERVOS.yaml manifest format. The canonical Zod schema is at packages/core/src/schemas/manifest.ts.

Root Fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`schema`	`"tervos/v1"`	Yes	—	Schema version. Must be present.
`name`	string	Yes	—	Organization name (min 1 char)
`description`	string	No	—	Organization description
`governance`	object	No	`{ autonomy_level: "supervised" }`	Governance configuration
`agents`	map	Yes	—	Agent definitions, keyed by agent ID. Min 1 agent required.
`projects`	map	No	`{}`	Project and task definitions, keyed by project ID

Governance Fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`autonomy_level`	enum	No	`"supervised"`	Org-wide default autonomy level
`human_approvers`	array	No	—	Human principals who can approve actions
`budget`	object	No	—	Org-wide budget config

`human_approvers[]` fields

Field	Type	Required	Default
`name`	string	Yes	—
`roles`	string[]	No	`["admin"]`

`budget` fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`monthly_limit_usd`	number (positive)	No	Monthly spending cap for the org
`per_transaction_limit_usd`	number (positive)	No	Per-action spending cap

Agent Fields

Key: agent ID (any string, min 1 char)

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`role`	string	Yes	—	Human-readable role title
`model`	string	Yes	—	LLM model identifier (e.g., `claude-sonnet-4-20250514`)
`description`	string	No	—	Role description
`reports_to`	agent ID	No	—	Manager agent ID. Omit for top of hierarchy.
`autonomy_level`	enum	No	org default	Per-agent override: `supervised` \| `semi-autonomous` \| `autonomous` \| `fully-autonomous`
`budget_monthly_usd`	number (positive)	No	—	Monthly budget limit in USD
`capabilities`	string[]	No	`[]`	Agent skills (free-form strings)
`can_delegate_to`	agent ID[]	No	`[]`	Agent IDs this agent can assign tasks to
`tools`	string[]	No	`[]`	MCP tool URIs this agent can use

Project Fields

Key: project ID (any string, min 1 char)

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`name`	string	Yes	—	Project name
`description`	string	No	—	Project description
`owner`	agent ID	Yes	—	Agent responsible for the project
`tasks`	array	No	`[]`	Task definitions

Task Fields (within `projects.*.tasks[]`)

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`id`	string	Yes	—	Task identifier (unique within project)
`name`	string	Yes	—	Task name
`assignee`	agent ID	Yes	—	Agent assigned to this task
`description`	string	No	—	Task description
`priority`	enum	No	`"medium"`	`critical` \| `high` \| `medium` \| `low`
`estimated_cost_usd`	number (≥ 0)	No	—	Estimated cost in USD
`acceptance_criteria`	string[]	No	`[]`	Criteria for task completion
`depends_on`	task ID[]	No	`[]`	Task IDs this task must wait for (within same project)

Note: assignee is required for all tasks. There is no unassigned task concept in the current schema.

Autonomy Level Values

Value	Description
`supervised`	Every action requires human approval
`semi-autonomous`	Most actions auto-approved; sensitive ones require approval
`autonomous`	Agent acts independently; humans notified after the fact
`fully-autonomous`	Complete autonomy, no human-in-the-loop

In devMode, all agents are activated regardless of autonomy level and actions auto-approve.

Validation Rules

schema must equal "tervos/v1"
At least one agent must be defined
reports_to must reference a defined agent ID
No circular reports_to chains (must form a DAG)
All can_delegate_to entries must reference defined agent IDs
Project owner must reference a defined agent ID
Task assignee must reference a defined agent ID
Task depends_on entries must reference task IDs within the same project
Sum of budget_monthly_usd across all agents must not exceed governance.budget.monthly_limit_usd (if set)

Minimal Example

schema: tervos/v1
name: "My AI Company"

agents:
  researcher:
    role: "Research Analyst"
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
    capabilities:
      - research
      - analysis

  writer:
    role: "Content Writer"
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
    capabilities:
      - writing
      - editing

Full Example

schema: tervos/v1
name: "Demo AI Corp"
description: "A 3-agent demonstration organization"

governance:
  autonomy_level: semi-autonomous
  budget:
    monthly_limit_usd: 100
    per_transaction_limit_usd: 10

agents:
  ceo:
    role: "CEO"
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
    capabilities:
      - strategy
      - delegation
    can_delegate_to:
      - analyst
      - writer
    budget_monthly_usd: 30

  analyst:
    role: "Research Analyst"
    reports_to: ceo
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
    capabilities:
      - research
      - analysis
    budget_monthly_usd: 40

  writer:
    role: "Content Writer"
    reports_to: ceo
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
    capabilities:
      - writing
      - editing
    budget_monthly_usd: 30

projects:
  demo-research:
    name: "Competitor Research & Blog Post"
    owner: ceo
    tasks:
      - id: research
        name: "Research competitor landscape"
        assignee: analyst
        priority: high
        estimated_cost_usd: 5
        acceptance_criteria:
          - "Identify top 5 competitors"
          - "Summarize strengths and weaknesses"

      - id: blog-post
        name: "Write blog post from research findings"
        assignee: writer
        priority: high
        estimated_cost_usd: 3
        depends_on:
          - research
        acceptance_criteria:
          - "1000-1500 words"
          - "SEO-optimized"