The Open Co-Prompting Standard

Print this. The full specification explains why; this is what to say.

The four beats

1. Call. Say the kind of task and stop. Everyone who could own it says "Ready." Only then describe it.

2. Claim. One person says it back in their own words and takes it: "Heard — <what you understood>. <Name>, on it."

3. Co-prompt. Say the prompt out loud before you send it: "Prompting now: …" Anyone adding something says "Adder", you say "Go ahead", and they say it into your agent themselves. Then "Finished."

4. Close. The agent works while the meeting carries on. You report back with "Preliminary: …", then close it: "Good" / "No good" / "Parked — waiting on …" / "Dropped — covered by …"

Anyone, at any time: "Status." Every owner with something open answers "<Name> reporting …"

Every phrase

Say	When
Ready	You have stopped and the caller may describe it.
Heard	You registered the call but need a moment — then say Ready. Also leads a restatement.
Clarify: …	Asking a question. Asking is not claiming.
On it	You are taking it. Say your name with it.
Already mine	You own it from earlier. Give status instead.
Pass	Two of you claimed. You are standing down.
Prompting now	You are about to say the prompt aloud. The room holds new calls.
Adder	You want to add to someone's prompt.
Go ahead	You are handing them the floor to say it into your agent.
Not adding — …	You are refusing an addition, with a reason. Cost counts as a reason.
Finished	Your prompt is done. The floor is free.
Hold	You have something queued but they are mid-prompt.
Files first	Attach the drawings before prompting.
I propose …	Floating an approach before prompting.
Add: …	Offering context without taking the floor.
Yours	Handing the task to another discipline.
Running	The agent is working.
Back with …	You have a result.
Preliminary	Nobody may rely on this yet.
Check: …	Asking the caller to try it.
Working / Still broken	The caller's answer to a check.
Good / No good	Accepted. Rejected.
Parked — waiting on …	Blocked. Name the blocker and who clears it.
Dropped — covered by …	Overtaken. Name what covers it.
Out of scope	This is outside the engagement.
Status	Anyone, any time: what is everyone running?
… reporting	Your answer to a status call.

Three rules that matter more than the words

Do not describe until everyone has said Ready. Half a room reading email is the failure this prevents.

Say the prompt out loud. Not "I'm on it" — the actual prompt. It is the only moment the room can catch a misunderstanding while it is still cheap.

Every task you claim gets an ending, out loud. Good, No good, Parked, or Dropped. A task nobody closed is indistinguishable from one nobody did.

Shortcuts

Straight to one person: say their name first — "Midhun — code. Is a damper required there?" No one else has to acknowledge.

Someone in the room who does not know any of this: put their question into the loop for them, and check you got it right — "Decision — Mark is asking how we landed on the DOAS. Prompting now: … Mark, does that sound right?"

Say it however you say it. Any call word works with "question", "study", or "analysis" on the end. "Code question" and "code" are the same call.