The ledger comes before chat
Messages, model calls, tool outcomes, goals, branches, artifacts, and runtime decisions enter one ordered event stream. Chat and the inspection UI are projections of that durable record.
Agent RuntimeIndependent2026
Napier
A local-first work ledger for inspectable, recoverable agent runs
How can multi-step agent work resume from durable evidence instead of chat history?
Project context
Napier treats an ordered evidence ledger, not chat history, as system state. Messages, model calls, tool outcomes, goals, branches, artifacts, and runtime decisions are recorded before they are presented, so recorded runs can be inspected, resumed, branched, reconstructed, compared, and evaluated.
SYSTEM PATH
Evidence before interface
- 01RunEvent contracts
- 02SQLite WAL ledger
- 03Governed runtime
- 04Web, CLI, SDK, and RPC
Key decisions
Interrupted work keeps a continuation path
Leased runs, persistent goals, budgets, operator decisions, sequence-accurate branches, explicit resume, and safe read-only recovery let eligible interrupted work continue without reconstructing state from chat.
Governance stays in the runtime
Workspace confinement, execution-time tool-policy checks, preview-bound changes, sandboxed execution, loop guards, and verification remain in the main execution path, with their outcomes recorded in the same ledger.
DESIGN CONTRACT
Principles and honest boundaries
- Ordered evidence is authoritative
- Interrupted runs have explicit recovery paths
- Tool policy is checked at execution time
- Replay is hash-verified evidence, not re-execution
Implementation and visuals
Project UI, architecture, and system visualizations used to make the work inspectable.
