Relay
Concepts · How Relay works · v1 · 2026-09-24
Ground
Motion
Six working concepts · an agentic workspace

How Relay is used, and what is different afterwards.

One person, several agents, different tools. Each concept shows one thing a person or an agent does with Relay, then proves one benefit by what is visibly different on screen afterwards. Nothing here draws the inside of the machine. The hands only.

  1. 01Two harnesses, one threadNo cold starts · Any tool
  2. 02Tomorrow's youNo cold starts, the dominant case
  3. 03The workspace dayOne roster · A trail you didn't write
  4. 04Where the Code livesAny tool · When and where you need it
  5. 05Consent at the boundaryConsent · Admin is not reader
  6. 06Before / after the routerYou stop being the router

Each specimen plays once as it enters view, and again on Play. Two are driven by scrolling. The ground and motion switches are in the header; reduced motion shows every specimen at rest, complete.

01 · Two harnesses, one thread

The first reply is a decision, not a question.

No cold startsAny tool
In words

Left, a terminal session in Claude Code. You say Package this session. The agent replies: Packaged. Rate-limit rewrite, fourteen turns. On record: token bucket over sliding window. Next: the retry path in the client. A Code appears: QNHC2C7WRD, single use, sent by you, 16:42.

Right, an editor session in Cursor. The Code crosses. You say Relay QNHC2C7WRD. The first reply: Picking up the rate-limit rewrite. Token bucket, as decided. Starting on the retry path in the client. Stamped: Received, from Claude Code, 16:43.

Below, the same editor with no Code. You say Continue the rate-limit work. The reply is a question: Which rate-limit work? Share the file and what has been decided so far.

The idea
Two tools, one thread. The left session packages, the right one relays the Code in. The proof is the right pane's first line: it names the decision and the next step. The ghost pane is the same request without a Code.
Proves, and how you see it
No cold starts: a first reply that continues, set against one that asks. Any tool: the context left a terminal and landed in an editor, with no change in what you typed.
Where it lives
Product, in place of the four numbered steps. Or Home, beneath the loop, as the loop with its consequence attached.
Cost
On demand, or once on scroll. About six seconds, transform and opacity only. The heaviest copy on the page after 03: nine transcript lines, each under the voice law. Medium build.
02 · Tomorrow's you

Close the lid at 18:40. Open a different tool at 09:10.

No cold starts, the dominant case
The idea
Time is the axis, not space. The evening session packages and the lid closes. The Code is the bookmark that sits in the night. The morning session, in a different tool, relays it in and resumes.
Proves, and how you see it
No cold starts, in the dominant case: the next holder of your context is you. The reader sees a morning first line that carries last night's decision, and a chip that never left the rail.
Where it lives
Home on Bold, as the hero's companion. It is the cover two-beat, drawn: the session ends, the context doesn't. Also the demo shape that needs one person and a laptop lid.
Cost
Scroll-driven, so it spends nothing from the page's one loud slot. One sticky stage, three transforms, a scrubber for anyone who would rather not scroll. Low build.
In words

Tuesday, 18:40, a laptop, Claude Code. You say Package this. Done for today. The agent: Packaged. Onboarding email sequence: four emails, the third cut. Next: subject lines for one, two and four. The Code K7BX2Q9TMH, sent by you. The lid closes.

The Code sits in the night and crosses it as you scroll. Wednesday, 09:10, a phone, ChatGPT. You say Relay K7BX2Q9TMH. The first reply: Resuming the onboarding sequence. Three emails stand, the third is cut. Subject lines for one, two and four, starting with one. Stamped: Received, from Claude Code.

03 · The workspace day

A day's work moves five times. Nobody wrote the trail.

People and agents on one rosterA trail you didn't have to write
In words

Five on the roster: you, Priya, a builder agent, a review agent and a pipeline step. At 09:05 the builder agent drafts the import parser, leaves two encoding questions open and packages: R7Q4MZ. At 10:40 the review agent relays it in, closes question one, sends question two to a person and packages: H2NW8K4LPD. At 13:15 Priya relays that in on her phone, decides to keep the legacy path for one release and packages: T9C3XV. At 16:00 a pipeline step relays it in unattended, runs the suite, all passing, and packages: MB6D2QH8RS. At 17:30 you relay that in and the first line tells you where the day ended: one thing left, the merge.

In the margin, a ledger fills as each hop happens: time, sent or in, who, the Code. Eight rows. Nobody typed them.

The idea
One day, scroll-driven. A builder agent, a review agent, a teammate, a pipeline step and you pass one piece of work along. Every hop is the same two verbs, whoever is on either side. Each agent writes the note while it still has the context; the person only reads and decides.
Proves, and how you see it
One roster: agent to agent to person to pipeline to you, with no change of mechanism at any hop. The trail: the ledger in the margin fills itself as you scroll. It is the receipt, not a lock.
Where it lives
Use cases, as the page's spine. Or Product, under the agent does the filing.
Cost
Scroll-driven, no budget spent. The longest section and the most copy: five cards, a question, a decision and eight ledger rows. Medium build, and it wants the copy pass first.
04 · Where the Code lives

A Code goes wherever text goes.

Any toolWhen you need it, where you need it
In words

Six places a Code can sit: an issue, a chat message, a pull request, a sticky note, a calendar invite, a commit message. Tap one and its Code lifts into the harness input as Relay and the Code. The first reply names what arrived and the next move. For the issue: The export bug, with the repro and the failing case. Starting on the fix. For the commit message: The reasoning behind the split. Continuing where it stopped. The Codes are different lengths on purpose.

The idea
A Code is text, so it goes anywhere text goes: an issue, a chat, a pull request, a note on a monitor. Whoever picks it up relays it in from wherever they are. When you need it, where you need it, made literal.
Proves, and how you see it
Any tool: six places, one input, the same verb. When and where: the lift is the whole interaction. There is no app to open first.
Where it lives
A strip on Product, beneath Share, six cards wide and unanimated. Or Use cases, as the opener.
Cost
Interactive rather than animated: one lift per tap, under a second. Six small cards, six one-line replies. Low build.
05 · Consent at the boundary

Nothing of yours crosses to another person until you say so.

Consent at every boundaryAdmin is not reader
In words

Sam, in an editor, says Relay QNHC2C7WRD. The reply: Waiting for the owner to allow it. Nothing has crossed. On your phone a request appears: Sam wants to relay QNHC2C7WRD in. Launch checklist, sent by you, single use. Two buttons, Allow and Decline.

Allow, and Sam's session continues: Relayed in. The launch checklist, three items still open. Starting on the first. Stamped: Received, allowed by you, 11:02. Decline, and it reads: The owner declined. Nothing crossed.

Beside both, the org admin's view: one row, the Code, sent by you, relayed in by Sam at 11:02, and a content column that stays blank. Admins see that it moved, who to, and when. Never what it says.

The idea
Cross-person sharing as it actually runs: ask, allow, relay. The allow is a real button the viewer presses. Beside it, the org admin's lens shows the relay exists and who touched it, with the content column blank on purpose.
Proves, and how you see it
Consent at every boundary: Sam's session sits and waits until you press Allow, and Decline leaves it with nothing. Admin is not reader: the blank column. Governance as a receipt, not a lock.
Where it lives
Security, in place of the paragraph that says the same thing.
Cost
Interactive, not animated: two buttons and three state changes. Low build, and the one concept on this page that is better as a click than as a loop.
06 · Before / after the router

The same hour, with and without you in the middle.

You stop being the router
In words

Left, without Relay: a terminal, an editor and a phone, with you in the middle. Pasted blocks shuttle from you to each window and pile up there. Underneath: the brief, re-explained. Again. Right, with Relay: the same three windows, joined by two Codes, QNHC2C7WRD and K7BX2Q9TMH. You are at the side. Nothing moves.

The idea
A diptych. The same hour of work with and without Relay. Left: you as the router, three windows, pastes, the brief re-explained. Right: two Codes, and you are not in the middle. The difference in visual noise makes the argument.
Proves, and how you see it
You stop being the router: the left half never settles; the right half never moves. The reader's eye does the comparison.
Where it lives
Home on minimal, above the fold; it is the sub-line drawn. On Bold it competes with the drifting Codes and should not run.
Cost
One loud piece if it autoplays; cheap on demand. Only the left half animates, transform and opacity, about five seconds. Low build.
Recommendation

Ship two, place two, hold two.

  1. 02, Tomorrow's you, goes to Home on Bold as the hero's companion. It is scroll-driven, so it spends nothing from the page's one loud slot, which the live Code card already holds. It draws the cover two-beat without saying it, and it is the case a visitor has personally lost work to.
  2. 01, Two harnesses, one thread, replaces Product's four numbered steps. It is the loop with the value on the first line instead of in a caption. The ghost pane does the arguing.
  3. 05, Consent at the boundary, goes to Security as it stands. It is a click, not a loop, and it is the one thing on this page that words cannot do: the column that stays blank.
  4. 03, The workspace day, is the spine of Use cases when that page is next revisited. It carries the roster and the trail together. It is the most copy on the page, so it takes the copy pass before it takes a slot.
  5. 04 is a strip, not a section. Hold it for Product beneath Share, six cards wide, no animation. Or fold its best line into 01.
  6. 06 is held. The Bold sub-line already says it in words, and drawing the chaos costs more motion than the argument earns.

Transcripts or glyphs: both, by what the proof is.

Where the proof is a sentence the reader has to read, a first reply that continues, it is a transcript, kept to two lines a pane: 01, 02, 05. Where the proof is a shape, who, when, where, how much noise, it is the glyph language: generic chrome, Codes, a rail, a ledger: 03, 04, 06.

Every proof of value this product can show that is not a demo transcript is a proof of shape. Drawing those is where the brand gets to be itself, and it is lighter on copy and on the voice law both.

What this page keeps.

  • No inside of the machine. Verbs only: package, a Code, drop it, relay it in, who sent it and who took it in.
  • Verb register throughout. No claim or receive in copy; Received survives as a state label.
  • Codes capitalised, lengths mixed on purpose and never stated.
  • Harness names as labels on generic chrome: terminal, editor, phone. Only the confirmed list.
  • No time saved, no counts, no logos, no memory. Nothing filed, nothing pending.