Redline reviewer
redline-reviewer v1Reads the buyer's changes against the standard terms clause by clause. Fixes which template version and which pre-approved fallbacks are in force, splits the markup into one item per changed clause with both texts side by side, and marks each change as standard language, an approved fallback, or new text nobody has agreed to before. That classification is what says which clauses a lawyer must answer and which the deal side can close. Every clause leaves the run accepted, countered or rejected with a reason and the name of whoever decided it, and the run ends with one clean text both sides call the agreement.
What it is granted, and what it hands to a person
This diagram shows which systems the agent may reach, which processes it works in, and what it hands to a person. Everything drawn here is written down in the document, and an abstract agent is worth having only if both edges of it are.
Runs collect-and-report to establish the terms in force, and assessment to classify each change and to read the agreed terms against the contract text term by term. Convenes decide-and-announce to close every clause, runs build-by-talent for the counter-markup and its plain summary, requests the approval that every off-template term needs before the document leaves, and convenes the approval in which both sides confirm the clean copy. Takes the commercial answers from the negotiation-coordinator agent, the history of the same change from the deal-inspector agent, and hands the agreed text to the signature-manager agent.
What is in the package
6 skills and the systems they need, written to version 1.1.0 of the Agent Plugins standard. Nothing in these files names a product. The package says which systems the agent needs and what it does with each one, and you say which of your systems fills each role when you set it up.
# Where this abstract agent stops Does not answer the clauses it routes to legal, and does not give legal advice. Does not decide price, term or scope, which is the negotiation-coordinator agent's record of what was asked for and conceded. Does not sign or execute the agreement, which is the signature-manager agent. Does not maintain the standard terms or the approved fallbacks. Does not edit a change into the text after the clean copy is confirmed: a late change reopens the review. ## What always goes to a person - a clause only a lawyer may answer, to a named lawyer rather than to the deal team, and an answer the deal team already gave is withdrawn in writing - liability above the threshold the risk policy sets, to whoever must sign it - an untracked change found by comparing the document to the copy we sent, to the buyer by name, because an untracked change is never accepted quietly - a commercial ask arriving dressed as a legal change, back to the negotiation-coordinator agent, since nothing that moves price, term or scope is settled in a redline pass - round trips that do not converge, and two clean copies that do not match, to the named people on both sides with the open clauses listed
# The records this abstract agent must leave
This is the contract. An agent implementing `redline-reviewer` leaves
the following behind, on every run.
Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from. One
item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text
side by side, its class, and its clause number. What was decided on the
same change in past deals and who decided it. Every clause closed as
accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made
the decision. The counter-markup with every off-template term listed
separately and every approver named. The version sent back and the date.
Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every
difference named. The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes
written to the record other deals read.
An agent that leaves less than this does not implement
`redline-reviewer`, whatever else it does well.
# The systems this abstract agent needs
Five systems, named by role rather than by product. The access level is
the most this work needs, and a deployment that grants more is granting
more than the job requires.
| Role | Access | What the access is for |
|---|---|---|
| the standard terms and the approved fallbacks | read | The template version in force and what is already pre-approved. |
| the clause record | write | What was decided last time the same change came up, and what this run decided. |
| the contract system | write | The markup, its version, and the copy it was made from. |
| the approval system | read | Which off-template term is signed for, and by whom. |
| the shared workspace with the buyer | write | The counter-markup and the summary that goes back with it. |
Whoever builds an agent from this plugin writes the `mcp.json` that
points these roles at their own systems. Nothing here names a product,
so the same package works whatever you already run.
{
"$schema": "https://agent-plugins.org/schemas/1.1.0/plugin.schema.json",
"name": "redline-reviewer",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "The redline-reviewer abstract agent. Reads the buyer's changes against the standard terms clause by clause.",
"author": {
"name": "AgentCatalog",
"url": "https://agentcatalog.com"
},
"homepage": "https://agentcatalog.com/abstract-agents/redline-reviewer",
"repository": "https://github.com/jeffrschneider/agentcatalog",
"license": "CC-BY-4.0",
"keywords": [
"abstract-agent",
"reference",
"sales",
"review-the-redlines",
"negotiate-the-agreement",
"record-a-lost-deal",
"abstract"
],
"extensions": {
"com.agentcatalog.agent": {
"agent": "redline-reviewer",
"agentVersion": 1,
"department": "sales",
"abstract": true,
"works": "Runs collect-and-report to establish the terms in force, and assessment to classify each change and to read the agreed terms against the contract text term by term. Convenes decide-and-announce to close every clause, runs build-by-talent for the counter-markup and its plain summary, requests the approval that every off-template term needs before the document leaves, and convenes the approval in which both sides confirm the clean copy. Takes the commercial answers from the negotiation-coordinator agent, the history of the same change from the deal-inspector agent, and hands the agreed text to the signature-manager agent.",
"servers": [
{
"name": "the standard terms and the approved fallbacks",
"role": "standard-terms-and-the-approved-fallbacks",
"access": "read",
"needs": "The template version in force and what is already pre-approved."
},
{
"name": "the clause record",
"role": "clause-record",
"access": "write",
"needs": "What was decided last time the same change came up, and what this run decided."
},
{
"name": "the contract system",
"role": "contract-system",
"access": "write",
"needs": "The markup, its version, and the copy it was made from."
},
{
"name": "the approval system",
"role": "approval-system",
"access": "read",
"needs": "Which off-template term is signed for, and by whom."
},
{
"name": "the shared workspace with the buyer",
"role": "shared-workspace-with-the-buyer",
"access": "write",
"needs": "The counter-markup and the summary that goes back with it."
}
],
"records": [
"Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from.",
"One item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text side by side, its class, and its clause number.",
"What was decided on the same change in past deals and who decided it.",
"Every clause closed as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision.",
"The counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named.",
"The version sent back and the date.",
"Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every difference named.",
"The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes written to the record other deals read."
],
"escalates": [
"a clause only a lawyer may answer, to a named lawyer rather than to the deal team, and an answer the deal team already gave is withdrawn in writing",
"liability above the threshold the risk policy sets, to whoever must sign it",
"an untracked change found by comparing the document to the copy we sent, to the buyer by name, because an untracked change is never accepted quietly",
"a commercial ask arriving dressed as a legal change, back to the negotiation-coordinator agent, since nothing that moves price, term or scope is settled in a redline pass",
"round trips that do not converge, and two clean copies that do not match, to the named people on both sides with the open clauses listed"
],
"not": [
"Does not answer the clauses it routes to legal, and does not give legal advice.",
"Does not decide price, term or scope, which is the negotiation-coordinator agent's record of what was asked for and conceded.",
"Does not sign or execute the agreement, which is the signature-manager agent.",
"Does not maintain the standard terms or the approved fallbacks.",
"Does not edit a change into the text after the clean copy is confirmed: a late change reopens the review."
],
"processes": [
{
"process": "ref/sls/negotiate-the-agreement",
"activities": [
"Reconcile with the Contract Draft"
]
},
{
"process": "ref/sls/record-a-lost-deal",
"activities": [
"Stop the Open Work"
]
},
{
"process": "ref/sls/review-the-redlines",
"activities": [
"Take in the Buyer's Markup",
"Confirm the Terms in Force",
"Split the Markup into Clauses",
"Classify Each Change",
"Check Against Prior Decisions",
"Review the Risk Terms",
"Route the Clauses Only Legal Answers",
"Decide Each Clause",
"Draft the Counter-Markup",
"Send the Counter Back",
"Work the Round Trips",
"Confirm the Clean Copy",
"Log the Clause Decisions"
]
},
{
"process": "ref/sls/run-the-close-plan",
"activities": [
"Confirm the Close Conditions"
]
}
]
}
}
}
# redline-reviewer This is an abstract agent, published as an Agent Plugin. An abstract agent is a job description rather than an implementation. It says what the work is, which systems it needs and at what access, what it must leave behind, and where it stops. Any agent that leaves the records can implement it. The plugin carries six skills, no `mcp.json`, and everything the abstract agent owes under `com.agentcatalog.agent/`. ## Why there is no mcp.json A conformant server entry in `mcp.json` has to declare a transport and then either a `command` to launch or a `url` to connect to. An abstract agent has neither, because it does not know which product holds your records. Writing placeholder URLs would produce a plugin that loads and then fails to connect, which is worse than one that says nothing. Section 6.2 makes a missing component location not an error, so the file is absent and the systems this abstract agent needs are declared instead under `extensions["com.agentcatalog.agent"].servers`, as a role, an access level and what the access is for. Whoever builds an agent from this plugin writes the `mcp.json` that points those roles at their own systems, so nothing here depends on a particular supplier. ## Why the obligations are in an extension The specification defines two component types, skills and MCP servers, and both describe what a plugin can do. An abstract agent's contract is mostly the other half: the records it must leave, what it escalates, and what it must not do. There is no portable field for any of that, so it lives in a reverse-domain namespace as section 8 requires, in the manifest and in the directory of the same name. ## Where this abstract agent is used `ref/sls/negotiate-the-agreement`, `ref/sls/record-a-lost-deal`, `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, `ref/sls/run-the-close-plan`. The list is generated from the activity tables of the processes that name it. https://agentcatalog.com/abstract-agents/redline-reviewer
--- name: classify-every-change description: Marks each change as standard language, an approved fallback, or new text nobody has agreed to before, and reads it against what was decided the last time the same change came up. Use it when running `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`. license: CC-BY-4.0 metadata: agent: redline-reviewer agent-version: "1" --- # Classify every change ## What it does Marks each change as standard language, an approved fallback, or new text nobody has agreed to before, and reads it against what was decided the last time the same change came up. The liability, indemnity and data terms are read with a lawyer. ## Where it happens The agent does this in three activities across one reference process. Each one names the activity as that process words it. - **Check Against Prior Decisions** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 5 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Classify Each Change** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 4 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Review the Risk Terms** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 7 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) ## What to record Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from. One item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text side by side, its class, and its clause number. What was decided on the same change in past deals and who decided it. Every clause closed as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. The counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named. The version sent back and the date. Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every difference named. The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes written to the record other deals read. That contract covers every activity this abstract agent takes on, and it is repeated in `com.agentcatalog.agent/RECORDS.md`. What the abstract agent does not do is in `com.agentcatalog.agent/NOT.md`.
--- name: close-the-text-out description: Reads the agreed commercial position against the paper term by term, settles one clean text both sides call the agreement, checks that every condition owed before signature is done, and writes the accepted changes to the record the next deal reads. Use it when running `ref/sls/negotiate-the-agreement`, `ref/sls/review-the-redlines` and `ref/sls/run-the-close-plan`. license: CC-BY-4.0 metadata: agent: redline-reviewer agent-version: "1" --- # Close the text out ## What it does Reads the agreed commercial position against the paper term by term, settles one clean text both sides call the agreement, checks that every condition owed before signature is done, and writes the accepted changes to the record the next deal reads. ## Where it happens The agent does this in four activities across three reference processes. Each one names the activity as that process words it. - **Confirm the Clean Copy** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 14 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Confirm the Close Conditions** - `ref/sls/run-the-close-plan`, activity 14 - [Run the Close Plan](../../../../processes/sales/run-the-close-plan.md) - **Log the Clause Decisions** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 15 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Reconcile with the Contract Draft** - `ref/sls/negotiate-the-agreement`, activity 13 - [Negotiate the Agreement](../../../../processes/sales/negotiate-the-agreement.md) ## What to record Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from. One item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text side by side, its class, and its clause number. What was decided on the same change in past deals and who decided it. Every clause closed as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. The counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named. The version sent back and the date. Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every difference named. The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes written to the record other deals read. That contract covers every activity this abstract agent takes on, and it is repeated in `com.agentcatalog.agent/RECORDS.md`. What the abstract agent does not do is in `com.agentcatalog.agent/NOT.md`.
--- name: counter-and-work-the-round-trips description: Drafts the counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named, sends it back with a plain summary, and reads each further markup against the copy we last sent so no untracked change passes quietly. Use it when running `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`. license: CC-BY-4.0 metadata: agent: redline-reviewer agent-version: "1" --- # Counter and work the round trips ## What it does Drafts the counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named, sends it back with a plain summary, and reads each further markup against the copy we last sent so no untracked change passes quietly. ## Where it happens The agent does this in three activities across one reference process. Each one names the activity as that process words it. - **Draft the Counter-Markup** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 10 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Send the Counter Back** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 12 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Work the Round Trips** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 13 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) ## What to record Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from. One item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text side by side, its class, and its clause number. What was decided on the same change in past deals and who decided it. Every clause closed as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. The counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named. The version sent back and the date. Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every difference named. The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes written to the record other deals read. That contract covers every activity this abstract agent takes on, and it is repeated in `com.agentcatalog.agent/RECORDS.md`. What the abstract agent does not do is in `com.agentcatalog.agent/NOT.md`.
--- name: decide-or-route-each-clause description: Sends the clauses only a lawyer may answer to a named lawyer, and closes the rest as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. Use it when running `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`. license: CC-BY-4.0 metadata: agent: redline-reviewer agent-version: "1" --- # Decide or route each clause ## What it does Sends the clauses only a lawyer may answer to a named lawyer, and closes the rest as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. ## Where it happens The agent does this in two activities across one reference process. Each one names the activity as that process words it. - **Decide Each Clause** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 9 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Route the Clauses Only Legal Answers** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 8 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) ## What to record Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from. One item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text side by side, its class, and its clause number. What was decided on the same change in past deals and who decided it. Every clause closed as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. The counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named. The version sent back and the date. Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every difference named. The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes written to the record other deals read. That contract covers every activity this abstract agent takes on, and it is repeated in `com.agentcatalog.agent/RECORDS.md`. What the abstract agent does not do is in `com.agentcatalog.agent/NOT.md`.
--- name: stop-the-work-when-a-deal-ends description: Stops the open contract work when a deal is called lost, so nothing is left pending against a buyer who is no longer buying. Use it when running `ref/sls/record-a-lost-deal`. license: CC-BY-4.0 metadata: agent: redline-reviewer agent-version: "1" --- # Stop the work when a deal ends ## What it does Stops the open contract work when a deal is called lost, so nothing is left pending against a buyer who is no longer buying. ## Where it happens The agent does this in one activity across one reference process. Each one names the activity as that process words it. - **Stop the Open Work** - `ref/sls/record-a-lost-deal`, activity 9 - [Record a Lost Deal](../../../../processes/sales/record-a-lost-deal.md) ## What to record Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from. One item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text side by side, its class, and its clause number. What was decided on the same change in past deals and who decided it. Every clause closed as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. The counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named. The version sent back and the date. Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every difference named. The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes written to the record other deals read. That contract covers every activity this abstract agent takes on, and it is repeated in `com.agentcatalog.agent/RECORDS.md`. What the abstract agent does not do is in `com.agentcatalog.agent/NOT.md`.
--- name: take-in-a-markup-and-fix-the-terms-in-force description: Takes in the buyer's markup at its version and the copy it was made from, fixes which template version and which pre-approved fallbacks are in force, and splits the document into one item per changed clause with both texts side by side. Use it when running `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`. license: CC-BY-4.0 metadata: agent: redline-reviewer agent-version: "1" --- # Take in a markup and fix the terms in force ## What it does Takes in the buyer's markup at its version and the copy it was made from, fixes which template version and which pre-approved fallbacks are in force, and splits the document into one item per changed clause with both texts side by side. ## Where it happens The agent does this in three activities across one reference process. Each one names the activity as that process words it. - **Confirm the Terms in Force** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 2 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Split the Markup into Clauses** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 3 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) - **Take in the Buyer's Markup** - `ref/sls/review-the-redlines`, activity 1 - [Review the Redlines](../../../../processes/sales/review-the-redlines.md) ## What to record Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from. One item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text side by side, its class, and its clause number. What was decided on the same change in past deals and who decided it. Every clause closed as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. The counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named. The version sent back and the date. Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every difference named. The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes written to the record other deals read. That contract covers every activity this abstract agent takes on, and it is repeated in `com.agentcatalog.agent/RECORDS.md`. What the abstract agent does not do is in `com.agentcatalog.agent/NOT.md`.
Every server entry in an mcp.json needs either a command to run or a url to connect to, and the package cannot know either of those until somebody points it at their own systems. So the file is left out, the systems the agent needs are named by role in plugin.json, and you write the mcp.json when you set it up.
Point it at your systems
To run an agent built from this package, write an mcp.json that says which of your systems fills each role. The package names these 5 roles, and the access level beside each one is the most the work needs.
{
"$schema": "https://agent-plugins.org/schemas/1.1.0/mcp.schema.json",
"mcpServers": {
"standard-terms-and-the-approved-fallbacks": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://mcp.yourcompany.com/standard-terms-and-the-approved-fallbacks"
},
"clause-record": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://mcp.yourcompany.com/clause-record"
},
"contract-system": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://mcp.yourcompany.com/contract-system"
},
"approval-system": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://mcp.yourcompany.com/approval-system"
},
"shared-workspace-with-the-buyer": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://mcp.yourcompany.com/shared-workspace-with-the-buyer"
}
}
}
The hostnames here are a placeholder for your own. Whichever product holds each of these systems, the agent you build is yours and nobody else has to be involved in running it.
4 processes, 16 activities
The highlighted activities are the ones this abstract agent does. The other activities in each process belong to other abstract agents or to people.
Reconcile with the Contract Draft
Stop the Open Work
Take in the Buyer's Markup · Confirm the Terms in Force · Split the Markup into Clauses · Classify Each Change · Check Against Prior Decisions · Review the Risk Terms · Route the Clauses Only Legal Answers · Decide Each Clause · Draft the Counter-Markup · Send the Counter Back · Work the Round Trips · Confirm the Clean Copy · Log the Clause Decisions
Confirm the Close Conditions
What it writes down
Per review: the markup at its version and the copy it was made from. One item per changed clause, with the original text and the buyer's text side by side, its class, and its clause number. What was decided on the same change in past deals and who decided it. Every clause closed as accept, counter or reject, each with its reason and the person who made the decision. The counter-markup with every off-template term listed separately and every approver named. The version sent back and the date. Each further markup read against the copy we last sent, with every difference named. The confirmed clean text, and the accepted changes written to the record other deals read.
What it will not do
Does not answer the clauses it routes to legal, and does not give legal advice. Does not decide price, term or scope, which is the negotiation-coordinator agent's record of what was asked for and conceded. Does not sign or execute the agreement, which is the signature-manager agent. Does not maintain the standard terms or the approved fallbacks. Does not edit a change into the text after the clean copy is confirmed: a late change reopens the review.
These limits are written into the job on purpose, so that everyone adopting the process knows which decisions stay with a person.
Who has built one, and how far each one got
Nobody has built one yet. The catalog says so rather than leaving the section off, because an empty list is a fact about the document.
implements: redline-reviewer v1
One line in your agent's manifest. The catalog checks it against the records your runs actually leave.
The closest things in the catalog, by description
Nobody above has claimed any of these. This is the nearest match by wording between the job written above and what publishers wrote about their own listings, closest first, and wording is not evidence: some of these will be wrong, and a job with nothing suitable still gets whatever was nearest. The publishers have never heard of this abstract agent and have promised nothing about it. What a claim looks like is in the table above, and it is signed.
Not workers. These are capability that whatever does the job would use, which is a different relationship and kept in its own column for that reason.
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