hct-spec

Harmonic Coordination Theory (HCT) - Specification

The canonical specification for HCT coordination signals and performance parameters.

Overview

Harmonic Coordination Theory (HCT) proposes a musical ontology for multi-agent coordination. Current frameworks (LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen) give you orchestration tools but lack a shared language for coordination semantics—timing, quality, intent, and harmony.

HCT fills this gap using musical performance as the ontology: cues, fermatas, tempo, and dissonance become engineering primitives.

The 7 Coordination Signals

Quick Start

Python

from hct_mcp_signals import cue, fermata

# Signal the analyst to start with high urgency
signal = cue("orchestrator", ["analyst"], urgency=9, tempo="presto")

# Hold for human approval before publishing
hold = fermata("report_agent", "Ready for compliance review", hold_type="human")

TypeScript

import { cue, fermata } from '@hct-mcp/signals';

const signal = cue("orchestrator", ["analyst"], { urgency: 9, tempo: "presto" });
const hold = fermata("report_agent", "Ready for review", { holdType: "human" });

Rust

use hct_mcp_signals::{cue, fermata, Urgency};

let signal = cue("orchestrator", &["analyst"], Urgency::Nine, Tempo::Presto);
let hold = fermata("report_agent", "Ready for review", HoldType::Human);

Go

import "github.com/stefanwiest/hct-mcp-signals/go"

signal := cue.Cue("orchestrator", []string{"analyst"}, 9, "presto")
hold := fermata.Fermata("report_agent", "Ready for review", "human")

Installation

# Python
pip install hct-mcp-signals

# Node.js
npm install @hct-mcp/signals

# Rust
cargo add hct-mcp-signals

# Go
go get github.com/stefanwiest/hct-mcp-signals/go

Protocol Extensions

HCT-MCP Signals

For Anthropic MCP Protocol — The coordination layer that MCP is missing.

→ GitHub: stefanwiest/hct-mcp-signals

HCT-A2A Extension

For Google A2A Protocol — Coordination semantics for decentralized agent meshes.

→ GitHub: stefanwiest/hct-a2a

Research Papers

• Harmonic Coordination Theory — CS.AI / CS.MA publications
• The 97% Problem — Why multi-agent systems fail to scale

Implementation

• hct-core: github.com/stefanwiest/hct-core — Reference implementation
• hct-patterns: github.com/stefanwiest/hct-patterns — 15+ diagnostic patterns
• hct-benchmarks: github.com/stefanwiest/hct-benchmarks — Validation suite

Author

Stefan Wiest

• Web: stefanwiest.de
• GitHub: skew202
• Writing: SeekingSota

License

MIT License — See LICENSE for details.

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Part of the Stefan Wiest ecosystem: AI Research & Engineering · Multi-Agent System Coordination