What are the rules for the verdicts an agent can give, and what happens if it uses a word that is not on the list?

Tares lets you list up to 10 verdicts per agent, and a finding that uses a word off the list goes back to the agent to fix within the same run. Each verdict is one word of letters, digits or dashes, listed once, and never no_op. Each comes with a short description of when to give it. Without a list, a finding can carry any verdict or none.

How it works

An agent that ends with a conclusion gets the conclude tool. With it, the agent ends a run in one of two ways: no_op when there is nothing to report, in which case no finding is recorded, or a finding with a verdict about a named entity. A finding also carries a headline of up to 100 characters and a next_step of up to 300 characters. For more on how a run ends, see How a run ends.

The verdict list is yours to define. These are the rules:

• You can list up to 10 verdicts.
• Each verdict is one word made of letters, digits or dashes.
• Each word appears once in the list.
• No verdict can be no_op. Nothing to report is always possible, so you never need to add it.
• Each verdict has a when description that says when the agent should give it.

When you set a list, the conclude tool accepts only those words, and Tares tells the model what each one means from your when text. A finding must carry one of the words. If the agent uses a word that is not on the list, or leaves the verdict out, the finding goes back to the agent to fix. The agent corrects it within the same run, so you do not get a stray verdict or a finding without one.

When you set no list, the rules are loose. A finding can carry any verdict, or none.

The list takes effect when the agent ends every run with a conclusion (concludes: true). In that case the agent always gets the conclude tool, whatever its prompt says, and Tares adds the instructions for it. If a run stops without concluding, Tares asks once more with conclude as the only choice. With that setting off, the agent’s last message is its finding, with no verdict.

Set it up

1. Open the agent form and go to the How it ends section.
2. Tick Ends every run with a conclusion. This sets concludes: true, so the agent always has the conclude tool.
3. Under Verdicts it can give, add each word with a description of when to give it. Keep to 10 words or fewer, one word each, no repeats and no no_op.
4. Keep the prompt focused on the job. Tares adds the instructions for concluding, so the prompt does not need to explain the tool.
5. Check the agent’s summary, which shows how it ends.

In YAML, the same setup for an agent looks like this:

agents:
  - name: triage
    trigger: watch-web
    concludes: true
    verdicts:
      - { verdict: investigate, when: one entity looks like a problem and needs a closer look }
    prompt: |
      ...

The presets give you a starting point. The Triage (on a schedule) preset comes with investigate. The Root cause after a handoff preset comes with rca, for when you found what is failing and why, and resolved, for when it was noise or is already over. Handoffs key off these words, so pick words that you also want to route on.

What you get

• Findings that always carry a verdict from a set you chose, so cards and handoffs work with a known vocabulary.
• Fixes inside the run. An off-list or missing verdict returns to the agent instead of reaching you as a malformed finding.
• A clear meaning for every word, because the model reads your when description for each verdict.
• A simple way to end quiet runs, since no_op is always available and records no finding.
• Freedom when you want it. With no list, an agent can give any verdict or none.

This fits the way AI SRE agents report: a small set of verdicts that say what the agent decided, next to a headline and a next step a person can act on.

When something else fits

• Leave the list empty when you want free-form findings and do not need handoffs or filtering to rely on specific words.
• Turn off the conclusion setting when the agent’s last message is enough as its finding and you do not need a verdict at all.
• If you need more than 10 outcomes, group them into fewer words and put the finer detail in the headline and next step.

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