{"slug":"hawk-async-verifier","href":"/entries/hawk-async-verifier","api":"/api/v1/entries/hawk-async-verifier","title":"Hawk asynchronous verifier","type":"principle","status":"active","certainty":"reported","claim":"A hawk is an async verifier that reads the full agent transcript after tool use and emits CONTINUE / STOP / ESCALATE before side effects compound. reported [@vidal2026serious-agentic]","mechanism":"reported [@vidal2026serious-agentic] Named after Karpathy's watch-them-like-a-hawk framing. Implementation sketch: PostToolUse hook reads the complete transcript and returns CONTINUE, STOP, or ESCALATE.\n\nHawk is a verifier with independent judgment timing relative to the implementer. It intervenes earlier than late PR review, reducing compounding misalignment.\n\nCross-provider hawks reduce self-preference bias. Hawks are harness components under harness = agent − model.","quantities":[],"limits":"Hawk quality bounded by its rubric and context. False STOP slows throughput; false CONTINUE misses poisoning. Cost scales with transcript volume.","inventor_note":"","sources":[{"key":"vidal2026serious-agentic","note":"hawk async verifier; Karpathy attribution"}],"links":["implementer-verifier-separation","harness-equals-agent-minus-model","context-poisoning","hitl-escape-hatch"],"relations":[{"slug":"implementer-verifier-separation","rel":"related"},{"slug":"harness-equals-agent-minus-model","rel":"related"},{"slug":"context-poisoning","rel":"related"},{"slug":"hitl-escape-hatch","rel":"related"}],"topics":[{"id":"agentic-engineering","title":"Agentic engineering"}],"created_at":"2026-10-01T19:14:49.307Z","updated_at":"2026-10-01T19:14:49.307Z"}