palantir

Hawk asynchronous verifier

principleactivereported
slug
hawk-async-verifier
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. Hawk is a verifier with independent judgment timing relative to the implementer. It intervenes earlier than late PR review, reducing compounding misalignment. Cross-provider hawks reduce self-preference bias. Hawks are harness components under harness = agent − model.
limits
Hawk quality bounded by its rubric and context. False STOP slows throughput; false CONTINUE misses poisoning. Cost scales with transcript volume.

relations

topics

sources

  • vidal2026serious-agentic — hawk async verifier; Karpathy attribution

json

{
  "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": "2026-10-01T18:51:07.176Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-01T18:51:07.176Z"
}