---
slug: what-is-model-operated-work
title: What Is Model-Operated Work
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-model-operated-work
---

<!-- hierarchy:nav -->
> **Path:** [OIP](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip) › [Thinker Reference](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-thinker-reference) › [Protocol Concepts](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-protocol-concepts) › **What Is Model-Operated Work**
>
> **Shelf:** Protocol Concepts · **Traversal:** self-explaining · hierarchical · voxel-ready
> **Machine root:** [OIP tree](https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?map=1&format=markdown) · [Registry](https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?registry=1)

# What Is Model-Operated Work

## §SELF — what-is-model-operated-work

**What this page is:** a definition of model-operated work and how it differs from other forms of automation
**What it explains:** the five defining properties of model-operated work and how it compares to traditional scripting and agent frameworks
**Why read it:** to understand the exact mechanism by which a language model executes work through a protocol, with proof and accountability

### What Model-Operated Work Is

Model-operated work is work performed by a language model operating a system through a protocol. The human names the goal. The model executes. Specifically, the model reads object contracts, decides what to invoke, invokes it, and receives a receipt. The model is the operator; the human is the director.

### Why It Matters

Existing approaches to automation have accountability gaps. Traditional scripts are hardcoded — they cannot adapt to new conditions. Agent frameworks (such as AutoGPT) run without receipts, without proof, and without repair mechanisms. Model-operated work closes these gaps by requiring proof of every action and providing a repair path when things go wrong.

### The Five Key Properties

1. **The model never guesses.** Before invoking anything, the model resolves the object (locates it by key or query), reads the contract (the formal interface specification), and then invokes. The sequence is always: resolve → read → invoke. No step is skipped.

2. **Every action is receipted.** Every invocation produces a permanent, verifiable record (a receipt). The receipt contains: the action that was invoked, the parameters, the timestamp, the result, and a reference to the capability token used. This receipt can be audited later.

3. **Authority is scoped.** The model operates within the bounds of its capability token. The token defines what the model can do, on which objects, until when. The model cannot exceed these bounds. An attempt to do so is rejected by the system.

4. **Errors are repaired.** When an action fails, the failure is not silently logged and forgotten. A repair invocation is created, linked to the original receipt, and executed. The repair is itself receipted. This creates a chain: original action → failure → repair → success (or further repair).

5. **The model is a temporary operator.** The model does not own the system. It is not the administrator. It is the current actor, operating within stated bounds, for the duration of the session or the token expiry. When the session ends, the model's authority ends with it.

### How It Differs from Traditional Automation

Traditional scripts are hardcoded. A script contains a fixed sequence of commands. If the system state changes, the script may fail because it cannot adapt. Model-operated work is adaptive: the model reads the current state (via the object contract) and decides what to do based on that state. The decision is made at runtime, not at write time.

### How It Differs from Agent Frameworks

Agent frameworks (such as AutoGPT, BabyAGI, and similar systems) give a model a goal and let it run autonomously. These frameworks lack three things that model-operated work requires:

- **Receipts:** Agent frameworks typically do not produce a permanent, verifiable record of every action. Model-operated work requires one.
- **Proof:** Without receipts, there is no proof of what the model did. Model-operated work provides proof.
- **Repair:** When an agent framework fails, the failure is logged but not automatically repaired. Model-operated work creates a repair chain.

### How It Connects to Other Ideas

**OIP (Object Interaction Protocol):** Model-operated work is the execution layer of OIP. OIP provides the protocol (the object contracts, the capability tokens, the receipt format). Model-operated work is what happens when a language model uses that protocol to perform tasks.

**Capability-based security:** The scoped authority in model-operated work comes from capability tokens. The model can only do what its token permits. This is the principle of least privilege applied to language model operation.

### Sources

- OIP Specification (Object Interaction Protocol)

---

## Up the tree

- [OIP root](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip) — protocol root, zero-context entry
- [Thinker Reference hub](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-thinker-reference) — full hierarchy map
- [Protocol Concepts shelf](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-protocol-concepts) — siblings on this shelf
- [Voxel graph article](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-voxel-graph) — how pages link as voxels
- [Self-describing protocol](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-self-describing-protocol)

## Related on this shelf

- [What Is Autopoiesis](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-autopoiesis)
- [What Is Capability-Based Security](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-capability-security)
- [What Is a Capability Token](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-capability-token)
- [What Is a Confused Deputy](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-confused-deputy)
- [What Is Context as Cursor](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-context-as-cursor)
- [What Is a Convergence Catalogue](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-convergence-catalogue)
- [What Is a Falsification Surface](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-falsification-surface)
- [What Is HATEOAS](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-hateoas)

## Machine surfaces

- Public page: `https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-model-operated-work`
- JSON article: `https://miscsubjects.com/api/articles/what-is-model-operated-work`
- OIP ask: `https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?ask=What%20Is%20Model-Operated%20Work`

