Inbox - Fortress

The Inbox is for unclarified work. It is the safe place for ideas, external captures, anomalies noticed by agents, shared links, or tasks that need human judgment before becoming actionable.

What belongs in the Inbox

A rough idea that might become a project
A support issue that needs triage
A link an agent noticed but should not act on yet
A follow-up without enough context
A source capture from an external system

What does not belong there

Work that already has a clear owner and next action
Recurring duties that should be orders
Reference material that should be a document
Decisions that should be answered as questions

Triage moves

Move	Use when
Make ready	The next action is clear and can be assigned now.
Attach to project	The item belongs inside an existing outcome.
Create project	The capture is really a multi-step outcome.
Defer	The work is real but should not surface yet.
Drop	The work should not happen. Humans can drop directly without a reason; agents and MCP clients must include one.

Source keys

When work comes from a stable external source, agents can include a source_key such as:

github:owner/repo#412
linear:ENG-1234
gmail_thread:18f3ab2c1d
helpscout:46266

Fortress uses source keys to avoid creating duplicates when the same external item is captured again.

The Inbox is not failure. It is the buffer that keeps unclear work from polluting agent queues.

TasksHow concrete work moves through Fortress.

​What belongs in the Inbox

​What does not belong there

​Triage moves

​Source keys

What belongs in the Inbox

What does not belong there

Triage moves

Source keys