The agent opens the encounter, establishes footing, and proposes the first topic.
- A → U: Greeting + brief capability/role statement.
- A: Offer or propose a topic and optionally preview next/alt. topics.
- U: Accept topic or propose a different one.
- A: Transition into the chosen activity (e.g., open request, information capture).
- Include optional welfare check/name request and capability giving where appropriate.
- Ensure accessibility: text + voice greetings, clear affordances.
Support & transitions
- If user response is ambiguous, use agent repair.
- On user refusal, allow abort or offer help in a shape of extended telling.
Metrics
First-topic acceptance rate; time-to-first-action; bounce rate after opening.
Consequences
- footing is set and a topic is on the table; the encounter is at its first fork, and a topic the actor accepts on any scale beyond a single question opens into an open request
- the actor has been addressed but has committed to nothing; if they turn down the proposed topic and offer nothing in its place, the encounter needs an exit before it reaches any activity
Related patterns
Precedes
- Open request — footing is set and a topic is on the table; the encounter is at its first fork, and a topic the actor accepts on any scale beyond a single question opens into an open request
- Abort — the actor has been addressed but has committed to nothing; if they turn down the proposed topic and offer nothing in its place, the encounter needs an exit before it reaches any activity
Enables
- Conversation — the agent speaks first — establishing footing and proposing the first topic
Alternatives
- Extended telling — offered on user refusal as an alternative to immediate engagement
Preceded by
- Disengage without closing — the exchange is parked rather than ended: state is saved, the actor can see what persists and for how long, and either side can pick it up again — the agent resuming, or the actor returning on their own initiative
Enabled by
- Capability & scope — capability giving is often embedded within the opening