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BeeOS exposes several state machines because they describe different objects. An OpenAPI task tracks durable user work, an A2A task is a protocol projection, a message envelope tracks one streamed reply, and a runtime operation tracks a side effect on an instance. Their values are related, but they are not interchangeable.

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Product task projection

BeeOS product surfaces normalize execution outcomes to five values: Older producers may emit pending, running, succeeded, timeout, uncertain, or the American spelling canceled. Compatibility readers accept those values, while new internal product writes use the five values above. Failure details do not need more top-level states:
outcome_certainty=uncertain means an imperative action might already have reached the agent or device. Do not automatically replay it.

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OpenAPI task state

The OpenAPI /tasks wire contract uses the canonical task values:
input_required and auth_required are resumable, non-terminal states. These strings are specific to the OpenAPI Task resource. SDK clients must continue to accept them until a versioned contract removes them. An HTTP 504 service_timeout from blocking invoke is a request outcome, not proof that an asynchronous task failed. If a task ID exists, query the task before deciding whether retry is safe.

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A2A task state

A2A callers see the protocol-native task lifecycle:
input-required and auth-required pause the task and allow it to resume. BeeOS internally records delivered and timeout, but projects them to the A2A v1 wire as submitted and failed, respectively. The protobuf names use TASK_STATE_*; JSON renderers may expose the standard wire spelling. Treat that formatting as a protocol concern rather than a new state machine.

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Message envelope state

A streamed agent reply has its own lifecycle:
This state belongs to one message row. It can be evidence used to complete a task, but a completed user request message does not complete the task. Use the terminal agent reply and its stop_reason when deriving the task result.

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Runtime operation state

Runtime operations track commands such as model changes, session control, MCP configuration, and agent lifecycle mutations:
They may also end as failed, cancelled, expired, or outcome_unknown. These values must remain available to operators because they describe side effects and recovery safety: Do not replace these internal states with product labels. Project them for UI display while retaining effectState, projection state, error code, and retry policy in the operation detail.

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Cancellation spelling

Both spellings are intentional compatibility surfaces:
  • OpenAPI and A2A wire contracts use canceled.
  • ACP, message envelopes, runtime operations, and the product projection use cancelled.
Readers should accept both. Serializers must emit the spelling required by the protocol they implement.