Five candidate forms for an agent. Same hue, same state, side by side. Switch the state to see how each one tells you what the agent is doing. "Use this" changes the renderer on the agents page.
AEmberThe first version. A hot core with a swarm of orbiting sparks. Busy, technical, reads well at small sizes.Risk: can look like a particle effect rather than a being.BCloud orbClosest to the ChatGPT voice orb. A glossy sphere with colour clouds churning inside, a soft rim, a wide glow. Calm and alive.Thinking churns the clouds. Acting sends ripples out.CNebulaNo hard edge at all. Layers of plasma that breathe and deform like ink in water, around a bright kernel.Most organic. Softest at rest, most dramatic when thinking.DHaloMinimal. A thin ring of light with a bright pulse travelling around it and a small kernel. Closer to Siri.Quietest. Status reads from the ring's speed and colour.EIrisThe glass bubble from the reference. Iridescent clouds swirl inside a clear sphere with a bright rim and two highlights.Default. Thinking speeds the swirl. Acting sends ripples out.
All five share the same status language: amber ring when waiting, grey when paused, red flicker when blocked. Whichever you pick becomes the renderer behind the agents page, the dock chips and the panel orb.