AI / Agent Tasks

Rover-enabled sites expose a neutral task resource at https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks.

Use this machine path when you need structured progress, continuation, or a final result. Keep ?rover=... and ?rover_shortcut=... for browser-first convenience.

Discovery

Rover can expose a source-visible marker that plain HTML fetches can discover:

HTML

<script type="application/agent+json">{"task":"https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks"}</script>

The marker is optional but recommended. Host-only task creation still works even if the caller skips HTML discovery and posts directly to https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks.

Browser-first URL

Use query params when you only need Rover to run in the browser UI. Query params by themselves are not the machine-readable result channel.

Browser-first convenience

https://www.rtrvr.ai/?rover=get%20me%20the%20latest%20blog%20post

Create a task

Minimal request: only url plus prompt or shortcut.

curl

curl -X POST 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.rtrvr.ai",
    "prompt": "get me the latest blog post"
  }'

curl with self-reported agent identity

curl -X POST 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.rtrvr.ai",
    "prompt": "get me the latest blog post",
    "agent": {
      "key": "gpt-5.4-demo-agent",
      "name": "GPT-5.4 Demo Agent",
      "vendor": "OpenAI",
      "model": "gpt-5.4",
      "version": "2026-03"
    }
  }'

202 Accepted

{
  "id": "agt_123",
  "task": "https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks/agt_123?access=agt_access_...",
  "workflow": "https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/workflows/wf_456?access=wf_access_...",
  "open": "https://www.rtrvr.ai/#rover_receipt=rrc_...",
  "browserLink": "https://www.rtrvr.ai/?rover=get+me+the+latest+blog+post#rover_receipt=rrc_...",
  "status": "pending"
}

The returned task URL is the canonical task resource. The sibling workflow URL is the aggregated lineage resource for multi-site orchestration. The optional open URL is the clean receipt-based browser handoff, and browserLink is an optional readable alias when the prompt or shortcut fits safely in the visible URL. Explicit Prefer: execution=cloud tasks omit both.

Agent identity attribution

The best path is to send an explicit agent object when your caller knows its own identity.

Heuristic fallback headers

# If you cannot send an explicit "agent" object,
# Rover can still attribute the caller heuristically from headers like:
User-Agent: ExampleBot/1.0
Signature-Agent: ExampleBot
X-RTRVR-Client-Id: caller-123

If you omit agent, Rover may still classify the caller heuristically from User-Agent, Signature-Agent, Signature, Signature-Input, and X-RTRVR-Client-Id. These are heuristic only, not `verified`.

A stable agent.key makes RoverBook revisit analytics and private memory much more useful because the same agent can load its notes on the next task.

Execution modes

Default behavior prefers browser attach first. Use headers to request a specific mode:

Prefer: execution=browser keeps execution browser-first.
Prefer: execution=cloud is the explicit browserless path today.
Prefer: execution=auto currently prefers browser attach first; delayed cloud auto-promotion is a follow-up robustness phase.
Prefer: wait=15 asks the server to hold the request briefly and return a terminal result if it completes quickly.

Cloud-first curl

curl -X POST 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Prefer: execution=cloud' \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.rtrvr.ai",
    "prompt": "get me the latest blog post"
  }'

Wait briefly for final JSON

curl -X POST 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Prefer: wait=15' \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.rtrvr.ai",
    "prompt": "get me the latest blog post"
  }'

Use the canonical task URL for polling, SSE, NDJSON, continuation, and cancel.

Read the task resource

JSON poll / final result

curl 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks/agt_123?access=agt_access_...' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json'

SSE stream

curl -N 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks/agt_123?access=agt_access_...'
  -H 'Accept: text/event-stream'

NDJSON stream

curl 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks/agt_123?access=agt_access_...' \
  -H 'Accept: application/x-ndjson'

Public event names are ready, status, step, tool, message, observation, input, done, and error.

Workflows and cross-site handoffs

Every public task belongs to a workflow. Root tasks create a new workflow automatically, and delegated child tasks inherit that workflow so you can track one end-to-end lineage across multiple Rover-enabled sites.

Read the aggregated workflow resource

curl 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/workflows/wf_456?access=wf_access_...' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json'

Delegate a child task to another Rover site

curl -X POST 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks/agt_123/handoffs?access=agt_access_...' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://y.com",
    "instruction": "Continue the checkout flow and return the shipping options.",
    "agent": {
      "key": "gpt-5.4-demo-agent",
      "name": "GPT-5.4 Demo Agent"
    },
    "contextSummary": "User already selected product and entered address on x.com.",
    "expectedOutput": "Return the cheapest valid shipping option and ETA."
  }'

Receiving sites must opt in with siteConfig.aiAccess.allowDelegatedHandoffs=true. Handoffs reuse the same receipt-link browser flow and the same task resource contract on the child site.

Copy-paste examples

Exact Codex / external-agent prompt

If a website may be Rover-enabled, optionally fetch its HTML and look for <script type="application/agent+json">.

To run a task on a Rover-enabled site:
1. Create a task with POST https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks and JSON { "url": "<site>", "prompt": "<instruction>" } or { "url": "<site>", "shortcut": "<id>" }. Optionally include { "agent": { ... } } when you want Rover and RoverBook to retain stable visiting-agent attribution.
2. If you can open a real browser with the user's session and the response includes "open", open that URL. If the response includes "browserLink" and you want a readable URL, you may open it instead.
3. If you need guaranteed browserless execution, create the task with header Prefer: execution=cloud.
4. Follow the canonical "task" URL with Accept: text/event-stream for live steps or Accept: application/json for polling/final results.
5. If the task enters input_required, POST { "input": "..." } to the same task URL.
6. If the task response includes "workflow", treat it as the aggregated lineage handle for multi-site orchestration.
7. Use POST /v1/tasks/{id}/handoffs only when delegating from one Rover task to another Rover-enabled site.
8. Return the final result text plus any important observations.

Do not treat ?rover= or ?rover_shortcut= alone as the result channel. They only run Rover in the browser unless they were issued from a task and paired with a receipt link.

Node fetch

const createResponse = await fetch('https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'content-type': 'application/json',
    'accept': 'application/json',
    'prefer': 'execution=cloud',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    url: 'https://www.rtrvr.ai',
    prompt: 'get me the latest blog post',
  }),
});

if (!createResponse.ok) {
  throw new Error(`Task create failed: ${createResponse.status}`);
}

const created = await createResponse.json();
const taskUrl = created.task;

for (;;) {
  const taskResponse = await fetch(taskUrl, {
    headers: { accept: 'application/json' },
  });

  if (!taskResponse.ok) {
    throw new Error(`Task read failed: ${taskResponse.status}`);
  }

  const task = await taskResponse.json();
  console.log(task.status, task.result?.text ?? '');

  if (['completed', 'failed', 'cancelled', 'expired'].includes(task.status)) {
    break;
  }

  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1500));
}

Python

import time
import requests

create = requests.post(
    "https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks",
    headers={
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Accept": "application/json",
        "Prefer": "execution=cloud",
    },
    json={
        "url": "https://www.rtrvr.ai",
        "prompt": "get me the latest blog post",
    },
    timeout=30,
)
create.raise_for_status()
task = create.json()
task_url = task["task"]

while True:
    current = requests.get(
        task_url,
        headers={"Accept": "application/json"},
        timeout=30,
    )
    current.raise_for_status()
    payload = current.json()
    print(payload["status"], payload.get("result", {}).get("text", ""))

    if payload["status"] in {"completed", "failed", "cancelled", "expired"}:
        break

    time.sleep(1.5)

Shell helper (requires jq)

rover_task() {
  local url="$1"
  local prompt="$2"
  local created task_url

  created="$(curl -sS -X POST 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -H 'Accept: application/json' \
    -H 'Prefer: execution=cloud' \
    -d "$(jq -nc --arg url "$url" --arg prompt "$prompt" '{url:$url,prompt:$prompt}')")" || return 1

  task_url="$(printf '%s' "$created" | jq -r '.task')"
  curl -sS "$task_url" -H 'Accept: application/x-ndjson'
}

rover_task "https://www.rtrvr.ai" "get me the latest blog post"

Continuation and cancel

When the task reaches input_required, send continuation input to the same task URL. Use DELETE to cancel.

Continue a task

curl -X POST 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks/agt_123?access=agt_access_...' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d '{ "input": "Use the newest post from the main blog index page." }'

Cancel a task

curl -X DELETE 'https://agent.rtrvr.ai/v1/tasks/agt_123?access=agt_access_...' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json'

Site owner vs caller credentials

Site owners install Rover with siteId, publicKey, and optional siteKeyId from Workspace.

External AI callers do not need those values. They only need the public website URL plus a prompt or shortcut.

Open Workspace API Reference