---
title: "Bidirectional Messaging | AgentRQ Glossary"
url: https://agentrq.com/glossary/bidirectional-messaging
description: "Bidirectional messaging is the ability for both an AI agent and a human to send and receive messages in a shared conversation, enabling real-time collaboration and feedback during task execution."
---

[Back to Glossary](https://agentrq.com/glossary/)

# Bidirectional Messaging

**Bidirectional messaging** is the ability for both an AI [agent](https://agentrq.com/glossary/agent) and a human to exchange messages in a shared conversation channel. Unlike a one-way notification system where the agent simply alerts the human, bidirectional messaging allows the human to reply, ask questions, provide corrections, and guide the agent — and for the agent to incorporate that feedback in real time.

## Why Bidirectionality Matters

Pure autonomous execution has a fundamental problem: the agent can't ask for help. When it hits an ambiguous requirement, encounters an unexpected error, or needs a decision it can't make alone, it either guesses or stops entirely.

Bidirectional messaging solves this by creating a real-time feedback loop:

1. Agent encounters ambiguity or needs approval
2. Agent sends a message to the human via [AgentRQ](https://agentrq.com/)
3. Human responds with guidance, corrections, or approval
4. Agent incorporates the response and continues working

## Bidirectional Messaging in AgentRQ

AgentRQ implements bidirectional messaging over [MCP](https://agentrq.com/glossary/mcp) using two complementary actions of the `task` tool:

- → **`task` reply** — The agent sends a message to the human on a specific task's chat
- → **`task` get** — The agent retrieves a task with `includeConversation`, pulling the conversation history including human replies

This creates a persistent, thread-like conversation attached to each [task](https://agentrq.com/glossary/task), visible on the [task board](https://agentrq.com/glossary/task-board).

## Comparison with One-Way Notifications

| Feature | One-Way Notification | Bidirectional Messaging |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Agent → Human | Yes | Yes |
| Human → Agent | No | Yes |
| Real-time feedback | No | Yes |
| Agent can ask questions | No | Yes |
| Supports approvals | No | Yes |

## Related Terms

- → [Task](https://agentrq.com/glossary/task)
- → [Notification](https://agentrq.com/glossary/notification)
- → [Approval](https://agentrq.com/glossary/approval)
- → [Channel](https://agentrq.com/glossary/channel)
- → [MCP Tool](https://agentrq.com/glossary/mcp-tool)