Working Notes on Agent Systems/Brad Zhang

@teach_fireworks / X longform

馃専馃専馃専My take: HTML can carry far more than text. It can encode structure, state, layou...

馃専馃専馃専My take: HTML can carry far more than text. It can encode structure, state, layout, interaction, harness experience, and even multimodal memory. And because HTML is an old...

May 9, 2026 路 1 min read

馃専馃専馃専My take: HTML can carry far more than text.

It can encode structure, state, layout, interaction, harness experience, and even multimodal memory.

And because HTML is an old web-native format, LLMs are already surprisingly good at using it.

The problem is not HTML itself.

The problem is that today鈥檚 HTML is too verbose for agent-to-agent workflows.

We probably need a simpler HTML-like interaction layer designed specifically for agents.

Visual summary

Article argument map

Generated from the post's content graph

FORMATTOPICCAPABILITYMARKETcoverscoverscoverssignalssignalsFORMATlongform noteTOPICagentsTOPICharness engineeringTOPICmemoryCAPABILITYagent workflowCAPABILITYharness engineering
Mermaid outline
flowchart LR
  format-long_post["longform note"]
  topic-agents["agents"]
  topic-harness-engineering["harness engineering"]
  topic-memory["memory"]
  capability-agent-workflow["agent workflow"]
  capability-harness-engineering["harness engineering"]
  format-long_post -->|covers| topic-agents
  format-long_post -->|covers| topic-harness-engineering
  format-long_post -->|covers| topic-memory
  format-long_post -->|signals| capability-agent-workflow
  format-long_post -->|signals| capability-harness-engineering

Visual structure

Essay structure map

Built from summary and key paragraph positions

馃専馃専馃専My take: HTML can carry far more than text. It can encode structure, state, lay...THESIS馃専馃専馃専My take: HTMLcan carry far morethan text. It canencode structure,SIGNAL馃専馃専馃専My take: HTMLcan carry far morethan text.OPERATORThe problem is notHTML itself.IMPLICATIONWe probably need asimpler HTML-likeinteraction layerdesigned specifically
Mermaid outline
flowchart LR
  thesis["馃専馃専馃専My take: HTML can carry far more than text. It can encode structure, state, layout, interaction, harn..."]
  signal["馃専馃専馃専My take: HTML can carry far more than text."]
  operator["The problem is not HTML itself."]
  implication["We probably need a simpler HTML-like interaction layer designed specifically for agents."]
  thesis -->|frames| signal
  signal -->|develops| operator
  operator -->|lands in| implication

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