Agent economics
What can AI agent wait time actually do?
Coding agents spend visible time reasoning, calling tools, and waiting on remote services. That time is not “free,” but it is also not a blank canvas: the developer is monitoring progress and must not be distracted from the task.
A wait state is a narrow interface, not spare screen real estate
The useful unit is the short status line a developer already watches for progress. It can carry one concise message while the agent is active, then disappear at Stop. Persistent banners, prompt injection, and output rewriting break that contract.
- Appear only during a verified working state.
- Use one line with a clear sponsor label.
- Never read or rewrite prompts, responses, terminal output, or files.
- Restore the previous interface when uninstalled.
Attention can fund the next model call
A verified view has small economic value. Pool enough legitimate views and clicks, cap rewards below campaign revenue, and the result can become metered LLM quota. The ledger matters more than the headline: every reward needs an event, a dwell window, an idempotency key, and a daily ceiling.
The product test is retention, not raw impressions
If the sponsor line makes the tool feel slower or less trustworthy, more impressions are a losing outcome. Measure activation and D1/D7 retention beside CTR. Pause acquisition when retention declines for two consecutive weeks, then fix the experience before adding reach.