Wake
Wake is the trail an agent leaves, step by step, in the colour of whoever acted. Every step that can still be undone carries its undo. Undo a step that others depend on and Wake offers to undo those too, naming any that can’t be.
The agent onboarded Corvid Labs in six steps; you approved one. Revoke the access cards and only that step is undone. Then delete the tenant record: the steps built on it are undone with it, except the welcome email, which can’t be unsent.
Anatomy
When to use
- After an agent has taken several steps on someone’s behalf: onboarding, a payment run, a schedule change.
- Wherever people ask what the agent did and whether they can take it back.
- For one action with an undo window, Horizon is lighter.
Behaviour
| Undo | What happens | Asks first? |
|---|---|---|
| A step nothing depends on | Undone at once, with a murmur | No |
| A step others depend on | Lists the later steps that will be undone too | Yes |
| Includes a final step | Names it: “can’t be undone” | Yes |
| Any undo | Adds an entry in ink; the step stays, struck through | — |
The trail is append-only. Nothing is erased: an undo is a new entry by the person, so the record of what happened survives the change of mind.
Best practices
- Write each step in the past tense with its object: “Issued 6 access cards for Level 14”.
- Name the undo for what it does, not “Undo”.
- Say which steps can’t be undone before someone tries.
- Undo dependents together, and only after the person confirms the list.
Accessibility
- The trail is an ordered list; each step says who acted and when in text.
- Undo buttons name their action. The confirmation takes focus and lists every step it will touch.
- Undone steps keep their text, struck through, and say when they were undone.
Specifications
- Node
- 12 pt; pigment for the agent, ink for a person
- Rail
- 2 pt line
- Confirmation
- Ochre tint, 1 pt ochre outline
- Undone
- Struck through, ink 3