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14:58:03 <Zakim> please title this meeting ("meeting: ..."), anssik
14:58:05 <anssik> Meeting: WebML CG Teleconference – 22 January 2026
14:58:12 <anssik> Chair: Anssi
14:58:16 <anssik> Agenda: https://github.com/webmachinelearning/meetings/blob/main/telcons/2026-01-22-cg-agenda.md
14:58:20 <anssik> Scribe: Anssi
14:58:24 <anssik> scribeNick: anssik
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14:58:32 <anssik> Present+ Anssi_Kostiainen
14:58:47 <anssik> RRSAgent, draft minutes
14:58:49 <RRSAgent> I have made the request to generate https://www.w3.org/2026/01/22-webmachinelearning-minutes.html anssik
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15:03:36 <vasilii> present+ Vasilii_Trofimchuk
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15:05:12 <bvandersloot> present+
15:05:20 <anssik> Present+ Ben_Greenstein
15:05:34 <anssik> Present+ Ben_VanderSloot
15:05:44 <domfarolino> present+
15:05:45 <anssik> Present+ Tarek_Ziade
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15:06:00 <msw> present+ Mike_Wasserman
15:06:02 <anssik> Present+ Brandon_Walderman
15:06:07 <anssik> Present+ Ehsan_Toreini
15:06:12 <anssik> Present+ Emily_Lauber
15:06:19 <anssik> Present+ Iris_Johnson
15:06:28 <anssik> Present+ Kasper_Kulikowski
15:06:33 <anssik> Present+ Mark_Foltz
15:06:56 <anssik> Present+ Markus_Tavenrath
15:07:05 <anssik> Present+ Sathish
15:07:21 <anssik> Present+ Vasilii_Trofimchuk
15:07:27 <anssik> Present+ Victor_Huang
15:07:30 <bvandersloot> who's here
15:08:18 <anssik> Anssi: welcome back to our telcons
15:08:23 <anssik> Anssi: first, I'd like to welcome our latest new participants:
15:08:29 <Kasper_Kulikowski> Kasper_Kulikowski has joined #webmachinelearning
15:08:30 <anssik> ... Léonie Watson from TetraLogical Services Ltd.
15:08:30 <tarek> tarek has joined #webmachinelearning
15:08:48 <anssik> ... Dominic Farolino and Francois Beaufort from Google
15:09:01 <anssik> ... individual contributors Hao Wang, Teja Sunku and Paola Di Maio
15:09:06 <anssik> ... welcome all to the WebML Community Group!
15:09:57 <anssik> Topic: WebMCP API
15:10:03 <anssik> gb, this is webmachinelearning/webmcp
15:10:05 <gb> anssik, OK.
15:10:27 <anssik> Subtopic: WebMCP API explainer-to-spec transition
15:10:36 <anssik> Anssi: issue #56 and PR #64
15:10:36 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/56 -> Issue 56 Is this a proposal or a group of proposals? (by 43081j)
15:10:36 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/pull/64 -> Pull Request 64 Add initial spec draft and set up CI/CD (by anssiko)
15:10:43 <anssik> ... today, we will execute the resolution to transition from the WebMCP explainer to a Community Group spec draft stage
15:10:47 <anssik> -> Resolution https://www.w3.org/2025/12/11-webmachinelearning-minutes.html#6763
15:11:14 <anssik> Anssi: we will also discuss practicalities and expectations for the Community Group spec draft stage
15:11:51 <anssik> ... in PR #64 I have established the spec draft baseline and set up a CI/CD system to automate build, validation, checks, and publishing steps
15:11:59 <anssik> ... this automation will make the lives of editors and contributors easier and ensure all spec builds are of consistent quality
15:12:17 <anssik> ... spec contributors only need to edit the source file, index.bs, and upon successful merge, the built spec is deployed automatically
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15:14:23 <anssik> Dominic: I'd be willing to edit the spec, working with Khus
15:14:54 <anssik> Brandon: I will be interested in editing
15:15:06 <anssik> Victor: I will be contributing
15:15:22 <anssik> ... I will appoint additional editors as appropriate
15:15:38 <anssik> ... contributions to the WebMCP spec happen via PRs and issues are welcome from all group participants
15:15:54 <anssik> ... editors and contributors are expected to familiarize themselves with the spec-authoring tool Bikeshed we will use for this spec, it is a powerful and versatile tool with some quirks
15:15:59 <anssik> ... I'll share some materials below that may be helpful on this journey:
15:16:02 <anssik> -> Bikeshed Documentation https://speced.github.io/bikeshed/
15:16:06 <anssik> -> Introduction to Writing Specifications with Bikeshed https://dlaliberte.github.io/bikeshed-intro/
15:16:10 <anssik> -> Writing Procedural Specs for the Web Platform using Bikeshed https://garykac.github.io/procspec/
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15:16:35 <anssik> Anssi: folks who have been involved with W3C spec editing in other groups are likely familiar with Bikeshed and associated tooling
15:16:55 <anssik> ... the WebMCP spec will be called a "Draft Community Group Report" in W3C's parlance
15:16:59 <anssik> -> Types of documents W3C publishes https://www.w3.org/standards/types/#CG-DRAFT
15:17:28 <anssik> Anssi: a partial patent policy applies to this type of specs to allow for an easy way innovate that is inclusive of all, including all individual contributors that join the group
15:17:51 <anssik> ... formal wide reviews are not expected for Draft Community Group Reports
15:18:08 <anssik> ... however, W3C TAG conducts and encourages early TAG design reviews, called "Early design/incubation review" to ensure cohesion within the whole at this earlier stage pre-standards track
15:18:12 <anssik> ... my expectation is we will seek early review from the TAG when our early spec draft takes shape
15:19:13 <anssik> -> https://webmachinelearning.github.io/webmcp/
15:19:44 <anssik> Subtopic: Agentic AI Foundation coordination
15:19:49 <anssik> gb, this is webmachinelearning/charter
15:19:49 <gb> anssik, OK.
15:19:55 <anssik> Anssi: issue #14
15:19:56 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/charter/issues/14 -> Issue 14 Agentic AI Foundation coordination (by anssiko)
15:20:32 <anssik> ... as discussed earlier, we're actively looking to formalizing our coordination with newly Agentic AI Foundation for WebMCP to ensure cohesive development
15:20:47 <anssik> ... I've worked with Vasilii from Block Inc., AAIF co-founder, on a coordination proposal
15:21:00 <anssik> ... Vasilii shared the proposal in a GH comment in this issue, I'll summarize the key points
15:21:24 <anssik> ... the goal is it keep this lightweight, flexible, let the two specs grow and develop
15:21:29 <anssik> ... three key points of the proposal:
15:21:43 <anssik> ... - scope - WebMCP to enumerate what MCP spec sections apply
15:22:15 <anssik> ... - intent - document the intent is to keep WebMCP aligned with MCP where applicable
15:22:34 <anssik> ... - engagement - agree on communication channels (GitHub, Discord, MCP Working Group meetings ...)
15:22:50 <anssik> ... once we're settled, we will codify these expectations in the WebML CG's Charter that will be submitted for review
15:23:48 <anssik> Vasilii: thanks for the overview, I'm thinking the engagement model can change with time, now starting with lightweight model
15:24:21 <anssik> ... MCP moving fast, good to keep track of changes
15:25:07 <anssik> q?
15:25:51 <anssik> Dominic: do we expect AAIF folks to join?
15:26:32 <anssik> Vasilii: I will invite AAIF folks to join the W3C WebML CG
15:26:32 <anssik> q?
15:26:55 <anssik> Subtopic: Declarative proposal to expose tools via HTML
15:26:59 <anssik> gb, this is webmachinelearning/webmcp
15:26:59 <gb> anssik, OK.
15:27:06 <anssik> Anssi: issue #22 and PR #26
15:27:06 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/22 -> Issue 22 Declarative API Equivalent (by EisenbergEffect) [Agenda+]
15:27:06 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/pull/26 -> Pull Request 26 Declarative proposal to expose tools via HTML (by MiguelsPizza) [Agenda+]
15:27:13 <anssik> -> Chromium Declarative WebMCP prototype https://github.com/chromium/chromium/commit/3df80580897d24fbb730c0ee411f25ffe04e766b
15:27:43 <anssik> Anssi: the declarative proposal to expose tools via HTML has been identified as an important complementary feature to the programmatic WebMCP API by the group
15:28:02 <anssik> ... we've received new feedback from various folks since our last discussion, to be discussed today
15:28:06 <anssik> ... the feedback is split into the issue discussion and in the PR
15:28:12 <anssik> ... we'll look at the recent comments in issue #22 first
15:28:34 <anssik> -> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/22#issuecomment-3726418984
15:28:35 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/22 -> Issue 22 Declarative API Equivalent (by EisenbergEffect) [Agenda+]
15:28:41 <anssik> ... Khushal clarified the two goals for the declarative proposal:
15:28:44 <anssik> ... 1) Support for cross-document navigations, this can’t be done with the current imperative API
15:28:48 <anssik> ... 2) Developer ergonomics, make it trivial to expose existing actions without necessitating client-side scripting
15:29:20 <anssik> Domenic: semantic HTML elements to register themselves as tools, slap attributes on form elements
15:29:54 <anssik> ... the first take of this is in PR #26
15:30:15 <anssik> ... Ben of Mozill has comments on PR that the agent might actuate the form itself
15:30:30 <anssik> ... PR #26 is the baseline for the Chromium prototype
15:30:52 <anssik> ... our goal is to resolve the group wants to work on the declarative proposal
15:31:21 <anssik> q?
15:32:10 <anssik> Dominic: Khushal's comment notes form submission has two cases: cross-document and same document interaction
15:32:51 <anssik> ... cross-document schedules page navigation, this is the more complex case
15:33:10 <bvandersloot> q+
15:33:32 <anssik> ... we will prototype to find answers to the open design issues
15:34:39 <anssik> ack bvandersloot
15:35:02 <brwalder> q+
15:35:55 <anssik> BenV: declarative approach may better address some issues from Mozilla's side re WebMCP
15:36:00 <anssik> ack brwalder
15:36:23 <anssik> Brandon: on our side, form submission is an important consideration, support declarative approach in addition to imperative API
15:36:44 <anssik> ... I support mapping the forms, but the way of retrieving information still needs some work
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15:37:04 <anssik> ... the proposal is to ask link elements to do things the link elements don't normally do e.g. respond with JSON objects
15:37:18 <anssik> ... it encourages different patterns than I think we want
15:37:40 <anssik> ... the premise is to augment existing pages for humans to be useful for agent
15:38:03 <anssik> ... humans look at pages, but for agents, we need to add a link to the page that is not useful for humans
15:38:12 <anssik> ... I support form submission approach
15:38:30 <anssik> Dominic: from Chrome side we are not considering links yet in our design
15:38:31 <anssik> q?
15:38:40 <anssik> Present+ Jason_McGhee
15:39:10 <jason_mcghee> (hello - apologies for tardiness / conflicting meetings)
15:39:36 <anssik> RESOLUTION: Pursue declarative approach that complements imperative WebMCP API
15:40:19 <anssik> Anssi: looking forward to further implementation experience
15:40:29 <anssik> Subtopic: Define the API for in-page Agents to use a site's declared tools
15:40:33 <anssik> Anssi: issue #51
15:40:34 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/51 -> Issue 51 Define the API for in-page Agents to use a site's declared tools (by khushalsagar) [Agenda+]
15:40:52 <anssik> ... at TPAC we had a good discussion but we did not reach consensus so I wanted to revisit this topic with new information
15:41:06 <anssik> ... since TPAC Khushal contributed an API sketch to make the ModelContextClient API proposal more concrete:
15:41:11 <anssik> -> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/51#issuecomment-3598567325
15:41:11 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/51 -> Issue 51 Define the API for in-page Agents to use a site's declared tools (by khushalsagar) [Agenda+]
15:41:25 <anssik> Anssi: I'd like us to review and discuss the proposed ModelContextClient interface
15:41:38 <anssik> ... this extensible API allows listing current tools and executing them
15:41:47 <anssik> ... key motivation is to avoid concurrency issues with multiple agents
15:43:17 <anssik> Dominic: overall this is a good idea, I think it is the right direction, currently trying to avoid scope expansion so lower priority right now
15:43:19 <anssik> q?
15:43:20 <Victor> q+
15:43:26 <anssik> ack Victor
15:44:33 <anssik> Victor: my thoughts, not sure if there's strong demand from 3P party agents for this feature
15:44:58 <anssik> ... there must be interest from 3P sites to use this feature, need confirmed demand
15:45:13 <anssik> Anssi: James shared a Salesforce UI use case and expectations wrt API in a comment
15:45:19 <anssik> -> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/51#issuecomment-3599293112
15:46:15 <anssik> Dominic: I can take an action to respond on this issue
15:46:44 <Victor> +1 on some form of labelling to triage
15:46:50 <anssik> ... we could label issues e.g. v1 or v2
15:46:54 <anssik> q?
15:47:22 <anssik> Subtopic: Add a callback to inform the site when tool invocation should be aborted
15:47:27 <anssik> Anssi: issue #48
15:47:28 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/48 -> Issue 48 Add a callback to inform the site when tool invocation should be aborted (by khushalsagar) [Agenda+]
15:47:35 <anssik> ... this issue is about how to inform the site if the user cancels the tool invocation that is in flight
15:47:42 <anssik> ... it seems we're converging to use AbortSignal for the job
15:48:16 <anssik> Brandon: precedent for AbortSignal is Fetch API
15:48:34 <anssik> Dominic: should resolve this to use AbortSignal
15:48:52 <domfarolino> +1
15:49:06 <anssik> RESOLUTION: Use AbortSignal to signal cancellation (issue #48)
15:49:17 <anssik> Subtopic: Should concurrent tool execution be allowed?
15:49:21 <anssik> Anssi: issue #47
15:49:22 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/47 -> Issue 47 Should concurrent tool execution be allowed? (by khushalsagar) [Agenda+]
15:49:32 <anssik> ... Khushal notes tool execution is async, multiple tools can be invoked in parallel
15:49:46 <anssik> ... James shared concurrent execution is important, and managing concurrency should be always left to userland code
15:50:02 <anssik> ... promise-returning API ensures the tool author can choose to await for a tool call to finish before invoking a new tool call
15:50:04 <anssik> q?
15:50:16 <brwalder> q+
15:50:19 <anssik> ack brwalder
15:50:48 <anssik> Brandon: I think this is dependent on how we handle multiple clients, ref issue #51
15:50:49 <gb> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/webmcp/issues/51 -> Issue 51 Define the API for in-page Agents to use a site's declared tools (by khushalsagar) [Agenda+]
15:51:17 <anssik> Brandon: first need to resolve issue #51 prior to resolving #47
15:51:46 <anssik> Anssi: should we punt this for later?
15:51:57 <anssik> [agreement heard]
15:52:16 <anssik> Topic: Built-in AI APIs
15:52:25 <anssik> Anssi: we have four built-in AI APIs in scope of the group:
15:52:32 <anssik> -> https://github.com/webmachinelearning/prompt-api
15:52:36 <anssik> -> https://webmachinelearning.github.io/writing-assistance-apis/
15:52:42 <anssik> -> https://webmachinelearning.github.io/translation-api/
15:52:47 <anssik> -> https://webmachinelearning.github.io/proofreader-api/
15:53:03 <anssik> Anssi: first, I want to welcome new editors on board and then discuss 2026 priorities
15:53:14 <anssik> ... Translator and Language Detector APIs was the last API in the group's scope without active editors
15:53:25 <anssik> ... I'm pleased to appoint Reilly Grant from Google and Ehsan Toreini from Samsung as the editors of this spec
15:53:44 <anssik> ... Reilly is an experienced web spec author and browser engineer and Ehsan is a research engineer with privacy, cryptography and security focus, a great pair to work on this spec
15:53:49 <anssik> ... thank both for volunteering to take on this role
15:55:36 <anssik> Ehsan: thank you Anssi and hello everyone, I work in Samsung based in London UK, worked on trustworthiness of ML, privacy and security, HW security
15:55:42 <anssik> ... nice to be part of the group!
15:56:38 <anssik> Anssi: to help the group participants focus their attention across these API specs, I'd ask the editors to label high priority issues with "Agenda+" labels
15:56:48 <anssik> ... we will give Agenda+ issues higher priority and more agenda time
15:57:09 <anssik> ... also, if implementers have certain APIs and/or features higher priority for this year, it'd be good to know to ensure the group gives such specs appropriate attention
15:57:32 <anssik> ... questions, comments?
15:57:43 <msw> q+
15:58:06 <anssik> ack msw
15:58:50 <anssik> Mike: I can offer insight on Chrome plans for 2026, Prompt API is one of our biggest focus areas, for issue priorities, on Prompt API repo a bunch of issues was filed representing feedback received from the TAG
15:59:07 <anssik> ... these issues benefit from input from this group
15:59:32 <anssik> q?
15:59:37 <anssik> Topic: Meeting scheduling fine-tuning
15:59:44 <anssik> Anssi: I want to solicit feedback for the proposal to shift this CG call forward by one hour
15:59:59 <anssik> ... this timeslot we have chosen is a compromize we've used to allow US West Coast, Europe and China and sometimes even Japan join
16:00:02 <anssik> ... do we currently have active participants from China, Japan, or from APAC?
16:01:15 <jason_mcghee> to 6am PST?
16:01:16 <Mark_Foltz> No conflicts
16:01:21 <brwalder> no conflicts
16:01:23 <anssik> Mike: Kenji might join on occasion from Google Tokyo
16:01:56 <vasilii> jason_mcghee, I believe 8am PST
16:02:12 <Victor> no conflicts
16:02:15 <jason_mcghee> vasilii - thanks anssi immediately answered :)
16:02:20 <vasilii> +1
16:02:25 <anssik> RESOLUTION: Shift the WebML CG call forward by one hour and re-evaluate schedule from time to time considering active participants' timezones"
16:02:53 <jason_mcghee> thanks anssi
16:03:48 <anssik> RRSAgent, draft minutes
16:03:49 <RRSAgent> I have made the request to generate https://www.w3.org/2026/01/22-webmachinelearning-minutes.html anssik
16:21:48 <anssik> s/… I will/Anssi: I will
16:21:50 <anssik> RRSAgent, draft minutes
16:21:52 <RRSAgent> I have made the request to generate https://www.w3.org/2026/01/22-webmachinelearning-minutes.html anssik
16:23:02 <anssik> s/I will appoint/Anssi: I will appoint
16:23:04 <anssik> RRSAgent, draft minutes
16:23:05 <RRSAgent> I have made the request to generate https://www.w3.org/2026/01/22-webmachinelearning-minutes.html anssik
16:24:53 <anssik> s/with newly/with the newly founded
16:28:00 <anssik> s/programmatic/imperative
16:28:47 <anssik> s/Domenic/Dominic
16:29:09 <anssik> s/of Mozill/of Mozilla
16:35:50 <anssik> RRSAgent, draft minutes
16:35:51 <RRSAgent> I have made the request to generate https://www.w3.org/2026/01/22-webmachinelearning-minutes.html anssik
16:37:46 <anssik> s/3P party/3rd party
16:41:50 <anssik> s/thank both/thank you both
16:42:09 <anssik> s/work in/work at
16:43:51 <anssik> s/timezones"/timezones
16:43:54 <anssik> RRSAgent, draft minutes
16:43:55 <RRSAgent> I have made the request to generate https://www.w3.org/2026/01/22-webmachinelearning-minutes.html anssik
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