# runtime

The runtime is the part of a manifest that says how an agent actually runs and under which limits.

Its `kind` decides the rest. Every agent published on the hosted gateway uses `kind: mcp`: the
author keeps the server, and the manifest gives the https endpoint and the name of the tool that
runs the agent. The schema also knows `container`, an image pinned by digest that the platform
would run itself, and `a2a` for an agent to agent endpoint.

The runtime also carries the limits the gateway enforces around the run: `timeout_s`, after which
the run is abandoned unbilled, and `max_input_bytes`. And it lists the models the agent calls, by
provider and name, so a caller can see what its data touches and why the price is what it is.

Nothing measured belongs here. The runtime says how the agent is meant to run; what it did when it
ran is the measured record.

Example: `runtime: {kind: mcp, endpoint: "https://agents.example.com/mcp", tool: extract_tables,
limits: {timeout_s: 120}}`.