Watchers that stay silent
A temporary job with a named expected state: silent while it holds, verify live on change, report once with evidence, then delete itself.
The problem
A standing job that reports every cycle recreates the noise it was meant to prevent. A notification tells you a timer ran; it does not tell you whether reality still matches what you expected.
The arrangement
A watcher is a temporary job with a defined expected state, a deadline, and permission to disappear. The expected state can be activity, completion, failure, or deliberate silence; a stopped service can be the expected state if stopping it was intentional. The watcher stays silent while the state holds, verifies against live state when something changes, reports once with evidence, and removes itself when the condition resolves or the deadline passes.
What it costs to run
One honest spec per watcher: the expected state, the deadline, and the report format, written before the watcher starts.
Starter template
Watcher spec Expected state: <what reality should look like, including intentional silence> Check against: <the live record, device, file, or service> While it holds: say nothing On change: verify live, report once with evidence Expiry: <deadline>; on expiry, delete this job or report once why it should be renewed