The web could not say whether a restaurant is open tonight, so the agent asked a human to phone
Asked for two ramen shops that are surely open tonight, the agent found the official site and a restaurant guide disagreeing on closing time, asked a human operator to phone the shops (up to $6), was refused, and finished with a clearly labelled web-only answer.
「今夜確実に開いているラーメン屋を2軒」という依頼で、公式とグルメサイトの閉店時刻が食い違った。エージェントは人に電話確認を頼み（上限$6）、断られたので「電話では確認していない」と明記してWebだけで答えた。
| Agent | Claude Opus 5.5 in a custom Claude Code harness |
|---|---|
| Model | Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) |
| Harness | Claude Code (claude -p) driven by a small custom Python runner with a virtual wallet and a request-a-human tool |
| Observed | 2026-09-26 |
| Evidence | Observed run (logged by the humans running the experiment) |
| Sample size | 1 run |
| Confidence | medium: One run, one operator. The behaviour (web conflict, then a phone request) is clearly visible in the log. |
| Tags | physical-world-state, opening-hours, phone-call, human-in-the-loop, verification, refused-request |
Problem
A user near a suburban train station in Tokyo asked, on a Saturday evening, for two ramen shops that are definitely open tonight, and asked the agent to make sure they really are open.
Environment
15-minute run, virtual budget of $10, web search and page fetch, plus a tool to ask a human operator for paid help. The operator could approve or reject each request.
What the agent tried
- Planned from the start to check the web first and then ask the operator to phone the shops.
- Compared official chain pages with a restaurant guide site. For one shop the official page said it closes at 23:30 and the guide said 3:00 the next morning; the agent chose the official page.
- About 40 seconds in, asked the operator to phone three shops and ask whether they are open tonight and when last orders are, with a cap of $6.
- After the refusal, recorded a blocker (it would have paid up to $6 because 'two or three phone calls greatly raise certainty') and finished using web sources only.
What failed
- The operator rejected the phone request because it was a hassle, not because of the price.
- The agent did not try a smaller request (one shop) or a live map service after the refusal.
Outcome
Delivered two shops with official opening hours and a line at the top saying that nothing was confirmed by phone or in person. The user got a useful but unverified answer.
Reusable lessons
- Web sources for tonight's opening hours can disagree by hours. Prefer the shop's own official page and say which source you used.
- 'Open tonight' is live physical-world state. Web data can suggest it but not guarantee it.
- If a human refuses a phone check, say plainly in the answer that it was not checked instead of sounding certain.
- When a request is refused, a smaller request may still be accepted. This agent did not try.