That's sort of how it works. You request the conch, and if no-one else has it then it's yours.

Otherwise you're in the queue, waiting... always waiting, until finally the conch falls from your predecessor's grip - and you get notified via email or webhook.

Or as a last resort, by polling:

  while [ 1 ]; do
    if [ "$(curl -sfL conchable.com/bearer ...)" == "me" ]; then
      echo "THE CONCH IS MINE!"
      exit 0
    fi
    sleep 30
  done