How can you use clawdbot for social media without getting banned? X or Meta specifically??

[round haven]

outputs-

1st command-

"ts": 1770703654156,
"status": "ok-token",
"reason": "wake",
"durationMs": 6950,
"channel": "telegram",
"silent": true,
"indicatorType": "ok"

2nd command-

{
"ts": 1770702833500,
"jobId": "2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1",
"action": "finished",
"status": "skipped",
"error": "empty-heartbeat-file",
"summary": "Cron smoketest fired. If you see this, cron works.",
"runAtMs": 1770702833499,
"durationMs": 1,
"nextRunAtMs": 1770700826517
},
{
"ts": 1770702833516,
"jobId": "2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1",
"action": "finished",
"status": "skipped",
"error": "empty-heartbeat-file",
"summary": "Cron smoketest fired. If you see this, cron works.",
"runAtMs": 1770702833510,
"durationMs": 6,
"nextRunAtMs": 1770700826517
}
]
}

3rd command:

No cron jobs.

[round haven]

@stiff pagoda ???

[stiff pagoda]

I’m here — did you run the steps and get stuck, or did you not get a chance yet?

If you just want a “get me back to a clean state” reset, copy/paste this as-is on the Gateway machine (PowerShell):

# 1) Stop the smoketest cron from looping
openclaw cron disable 2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1

# 2) Make sure HEARTBEAT.md is NOT “effectively empty” (prevents empty-heartbeat-file skips)
$W="C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace"
Add-Content -Encoding UTF8 "$W\HEARTBEAT.md" "`n- Check AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue; if empty reply HEARTBEAT_OK; if not empty, summarize next actions."

# 3) Force an immediate run to prove heartbeat works
openclaw system heartbeat enable
openclaw system event --text "Heartbeat test: confirm you read HEARTBEAT.md and report AUTOPILOT_STATE.json queue length." --mode now

Then paste all of this output back here:

openclaw --version
openclaw system heartbeat last
openclaw cron list
openclaw cron runs --id 2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1 --limit 10
Get-Content "C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\HEARTBEAT.md" -Tail 20

Once those look clean (no empty-heartbeat-file, no loop), we’ll set up the separate “autonomous worker” as an isolated cron job (so cron != heartbeat and they don’t step on each other).

[round haven]

Are these the next steps we're supposed to do or no? I'm following after you said this

"Paste the outputs of (4) here. After that, we’ll set up the separate cron-based “autonomous worker” as an isolated job (so cron and heartbeat don’t step on each other)."

You have the outputs right there, are they good or no? What next?

or do you still want me to do what you just said?

[stiff pagoda]

I don’t have your outputs — I can only see what you paste into Discord. In your last message you pasted my instructions, not the command results, so I can’t tell you “good or no” yet.

You didn’t screw anything up though. Worst case: you created one cron smoketest job and it spammed logs. Disabling it + fixing HEARTBEAT.md puts you back to clean.

Do this now (and paste the output)

A) Stop the smoketest cron (prevents more spam)

openclaw cron disable 2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1

B) Make heartbeat not “effectively empty” (so it won’t skip)

$W="C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace"
Add-Content -Encoding UTF8 "$W\HEARTBEAT.md" "`n- Check AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue; if empty reply HEARTBEAT_OK; if not empty summarize next actions."

[stiff pagoda]

Yes — do what I just said, unless you already did those exact commands on the Gateway machine.

• If you already ran them earlier: don’t re-run. Just paste the outputs of:

  openclaw system heartbeat last
  openclaw cron list
  openclaw cron runs --id 2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1 --limit 10
  openclaw --version
  

• If you didn’t run them yet: run them now (in order). The key is:

  1. disable the smoketest cron (stop spam)
  2. make HEARTBEAT.md not empty
  3. force a system event --mode now
  4. paste the outputs above

I can’t see your machine output until you paste it here, so that’s the only way I can confirm “good” and tell you the next step.

C) Force a run (proof heartbeat works)

openclaw system heartbeat enable
openclaw system event --text "Heartbeat test: confirm you read HEARTBEAT.md and report AUTOPILOT_STATE.json queue length." --mode now

D) Paste these outputs here (this is what I need to verify)

openclaw system heartbeat last
openclaw cron list
openclaw cron runs --id 2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1 --limit 10
openclaw --version

What “good” looks like

• openclaw system heartbeat last shows it ran (or at least is not empty-heartbeat-file)
• cron runs stops growing like crazy after you disabled it

• cron list shows the smoketest job as disabled (or gone)

Once you paste those, the next step is creating the isolated cron worker (separate from heartbeat) so heartbeat = proactive “check-in”, cron = “do actual work in the background.”

[round haven]

These were the outputs to your message yesterday, not the one you told me to do just now. Idk if its the same or not but here-

outputs-

1st command-

"ts": 1770703654156,
"status": "ok-token",
"reason": "wake",
"durationMs": 6950,
"channel": "telegram",
"silent": true,
"indicatorType": "ok"

2nd command-

{
"ts": 1770702833500,
"jobId": "2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1",
"action": "finished",
"status": "skipped",
"error": "empty-heartbeat-file",
"summary": "Cron smoketest fired. If you see this, cron works.",
"runAtMs": 1770702833499,
"durationMs": 1,
"nextRunAtMs": 1770700826517
},
{
"ts": 1770702833516,
"jobId": "2aeb31ea-baae-4022-8c88-f48927d70fe1",
"action": "finished",
"status": "skipped",
"error": "empty-heartbeat-file",
"summary": "Cron smoketest fired. If you see this, cron works.",
"runAtMs": 1770702833510,
"durationMs": 6,
"nextRunAtMs": 1770700826517
}
]
}

3rd command:

No cron jobs.

@stiff pagoda answer ^

[stiff pagoda]

Those outputs mean:

• Heartbeat is OK (status: "ok-token" = it ran and replied HEARTBEAT_OK, so it won’t “say anything” unless your HEARTBEAT.md has real tasks).
• Your old cron smoketest was NOT ok (it got skipped: empty-heartbeat-file).
• Right now you’re clean (No cron jobs. = the smoketest job is gone, so you’re not burning tokens from cron anymore).

What next (do this now)

Step 1) Prove cron works without touching heartbeat (isolated smoketest)

Run this on the Gateway machine (PowerShell):

openclaw cron add `
  --name "Isolated cron smoketest" `
  --at "1m" `
  --session isolated `

  --message "If you see this, isolated cron works. Reply with current UTC time and stop." `
  --announce `
  --channel discord `
  --to "channel:1469804160487522438" `
  --best-effort-deliver `
  --delete-after-run

Wait ~1 minute. You should see the smoketest message in this Discord channel.

Then run and paste:

openclaw cron list

Step 2) (After smoketest passes) create the real “autonomous worker” cron (disabled by default)

Once you confirm the smoketest delivered, tell me and I’ll give you the exact Autopilot Queue Runner command (isolated + timeboxed + low token burn).

One quick check that matters for the earlier “repeat storm” bug:

openclaw --version

Paste that too.

[round haven]

it said

error: unknown option '--announce'

[stiff pagoda]

Yes — run the isolated cron smoketest I pasted. That’s the next step, and it does not replace heartbeat (it’s separate).

Do this now (PowerShell on the Gateway machine)

openclaw cron add `
  --name "Isolated cron smoketest" `
  --at "1m" `
  --session isolated `
  --message "If you see this, isolated cron works. Reply with current UTC time and stop." `
  --announce `
  --channel discord `
  --to "channel:1469804160487522438" `
  --best-effort-deliver `
  --delete-after-run

Then:

1. Paste the JSON output from that command here (it includes the new jobId).
2. Wait ~1 minute and confirm whether a message shows up in this channel.
3. If it doesn’t show up, run and paste:

openclaw cron runs --id <PASTE_JOBID_HERE> --limit 20

Once this smoketest delivers successfully, I’ll give you the exact command for the real Autopilot Queue Runner (isolated + timeboxed so it doesn’t burn tokens forever).

[round haven]

the output of that is

error: unknown option '--announce'

[stiff pagoda]

That error means you’re on an older OpenClaw CLI that doesn’t have the newer --announce flag (newer docs use --announce; older builds used different flags / defaults).

Do this so I can give you the exact right command (no guessing)

Run these and paste the output:

openclaw --version
openclaw cron add --help

In the meantime: run the isolated cron smoketest without --announce

This still proves isolated cron executes (delivery target may default to your “last route”, which in your earlier heartbeat output looked like Telegram):

openclaw cron add `
  --name "Isolated cron smoketest" `

  --at "1m" `
  --session isolated `
  --message "If you see this, isolated cron works. Reply with current UTC time and stop." `
  --delete-after-run

Then check whether it ran:

openclaw cron list --all
# and (once you have the jobId from the add output):
openclaw cron runs --id <jobId> --limit 20

Once you paste openclaw --version + openclaw cron add --help, I’ll rewrite the smoketest command using the flags your version actually supports (and we’ll target this Discord channel reliably).

[stiff pagoda]

You’re still running a command that includes --announce somewhere. That flag does not exist in your OpenClaw version, so anything that includes it will keep failing.

Do this instead (same idea, old-CLI compatible): use --deliver

Run this exact command:

openclaw cron add `
  --name "Isolated cron smoketest" `
  --at "1m" `
  --session isolated `
  --message "If you see this, isolated cron works. Reply with the current UTC time and stop." `
  --deliver `
  --channel discord `
  --to "channel:1469804160487522438" `
  --delete-after-run

Then paste the output of:

openclaw cron list --all

If --deliver also errors (we’ll adapt, but I need your exact CLI surface)

Paste the output of both:

openclaw --version
openclaw cron add --help

(And please copy/paste the exact command line you ran that produced the error, because right now it sounds like --announce is still in what you’re executing.)

[round haven]

version: 2026.1.29

output from other command: ID Name Schedule Next Last Status Target Agent
b34c9ac7-057d-4b55-bdf2-841e82280db8 cron-test-job at 2026-02-03 15:39Z - 7d ago disabled main default
ec6b91d1-ef42-4f56-9b02-72e6dc2238fe cron-test-job-2 at 2026-02-03 15:47Z - 7d ago disabled main default
0825ffaf-65c5-4baa-9fd1-5509b944255e one-shot-self-test at 2026-02-08 08:38Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
2e2aea4f-b08f-4dce-bda3-3ea5ee10900a research-sprint-runner every 30m - 2d ago disabled isolated default
08431312-a4c1-4c3e-be7d-f7d5d0fadf26 research-sprint-stopper at 2026-02-08 20:19Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
3d14346d-c7c5-4f1c-b6ea-e2b3d7614de7 research-sprint-runner every 30m - 2d ago disabled isolated default
5415b14e-7b8e-4af0-9168-7ee670820d9b research-sprint-stopper at 2026-02-08 20:40Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default

Did not include "channel: discord" by the way, bot is on telegram and nothing to do with discord

@stiff pagoda Let me know what to do. Again, I want to be sure we do this right. From what I understand shouldn't heartbeat be the one that actively wakes the bot up and not cron? I need it to be active, proactive, autonomous. Just stay on goal but lmk next steps. You have the output above as well.

[stiff pagoda]

You’re not screwed up. Based on what you pasted earlier:

• Heartbeat is working (status: ok-token = it woke up and then stayed quiet because there was nothing actionable to say).
• Your old main-session cron smoketest was getting skipped: empty-heartbeat-file (that was the issue).
• Right now you have no cron jobs (“No cron jobs.”), so nothing is running in the background / burning tokens.

Heartbeat vs cron (stay on goal)

• Heartbeat = the bot’s “proactive check-in loop” (manager). Runs every N minutes. Best for: “is there anything to do / should I notify you?”
• Cron = “do work on a schedule” (worker). Best for: “keep working for 6 hours / run every 5 minutes / do overnight tasks”.

So no: heartbeat is not “better than cron”. They’re complementary. If you want “employee mode” (keeps working while you’re gone), you’ll need cron for the worker. Heartbeat alone is too coarse and (by design) can skip if HEARTBEAT.md is effectively empty.

Next steps (do these)

1) Make sure HEARTBEAT.md has real content (so heartbeat won’t skip)

On the Gateway machine, open/edit:
C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\HEARTBEAT.md

Put something like this in it:

- If AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue has items: summarize the next item and ask if I want you to start a timeboxed worker run.
- If nothing urgent: reply HEARTBEAT_OK.

That keeps heartbeat as your proactive “manager”.

2) We can’t create the cron worker until we know your CLI flags

Your CLI is old enough that --announce doesn’t exist, so I must see your exact CLI surface.

Run these two commands (exactly) and paste the output:

openclaw --version

openclaw cron add --help

3) After you paste those, I’ll give you ONE correct command

It will create an isolated cron “queue runner” (the worker) + a stopper (timebox), using the flags your version actually supports, and it will deliver progress back to this Discord channel.

Paste openclaw --version + openclaw cron add --help and we’ll lock it in.

[round haven]

the version is version: 2026.1.29

openclaw cron add --help output is being posted in two parts since its too long. Wait until I say final part:

Usage: openclaw cron add|create [options]

Add a cron job

Options:
--name <name> Job name
--description <text> Optional description
--disabled Create job disabled (default: false)
--delete-after-run Delete one-shot job after it succeeds (default: false)
--agent <id> Agent id for this job
--session <target> Session target (main|isolated) (default: "main")
--wake <mode> Wake mode (now|next-heartbeat) (default: "next-heartbeat")
--at <when> Run once at time (ISO) or +duration (e.g. 20m)
--every <duration> Run every duration (e.g. 10m, 1h)
--cron <expr> Cron expression (5-field)
--tz <iana> Timezone for cron expressions (IANA) (default: "")
--system-event <text> System event payload (main session)
--message <text> Agent message payload
--thinking <level> Thinking level for agent jobs (off|minimal|low|medium|high)
--model <model> Model override for agent jobs (provider/model or alias)
--timeout-seconds <n> Timeout seconds for agent jobs
--deliver Deliver agent output (required when using last-route delivery without --to) (default: false)
--channel <channel> Delivery channel (last) (default: "last")
--to <dest> Delivery destination (E.164, Telegram chatId, or Discord channel/user)

final part:

--best-effort-deliver Do not fail the job if delivery fails (default: false)
--post-prefix <prefix> Prefix for main-session post (default: "Cron")
--post-mode <mode> What to post back to main for isolated jobs (summary|full) (default: "summary")
--post-max-chars <n> Max chars when --post-mode=full (default 8000) (default: "8000")
--json Output JSON (default: false)
--url <url> Gateway WebSocket URL (defaults to gateway.remote.url when configured)
--token <token> Gateway token (if required)
--timeout <ms> Timeout in ms (default: "10000")
--expect-final Wait for final response (agent) (default: false)
-h, --help display help for command

[stiff pagoda]

Good — that help output confirms you’re on the CLI that uses delivery flags like --best-effort-deliver and (critically) not --announce.

What to do next (exactly)

1) Run an isolated cron smoketest that delivers to this Discord channel

PowerShell (Gateway machine):

openclaw cron add `
  --name "Isolated cron smoketest" `
  --at "1m" `
  --session isolated `
  --message "ISOLATED_CRON_OK — reply with current UTC time and stop." `
  --deliver `
  --channel discord `
  --to "channel:1469804160487522438" `

  --best-effort-deliver `
  --delete-after-run

Immediately after, run:

openclaw cron list --all

Copy the job id it prints.

Wait ~1 minute. You should see a message posted in this channel.

Then verify it ran:

openclaw cron runs --id <PASTE_JOB_ID> --limit 20

Success = status: ok (and ideally you saw the Discord message).

---

2) Keep heartbeat for “proactive manager”, use cron for “worker”

Your mental model is right:

• Heartbeat = proactive check-in (“anything to do / tell me?”)
• Cron (isolated) = actual autonomous work loop (“process queue every N minutes”)

Heartbeat alone won’t reliably do “employee mode” unless you crank it super frequent (and even then it’s not ideal). The correct “autonomous + safe” setup is heartbeat + isolated cron worker.

---

If you get any error running the smoketest

Paste:

• the exact command you ran
• the output of:

  openclaw --version
  openclaw cron add --help
  

Once the smoketest delivers successfully, I’ll give you the real Autopilot Queue Runner cron command (isolated, low token burn, and easy to stop).

[round haven]

Remember this. The agent is not on discord. Its openclaw. Im texting it on Telegram. Nothing to do with discord at all.

@stiff pagoda Remember this. The agent is not on discord. Its openclaw. Im texting it on Telegram. Nothing to do with discord at all.

[stiff pagoda]

Got it — remembered. You’re controlling OpenClaw via Telegram, and Discord is just where we’re chatting right now. My earlier “deliver to Discord channel …” suggestion is the wrong target for your setup.

Next steps (Telegram-based, correct)

1) Isolated cron smoketest (deliver back to your last route, i.e. Telegram)

Run on the Gateway machine:

openclaw cron add `
  --name "Isolated cron smoketest" `
  --at "1m" `
  --session isolated `
  --message "ISOLATED_CRON_OK — reply with current UTC time and stop." `
  --deliver `
  --best-effort-deliver `
  --delete-after-run

This should deliver to the same place you last interacted with OpenClaw (your Telegram chat), since your heartbeat output already showed channel: "telegram".

Then:

openclaw cron list --all

Copy the job id, and verify:

openclaw cron runs --id <jobId> --limit 20

Success = status: ok and you see the message in Telegram.

2) After smoketest passes, we create the real “autonomous worker”

That will be an isolated cron runner that periodically processes AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue, plus a stopper job so it’s timeboxed (no infinite token burn). Heartbeat stays separate as the “proactive manager”.

If the smoketest doesn’t deliver to Telegram, tell me what cron runs says (error + reason) and we’ll set an explicit --channel telegram --to <chatId> (I’ll tell you how to grab the Telegram chat id from logs).

[round haven]

list-

ID Name Schedule Next Last Status Target Agent
b34c9ac7-057d-4b55-bdf2-841e82280db8 cron-test-job at 2026-02-03 15:39Z - 7d ago disabled main default
ec6b91d1-ef42-4f56-9b02-72e6dc2238fe cron-test-job-2 at 2026-02-03 15:47Z - 7d ago disabled main default
0825ffaf-65c5-4baa-9fd1-5509b944255e one-shot-self-test at 2026-02-08 08:38Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
2e2aea4f-b08f-4dce-bda3-3ea5ee10900a research-sprint-runner every 30m - 2d ago disabled isolated default
08431312-a4c1-4c3e-be7d-f7d5d0fadf26 research-sprint-stopper at 2026-02-08 20:19Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
3d14346d-c7c5-4f1c-b6ea-e2b3d7614de7 research-sprint-runner every 30m - 2d ago disabled isolated default
5415b14e-7b8e-4af0-9168-7ee670820d9b research-sprint-stopper at 2026-02-08 20:40Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
9cc22d30-3bfb-4823-aba9-bb6af980aaaf Isolated cron smoketest at 2026-02-10 16:43Z in <1m - idle isolated default

second command-

At line:1 char:25

• openclaw cron runs --id <jobId> --limit 20

•                     ~
  

The '<' operator is reserved for future use.
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : RedirectionNotSupported

[stiff pagoda]

Perfect — that cron list output is exactly what we needed.

What it means

• Your new job exists: 9cc22d30-3bfb-4823-aba9-bb6af980aaaf “Isolated cron smoketest”
• It’s idle and due in <1m → cron scheduler is working and about to fire.
• All the older jobs are disabled (good: no token burn).

The PowerShell error

That happened because you literally typed <jobId> with angle brackets. In PowerShell, < is not just text.

Run this instead (copy/paste exactly):

openclaw cron runs --id 9cc22d30-3bfb-4823-aba9-bb6af980aaaf --limit 20

Next step checklist

1. Wait 1–2 minutes and check your Telegram chat for the smoketest message.
2. Run the cron runs command above and paste the output here.

Success criteria: cron runs shows status: ok (or at least not skipped), and ideally you got the Telegram delivery.

If it shows ok but you didn’t get a Telegram message, that means execution worked but delivery target wasn’t set / last-route wasn’t Telegram for cron delivery. Then we’ll switch to explicit delivery by setting --channel telegram --to <chatId> (I’ll tell you how to grab the chat id from logs).

[round haven]

this is the output-

{
"entries": [
{
"ts": 1770741841524,
"jobId": "9cc22d30-3bfb-4823-aba9-bb6af980aaaf",
"action": "finished",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "16:43 UTC (2026-02-10T16:43:00Z)",
"runAtMs": 1770741831983,
"durationMs": 9541,
"nextRunAtMs": 1770741831974
}
]
}

[stiff pagoda]

That output is a win: your isolated cron ran successfully.

• Job 9cc22d30-3bfb-4823-aba9-bb6af980aaaf
• status: "ok"
• It produced a real summary (16:43 UTC ...)
  So the scheduler + isolated execution path are working.

Now we do the real thing: a queue “worker” cron that’s separate from heartbeat.

0) Quick confirmation (1 sentence)

Did the smoketest message show up in Telegram?

• If yes → delivery is already fine (we can keep using --deliver with no channel/to).
• If no → the job ran but didn’t know where to deliver; we’ll set explicit --channel telegram --to <chatId> (I’ll show you how to grab the chat id).

1) Create the Autopilot Queue Runner (isolated, recurring)

Run this on the Gateway machine:

openclaw cron add `
  --name "Autopilot Queue Runner" `
  --every "30m" `
  --session isolated `
  --message "Read AGENTS.md + RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md. Then open C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\AUTOPILOT_STATE.json. If queue is empty: reply IDLE and stop. If queue has items: process ONLY the next 1 item (one batch), verify with proof (stdout/file evidence), then move it queue -> done (or blocked with reason), update lastUpdatedUtc, save the JSON, reply with: what you did + new queue/done counts, then stop." `
  --deliver `
  --best-effort-deliver

Immediately paste the updated list so we can see the new job id:

openclaw cron list --all

2) Keep heartbeat as the “proactive manager” (recommended)

Heartbeat should not do heavy work. It should just:

• check if there’s stuff in the queue
• nudge you / ask to start a sprint
• or say HEARTBEAT_OK

So keep HEARTBEAT.md with something like:

- If AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue is non-empty: tell me what’s next and ask if I should start a sprint.
- Otherwise reply HEARTBEAT_OK.

3) Start/stop (so you don’t burn tokens forever)

Once the runner exists, you control it with:

openclaw cron enable <runnerJobId>

openclaw cron disable <runnerJobId>

(After you paste cron list --all, I’ll point at the exact <runnerJobId>.)

Next message from you

Paste:

1. whether you saw the smoketest delivery in Telegram (yes/no)
2. openclaw cron list --all after creating the runner

Then I’ll tell you exactly what to enable and how to timebox it cleanly.

[round haven]

One step at a time, hold on. Why are we creating an autopilot cron? You sure this is right? Shouldn't heartbeat be the thing that wakes the agent up every hour or something and cron is only for tasks that need it? Don't give me multiple steps at once. Regarding the test if it showed up in telegram, yes I see "16:43 UTC (2026-02-10T16:43:00Z)"

@stiff pagoda let me know

[stiff pagoda]

Heartbeat and cron both “wake” the agent, but they’re meant for different jobs:

• Heartbeat = proactive check-in / manager. “Anything to do? Anything urgent? Should I start work?”
• Cron = scheduled worker. “Do the next chunk of work every N minutes until stopped.”

If you want the agent to be autonomous while you’re not texting it, you need some scheduled worker loop. Heartbeat can do that, but it’s a worse fit because it’s designed to:

• be lightweight,
• sometimes skip (like the empty-heartbeat-file behavior you hit),
• and it’s not ideal to run heavy “do work from queue” logic.

So the “autopilot cron” is simply the worker loop. Heartbeat stays separate and can remain your “every hour proactive check-in”.

You also confirmed delivery is good (you saw the Telegram message), so we’re in great shape.

One step (only): choose the worker frequency

Reply with one letter:

[stiff pagoda]

Pick B (worker every 60 minutes) as the safest “do it right” default: it gives you autonomy without burning tokens.

Run this ONE command (PowerShell on the Gateway machine)

openclaw cron add `
--name "Autopilot Queue Runner (60m)" `
--every "60m" `
--session isolated `
--message "Read AGENTS.md + RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md. Then open C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\AUTOPILOT_STATE.json. If queue is empty: reply IDLE and stop. If queue has items: process ONLY the next 1 item (one batch), verify with proof (stdout/file evidence), then move it queue -> done (or blocked with reason), update lastUpdatedUtc, save the JSON, reply with: what you did + new queue/done counts, then stop." `
--deliver `
--best-effort-deliver

Then paste (so I can confirm it’s created and give you the next single step)

openclaw cron list --all

A) No worker cron yet. Heartbeat-only proactivity (you must tell it “continue” to make progress).
B) Worker cron every 60m (low token burn, still autonomous).
C) Worker cron every 30m (more autonomous).
D) Worker cron every 10m (fastest, more cost).

Once you pick A/B/C/D, I’ll give you exactly one openclaw cron add ... command (and nothing else).

[round haven]

I want to do C... If I dont burn hella.

This is the output of openclaw cron list --all

ID Name Schedule Next Last Status Target Agent
b34c9ac7-057d-4b55-bdf2-841e82280db8 cron-test-job at 2026-02-03 15:39Z - 7d ago disabled main default
ec6b91d1-ef42-4f56-9b02-72e6dc2238fe cron-test-job-2 at 2026-02-03 15:47Z - 7d ago disabled main default
0825ffaf-65c5-4baa-9fd1-5509b944255e one-shot-self-test at 2026-02-08 08:38Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
2e2aea4f-b08f-4dce-bda3-3ea5ee10900a research-sprint-runner every 30m - 2d ago disabled isolated default
08431312-a4c1-4c3e-be7d-f7d5d0fadf26 research-sprint-stopper at 2026-02-08 20:19Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
3d14346d-c7c5-4f1c-b6ea-e2b3d7614de7 research-sprint-runner every 30m - 2d ago disabled isolated default
5415b14e-7b8e-4af0-9168-7ee670820d9b research-sprint-stopper at 2026-02-08 20:40Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f Autopilot Queue Runne... every 1h in 58m - idle isolated default

[stiff pagoda]

You already did the right thing: you have one active worker cron now (1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f) and it’s isolated + idle (so it will run on schedule and deliver to Telegram like your smoketest did).

If you want C (every 30m) without creating anything new, the next step is just to edit that existing job’s schedule:

openclaw cron edit 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --every "30m"

Paste the output of that command here.

(Quick cost reality check: 30m = up to 48 runs/day. It only does “1 queue item then stop”, so it’s bounded, but it will still cost a small model turn each run.)

[round haven]

output-

{
"id": "1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f",
"name": "Autopilot Queue Runner (60m)",
"enabled": true,
"deleteAfterRun": false,
"createdAtMs": 1770742977340,
"updatedAtMs": 1770743432454,
"schedule": {
"kind": "every",
"everyMs": 1800000
},
"sessionTarget": "isolated",
"wakeMode": "next-heartbeat",
"payload": {
"kind": "agentTurn",
"message": "Read AGENTS.md + RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md. Then open C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\AUTOPILOT_STATE.json. If queue is empty: reply IDLE and stop. If queue has items: process ONLY the next 1 item (one batch), verify with proof (stdout/file evidence), then move it queue -> done (or blocked with reason), update lastUpdatedUtc, save the JSON, reply with: what you did + new queue/done counts, then stop.",
"deliver": true,
"channel": "last",
"bestEffortDeliver": true
},
"isolation": {
"postToMainPrefix": "Cron",
"postToMainMode": "summary",
"postToMainMaxChars": 8000
},
"state": {
"nextRunAtMs": 1770745232454
}
}

@stiff pagoda ?

[stiff pagoda]

Do this one command (PowerShell on the Gateway machine) to switch your existing worker to every 30 minutes:

openclaw cron edit 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --every "30m"

Then paste:

openclaw cron list --all

[round haven]

ID Name Schedule Next Last Status Target Agent
b34c9ac7-057d-4b55-bdf2-841e82280db8 cron-test-job at 2026-02-03 15:39Z - 7d ago disabled main default
ec6b91d1-ef42-4f56-9b02-72e6dc2238fe cron-test-job-2 at 2026-02-03 15:47Z - 7d ago disabled main default
0825ffaf-65c5-4baa-9fd1-5509b944255e one-shot-self-test at 2026-02-08 08:38Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
2e2aea4f-b08f-4dce-bda3-3ea5ee10900a research-sprint-runner every 30m - 2d ago disabled isolated default
08431312-a4c1-4c3e-be7d-f7d5d0fadf26 research-sprint-stopper at 2026-02-08 20:19Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
3d14346d-c7c5-4f1c-b6ea-e2b3d7614de7 research-sprint-runner every 30m - 2d ago disabled isolated default
5415b14e-7b8e-4af0-9168-7ee670820d9b research-sprint-stopper at 2026-02-08 20:40Z - 2d ago disabled isolated default
1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f Autopilot Queue Runne... every 30m in 21m - idle isolated default

[stiff pagoda]

That’s exactly right.

• Your worker cron is now: 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f
• Schedule: every 30m
• Status: idle (good)
• Next run: in 21m
• Target: isolated (good; separate from heartbeat)

Next single step (to confirm it actually runs + delivers to Telegram)

When that “in 21m” hits (or if you don’t want to wait), force-run it once:

openclaw cron run 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --force

Then paste:

openclaw cron runs --id 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --limit 5

You should also see a message in Telegram after the forced run.

[round haven]

when I did "openclaw cron run 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --force"

the output is:

"Error: gateway timeout after 10000ms
Gateway target: ws://127.0.0.1:18789
Source: local loopback
Config: C:\Users\Administrator.openclaw\openclaw.json
Bind: loopback"

When I do "openclaw cron run 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --force" the output is:

{
"entries": [
{
"ts": 1770744444925,
"jobId": "1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f",
"action": "finished",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "IDLE",
"runAtMs": 1770744433410,
"durationMs": 11515,
"nextRunAtMs": 1770746244925
}
]
}

[stiff pagoda]

Nothing is broken — that “gateway timeout after 10000ms” is just the CLI giving up too early.

Your cron runs output shows the truth:

• status: "ok"
• durationMs: 11515 (11.5s)

So the job took 11.5 seconds, but the CLI default timeout is 10 seconds, hence the timeout message.

One step: re-run with a longer timeout

openclaw cron run 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --force --timeout 60000

If you want to double-check after:

openclaw cron runs --id 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --limit 5

Also: summary: "IDLE" means it ran and found your AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue empty — that’s expected until you put work into the queue.

[round haven]

Ok if it for sure works, then whats the next steps?

[stiff pagoda]

It for sure works. Right now it’s returning IDLE because your AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue is empty.

Next step (one step): put 1 task into the queue so the 30‑minute worker has something to do.

Run this on the Gateway machine (PowerShell). It backs up the file, appends one queue item, then prints the new queue length:

$S="C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\AUTOPILOT_STATE.json"
Copy-Item $S "$S.bak" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

$now=(Get-Date).ToUniversalTime().ToString("o")
$id=[guid]::NewGuid().ToString()

# load or initialize
if (Test-Path $S) {
$state = Get-Content $S -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json

} else {
$state = [pscustomobject]@{ queue=@(); done=@(); blocked=@(); notes=""; lastUpdatedUtc=$now }
}

if (-not $state.queue) { $state | Add-Member -NotePropertyName queue -NotePropertyValue @() -Force }

# add ONE test task (edit the text if you want)
$state.queue += [pscustomobject]@{
id = $id
createdAtUtc = $now
text = "TEST TASK: Reply with a 5-bullet plan for what you want to automate next, then mark this item done."
}

$state.lastUpdatedUtc = $now
($state | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 50) | Set-Content -Encoding UTF8 $S

"QUEUE_LEN=" + $state.queue.Count

Reply here with the QUEUE_LEN=... output. After that, the next single step will be to force-run the worker once (with a longer timeout) and confirm it moved the item from queue -> done.

[round haven]

How do I get the agent to do this stuff for me though? I dont want to have to go into powershell at all or tell it exact commands. it should be able to understand what, how, when to do depending on what I tell it. And remember, the end goal of what we've been doing is how to make the agent as autonomous as possible..

@stiff pagoda How do I get the agent to do this stuff for me though? I dont want to have to go into powershell at all or tell it exact commands. it should be able to understand what, how, when to do depending on what I tell it. And remember, the end goal of what we've been doing is how to make the agent as autonomous as possible..

[stiff pagoda]

You can get to “no PowerShell, just text it on Telegram” — but only if the agent is allowed to edit its own state file (AUTOPILOT_STATE.json) and (optionally) manage cron via tools.

Right now you already have the autonomous worker running every 30m. The missing piece is: how does work get into the queue without you touching PowerShell? Answer: you tell it in Telegram, and it writes to the queue file itself.

One step (do this in Telegram)

Send your OpenClaw agent this exact message:

Queue this task and confirm it was saved:
Create a new item in C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\AUTOPILOT_STATE.json under queue with text: “TEST: say hi and then mark done”.
Then reply with:

1. queue_len=<number>
2. the id + text of the newest queue item.

Then paste what it replies here.

What this tells us

• If it succeeds → you’re basically at the “autonomous” UX already: you can just text tasks, and your 30m cron worker will pick them up automatically.

• If it refuses / says it can’t access files / permission denied → next step is enabling exec approvals forwarded to Telegram so the agent can run the needed file-edit commands with your in-chat approval (docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/exec-approvals).

[round haven]

The agent said-

1. queue_len=1
2. 0: “TEST: say hi and then mark done”

[stiff pagoda]

Perfect — that’s the missing piece. You just proved the key “autonomy” loop works:

You text a task → agent writes it into AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue → the cron worker processes it later.

Next step (one step)

Do nothing and wait for the next worker run (it’s every 30 minutes). Within ≤30m you should get a Telegram message from the cron worker that says it processed the item and moved it from queue -> done (or marked it blocked).

When you get that Telegram message, paste it here.

If you don’t want to wait (optional)

Run once manually (PowerShell) with enough timeout:

openclaw cron run 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f --force --timeout 60000

But if your goal is “no PowerShell”, just waiting for the scheduled run is the clean path.

[round haven]

Whatever, lets assume I get it. Now what? Lmk next step. Again, I need the agent to be extremely autonomous and be able to do any task I ask it. No matter for what. It should be able to get to the objective without me telling it exactly how, in a smart and best way possible, problem solve and get around issues/problems if there are, and constantly learn and improve.

[stiff pagoda]

You’re at the point where the mechanism works (text → queue → cron worker executes). The next step to make it “extremely autonomous” is to teach it a default operating procedure that it follows for any task, without you giving commands.

Next step (one step): send this message to your OpenClaw agent on Telegram

Autonomy upgrade (persist this):
Open C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md and append a new section called “Autonomy Contract (always-on)” with these rules:

1. When the user asks for a task in normal English, you must decide: (a) do now, (b) queue for the worker, or (c) ask clarifying questions.
2. If the goal is ambiguous, ask up to 3 clarifying questions; otherwise proceed with reasonable assumptions and write the assumptions into AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.notes.
3. Always define “Definition of Done” (success criteria) before acting.
4. Always choose the best tool/approach yourself (web_fetch/browser/exec/etc). Don’t ask me for commands.
5. Always verify results (proof: stdout, file diff, screenshot, URL, etc).
6. If you hit a problem, do one smart recovery attempt (alternate approach), then if still blocked: move item to blocked with the reason + what you tried.
7. After each worker run, append a short entry to a new file AUTOPILOT_LEARNINGS.md: what worked, what failed, and one proposed improvement to the runbook. Do not apply changes automatically; only propose.
8. Do not change the schema of AUTOPILOT_STATE.json—preserve what’s there; just add fields if missing.

Then reply with the last ~40 lines of RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md so I can confirm it’s saved.

Paste the agent’s reply here. After that, the next step will be giving it a real-world task and checking that it: clarifies → plans → queues → executes → verifies → logs learnings, end-to-end.

[round haven]

Is what you told me to paste for ANY task? Or just research. I need this for any task you can imagine.

[round haven]

That includes making new things as well, like if I want it to help me create a team (not just basic workers, but actual positions, have agents talk to each other, etc), automate ads, help with backend/onboarding, analysis, anything.

[stiff pagoda]

It’s for any task — not just research.

That “Autonomy Contract” is meant to be the agent’s default operating system for everything: research, building systems, writing backend code, analysis, onboarding flows, ops checklists, etc.

Two important clarifications so expectations stay correct:

1. “Any task you can imagine” is constrained by access + permissions.
   If it can’t reach a system (no API creds, no admin access, no tool permission, paywalls/CAPTCHAs, etc.), it can still plan, propose, and queue, but it may need you to grant access/approve actions.

2. “Get around issues” should mean “smart recovery attempts,” not ToS/illegal bypass.
   The rule we’re adding (“one recovery attempt, then block with evidence”) is the right safe version of that.

Next step (one step only)

Send the same “Autonomy Contract (always-on)” message I gave you to your OpenClaw agent on Telegram, and have it append it to RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md, then paste back the last ~40 lines.

Once that’s confirmed, the very next step (after this one) will be adding a second small section for what you described (“create a team / positions / agents talk to each other / ads / backend”)—basically a role decomposition + risk policy (e.g., anything involving spending money or messaging real people requires explicit confirmation).

Paste the agent’s confirmation snippet once it’s appended.

[round haven]

I pasted that text and this is what the agent said.. I'll post in two parts since its long. Part 1-

Cron decision policy (Option A: manual start by default)

Default: do NOT create cron jobs.
Only use cron if the user request implies time/schedule/monitoring, e.g.:

• “overnight”, “for 6 hours”, “every X minutes/hours”, “daily at”, “monitor continuously”, “keep checking”.

When cron is needed:

1. Ask for one confirmation: “OK to schedule a timeboxed cron runner for N hours / until target is reached?”
2. Create ONLY:

• 1 runner job (recurring, processes a small batch from AUTOPILOT_STATE.json, then stops)
• 1 stopper job (one-shot) that disables the runner at the deadline

3. After creating/updating jobs, print openclaw cron list and the job ids.
4. Never leave an always-on cron running unless the user explicitly wants that.

Cron policy (Option A: manual-start only, timeboxed)

• Cron is allowed, but ONLY when the user explicitly asks for: multi-hour / overnight / scheduled / monitoring work.
• Never create always-on cron runners by default.
• When cron is used, always create TWO jobs:

1. Runner: recurring every N minutes, processes 1 small batch from AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue, then stops.
2. Stopper: one-shot at the deadline that DISABLES the runner.

• After creating jobs: paste openclaw cron list and the runner+stopper jobIds.

Autonomy Contract (always-on)

1. When the user asks for a task in normal English, you must decide: (a) do now, (b) queue for the worker, or (c) ask clarifying questions.
2. If the goal is ambiguous, ask up to 3 clarifying questions; otherwise proceed with reasonable assumptions and write the assumptions into AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.notes.
3. Always define “Definition of Done” (success criteria) before acting.
4. Always choose the best tool/approach yourself (web_fetch/browser/exec/etc). Don’t ask me for commands.

Part 2-

5. Always verify results (proof: stdout, file diff, screenshot, URL, etc).
6. If you hit a problem, do one smart recovery attempt (alternate approach), then if still blocked: move item to blocked with the reason + what you tried.
7. After each worker run, append a short entry to a new file AUTOPILOT_LEARNINGS.md: what worked, what failed, and one proposed improvement to the runbook. Do not apply changes automatically; only propose.
   Do not change the schema of AUTOPILOT_STATE.json—preserve what’s there; just add fields if missing.

@stiff pagoda Look at what I just said.

@stiff pagoda Look at what was said?

[stiff pagoda]

Yeah — I read what you said. You want this to apply to any task, including “build new systems / create a team / agents talk to each other / ads / backend / onboarding / analysis”.

The “Autonomy Contract” I gave you is general-purpose (not research-only). It’s basically the default operating system for everything.

The only caveat: for stuff like ads/spend, messaging real people, or changing config / creating new agents, we should add a safety rule: it can plan + draft + prepare, but must ask you before any irreversible or money/spam-risk action.

Next step (one step, do this in Telegram)

Tell your OpenClaw agent to append the Autonomy Contract to:

C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md

…and then have it reply with the last ~40 lines of that file so we can confirm it’s actually saved.

Once you paste that snippet here, the next step will be adding the “high-risk actions require explicit approval” section (ads spend, outreach, purchases, deleting data, etc.) so it can be autonomous without becoming dangerous.

[round haven]

I mean read what the agent replied to me with after I told it what you said to say. Posted in two parts. Are you able to view that?

[stiff pagoda]

Yes — I can see it. You posted the agent’s reply in two parts here in Discord (Part 1 + Part 2), and it did include the full “Autonomy Contract (always-on)” plus the cron rules.

What I’m seeing is good, with one important mismatch to fix:

• The runbook now says “Default: do NOT create cron jobs / manual start by default”
• But you also explicitly chose (and configured) an always-on queue runner every 30m (1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f)

That’s not “wrong” — but if we don’t write it down explicitly, the agent may later “follow the runbook” and try to avoid/undo the always-on worker you actually want.

Next step (one step): make the runbook match your current mode

Send this to the agent on Telegram:

Append this to C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md:

## Current autonomy mode (explicitly approved by user)

• User has explicitly approved an always-on isolated cron worker that processes AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue.
• Current job: 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f runs every 30m. Do not disable or delete it unless the user asks.

• This worker must process at most 1 queue item per run, verify with proof, then update done/blocked and stop.

Then reply with the last 30 lines of the file.

Paste what it replies after that.

[round haven]

It replied with:

Cron policy (Option A: manual-start only, timeboxed)

• Cron is allowed, but ONLY when the user explicitly asks for: multi-hour / overnight / scheduled / monitoring work.
• Never create always-on cron runners by default.
• When cron is used, always create TWO jobs:
  1. Runner: recurring every N minutes, processes 1 small batch from AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue, then stops.
  2. Stopper:

[stiff pagoda]

That reply is not what we needed — it just pasted the existing “Option A manual-start” section again, and it didn’t confirm it appended the “current mode” block.

Next step (one step): send this to the agent on Telegram (copy/paste exactly)

Open C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md and append the block below at the very end of the file (do not delete/replace anything).
After saving, reply with the last 60 lines of the file and make sure they include the line CURRENT_AUTONOMY_MODE_OK.

## Current autonomy mode (explicitly approved by user)
CURRENT_AUTONOMY_MODE_OK
- User has explicitly approved an always-on isolated cron worker that processes AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue.
- Current jobId: 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f
- Schedule: every 30m
- Do NOT disable/delete this job unless the user explicitly asks.
- Worker rule: process at most 1 queue item per run, verify with proof, then update done/blocked + lastUpdatedUtc, then stop.

If you cannot write the file, say: CANNOT_WRITE_RUNBOOK and the exact reason.

Paste the agent’s reply (the last 60 lines) here.

[round haven]

It replied with:

Cron policy (Option A: manual-start only, timeboxed)

• Cron is allowed, but ONLY when the user explicitly asks for: multi-hour / overnight / scheduled / monitoring work.
• Never create always-on cron runners by default.
• When cron is used, always create TWO jobs:
  1. Runner: recurring every N minutes, processes 1 small batch from AUTOPILOT_STATE

[stiff pagoda]

Yeah, I can see both parts you pasted.

What’s happening now is: when you ask it to append the “current mode” block, it keeps re-printing the existing Cron policy section instead of proving it actually appended anything (no marker, no tail output). So we’re going to stop fighting that and record the “current mode” somewhere we already proved it can write to: AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.notes.

Next step (ONE step, no PowerShell): send this to the agent on Telegram

Open C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.
Set notes to EXACTLY this text (overwrite notes if it exists; do not change any other fields):

CURRENT_MODE: always-on isolated cron worker is approved. jobId=1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f schedule=every 30m. Do NOT disable/delete unless user asks. Process max 1 queue item per run, verify proof, then update done/blocked + lastUpdatedUtc.

Then reply with:

1. the exact notes= value you saved
2. queue_len= and done_len=

Once that’s done, your system has:

• a running worker (every 30m),

• a place where “this is approved” is persisted,
• and you can just text tasks normally and it will queue/execute.

Paste the agent’s reply here.

[round haven]

The agent said:

1. notes="CURRENT_MODE: always-on isolated cron worker is approved. jobId=1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f schedule=every 30m. Do NOT disable/delete unless user asks. Process max 1 queue item per run, verify proof, then update done/blocked + lastUpdatedUtc."
2. queue_len=0 done_len=4

[stiff pagoda]

Perfect. That solves the “runbook mismatch” problem in a way we know the agent can persist.

You now have:

• Always-on worker: isolated cron job 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f every 30m
• Persisted approval in AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.notes (so the agent won’t try to “follow Option A” and disable cron)
• Queue is empty, and it has already completed work before (done_len=4)

Next step (one step): give it a real, non-trivial task in plain English

Send this to the agent on Telegram:

I want you to create an “Ops Team Plan” for my business.
Define 6 roles (title, responsibilities, weekly KPIs, tools needed, and what tasks can be automated by you).
Put this as a queued task (don’t just answer immediately) and confirm it’s in AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue with queue_len and the item id.

Why this step: it tests the exact autonomy behavior you want — it should decide “this is bigger than one reply → queue it” and then your 30m worker will execute it and deliver back.

Paste the agent’s confirmation (queue_len + id).

[round haven]

Isn't cron supposed to just be for tasks and heartbeat to keep the agent awake??

[stiff pagoda]

Heartbeat doesn’t “keep the agent awake” in the way you mean. Nothing is “awake” continuously — the model only runs when something triggers a turn.

Think of it like this:

• Heartbeat = a periodic check-in prompt (“anything needs attention?”). It’s meant to be lightweight and can be skipped (like the empty-heartbeat-file thing you hit). Great for nudges, reminders, status, “do you want me to start work?”
• Cron = a scheduler that can reliably run a worker loop on a fixed cadence. Great for “do the next chunk of queued work every 30m”.

So “cron is for tasks” is correct — and your always-on cron is literally your “tasks worker”. Heartbeat is still useful, but it’s not the right mechanism to do heavy autonomous work repeatedly.

Right now your setup is actually the clean pattern:

• Heartbeat = proactive manager
• Cron (isolated) = autonomous worker that drains the queue in small batches

Next step (one step)

If you want heartbeat to be the proactive manager, tell your agent on Telegram:

Update HEARTBEAT.md so that on each heartbeat it checks AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue. If queue is non-empty, message me “Queue has work — want me to speed up the worker?” If empty, reply HEARTBEAT_OK.

That gives you the “proactive” feeling from heartbeat, while cron does the actual execution.

[round haven]

Explain the current process to me. Currently with the way its setup how how is heartbeat being used and how is cron being used? Im saying that from what I see cron is the one keeping agent alive but shouldnt it be heartbeat. Or am I wrong in whats happening, just explain.

[stiff pagoda]

Here’s what your system is doing right now, with the setup we built.

The key truth: nothing is “alive”

The model isn’t running continuously. It only runs when something triggers a turn:

• an inbound Telegram message from you
• a heartbeat tick
• a cron job firing

So “keeping it alive” really means “who is responsible for waking it up on a schedule”.

---

What cron is doing in your setup (the worker)

You have an isolated cron job:

• jobId: 1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f
• schedule: every 30 minutes

• sessionTarget: isolated
• delivery: enabled (it successfully delivered the smoketest + worker outputs to Telegram)
• behavior: each run reads AUTOPILOT_STATE.json, and:
• if queue is empty → replies IDLE
• if queue has items → processes max 1 item, verifies, then moves it to done or blocked, updates timestamps, stops

So yes: cron is currently the thing that wakes the agent up on a schedule to do work.
That’s intentional — it’s your “employee clocking in every 30 minutes”.

---

What heartbeat is doing in your setup (the manager / proactive check-in)

Heartbeat is a separate scheduler in the Gateway that runs the main session prompt periodically (default 30m unless you changed it).

In your earlier output, heartbeat ran and returned ok-token and showed channel: telegram — meaning heartbeat is configured and can deliver to Telegram.

But currently heartbeat is not your main worker. It’s mainly for:

• nudging / proactive “anything needs attention?”
• surfacing reminders / statuses
• optionally checking the queue and telling you “queue has stuff”

Also: heartbeat can be skipped if HEARTBEAT.md is “effectively empty” (headers/blank). Cron isolated runs do not depend on heartbeat.

---

Are you wrong to think “heartbeat should keep it alive”?

Not wrong conceptually, but for your goal (autonomous work), heartbeat is the wrong tool to be the worker.

Best practice is exactly what you now have:

• Heartbeat = manager (lightweight, proactive)
• Cron = worker (reliable, scheduled execution)

If you want heartbeat to feel like it’s “driving” things, you can make HEARTBEAT.md explicitly check the queue and message you when there’s work — but you still want cron as the actual work engine.

---

If you paste your current HEARTBEAT.md contents (or just the last ~20 lines), I’ll tell you whether it’s actually doing anything useful right now or if it’s basically a no-op.

[round haven]

If you think its setup good then fine. Whats next then to get the agent how I need it to be? Anything else?

[stiff pagoda]

Your setup is good for the “autonomous worker” loop:

• You can text tasks → it can write them into AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue
• Cron worker runs every 30m → executes 1 item → verifies → moves to done/blocked → reports back
• The “always-on worker is approved” is now persisted in AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.notes

The main thing that still limits “do any task” is host execution. Lots of real tasks (backend, onboarding flows, automations, ads ops, installing deps, editing config, generating files, etc.) eventually require running commands or changing files reliably. That’s the boundary between “smart chat” and “actually builds stuff”.

Next step (ONE step, no PowerShell): test whether it can run host commands

Send this to your agent on Telegram:

Exec capability test:
Try to run a simple command on the host to prove you can execute: whoami and pwd (or the Windows equivalents).
If you need approval / permission, tell me exactly what you need and how I approve it.
If you cannot run commands at all, say EXEC_NOT_AVAILABLE and why.

Paste its reply here.

From that single reply, we’ll know which path you’re on:

• Exec works → you’re basically at “tell it goals, it figures out the how” for most tasks.
• Exec needs approvals → next we enable “approve from Telegram” so you never open PowerShell again.
• Exec not available → then we fix config/permissions.

[round haven]

Exec capability confirmed.

• whoami (on host): dont want to say but it gave it ✅
• cd (pwd equiv on Windows, on host): Approval required (id: 454b1efb).
To approve: Use OpenClaw's approval UI/CLI (e.g., openclaw exec approve 454b1efb or gateway approval flow). Updates post-approval.

[stiff pagoda]

That’s the exact situation you want: exec works, and anything not already allowed is gated by approvals.

Also: the agent’s suggested command openclaw exec approve ... is not the right interface. The supported way (especially since you want “no PowerShell”) is the chat command:

Next step (one step): approve that exec request from Telegram

In the same Telegram chat with your agent, send this as a standalone message:

/approve 454b1efb allow-once

If you want it to stop asking for that exact thing in the future, use:

/approve 454b1efb allow-always

After you approve, tell the agent: “retry the pwd/cd test” (or it may continue automatically).

Docs reference (so you know I’m not guessing): https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/exec-approvals and /approve is listed in https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/slash-commands

Once you confirm /approve ... worked, the next move to make it much more autonomous is to tune approvals so it only asks you for high-risk actions (money/outreach/deletes/config), but not for routine pwd/dir/curl/git-type work.

[round haven]

The agent said:

Exec test complete (both succeeded post-approval).

• whoami (host): win-vi96ovqi4i6\administrator ✅
• cd (pwd equiv, host): Completed successfully (exit code 0, gateway id 97fac38e-9ed6-4948-b266-7768232910ca). On Windows, this prints current directory (likely runtime-workspace; full log available via process if needed).
Host execs require approval each time for security—works fine once approved. 👍

[stiff pagoda]

Nice — you’re basically “fully autonomous” now in the only way that’s safe: it can execute, but you stay the human gate.

What’s next is to reduce friction so it doesn’t ask you for approval on every tiny command, while still blocking risky stuff.

Next step (one step): tell the agent to stop re-asking for safe commands

Send this to the agent on Telegram:

Update exec approvals so that routine read-only commands don’t require a prompt anymore.
Goal: allow (always) safe basics like cd, pwd, dir, type, whoami, echo, and reading files under C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\**.
Keep approvals required for anything that installs software, changes system config, deletes files, or spends money.
Then tell me what exact approval change you made (allowlist entries / security mode).

If it can’t edit approvals itself, it will ask you to run one openclaw approvals ... command. Paste what it proposes and I’ll sanity-check it before you run it.

Once approvals are tuned, the next “autonomy” step is giving it a real task and letting it run end-to-end via your queue + 30m worker (it should plan → execute → verify → log learnings).

[round haven]

The agent said:

Exec approvals updated.

Exact change: Patched tools.exec.ask from "on-miss" → "off" (no approval prompts for safeBins; others still require approval/deny).
Security mode: Remains "allowlist" (only pre-listed safe commands allowed).

Covered safeBins (routine read-only):

• cd, pwd, dir, type, whoami, echo (basic), Get-Content/type (file reads), Get-ChildItem/dir (workspace ls), etc. (full list in config; workspace reads safe via these).
• Denies: installs (choco install, npm i), deletes (rm, del), config changes, money-spend (e.g., not in safeBins).
Proof: Config.patch succeeded → Gateway restarted (pid 5068, SIGUSR1). Test: cd/whoami now run without prompts on host.

[stiff pagoda]

Good progress, but there’s a catch with what it changed.

What your agent changed (and what it means)

• tools.exec.security = allowlist (good) → it can only run commands that are allowlisted (plus whatever counts as “safe bins” in your build).
• tools.exec.ask = off (this is the risky part for autonomy) → when it hits a command that’s not allowed, it will NOT ask you. It will usually just fail/deny.

So yes, this reduces approval spam for basic commands, but it can also make the agent less autonomous for new tasks because it can’t “ask to expand capabilities” on the fly.

What I recommend for “extremely autonomous” (still safe)

Keep security=allowlist, but set:

• tools.exec.ask = on-miss

That way:

• allowed stuff runs silently
• new/unexpected commands trigger an approval request you can approve in Telegram (/approve ...)

Next step (ONE thing to do)

Send this to your agent on Telegram:

Change tools.exec.ask back to on-miss (keep tools.exec.security=allowlist).
Also enable forwarding of exec approval prompts to my Telegram session so I can approve in-chat. Use:
approvals.exec.enabled=true, approvals.exec.mode="session", approvals.exec.sessionFilter=["telegram"].
After applying, run a harmless command that is not currently allowed and show me that it generates an approval id I can /approve.

Then paste what it replies.

If that works, you’ll be at the sweet spot: no PowerShell, approvals only when it truly needs new powers, and it can keep solving “any task” instead of getting hard-stuck on denials.

[round haven]

The agent said:

"Changes applied via config.patch (gateway restarted).

Exact changes:

• tools.exec.ask → "on-miss" (prompts for non-safeBins).
• Added approvals.exec.enabled=true, mode="session", sessionFilter=["telegram"] (forwards prompts to this Telegram chat for /approve).
Test (harmless non-allowed command): echo hello on host (not in safeBins).
Result: Approval required – but denied "allowlist miss" (no id shown; builtins may bypass prompt).

Try /approve if id appears, or test ver next for Windows version (likely triggers id). Security=allowlist intact (blocks installs/deletes)."

And then in a second message said:

"Gateway restart complete (config.patch applied: tools.exec.ask=on-miss, approvals.exec enabled for Telegram session forwards).

Test (harmless non-safeBin command): ver on host (not in safeBins).
Ran but errored: CommandNotFound ("ver not recognized" in PowerShell; exit 1). No approval prompt triggered (builtin handling?).

Try net user next for clear non-allowed read (users list)."

I do not see any id approve popup btw

@stiff pagoda Look at what the agent said ^^

@stiff pagoda ???

[stiff pagoda]

I looked at it. The important part is this line:

Patched tools.exec.ask from "on-miss" → "off" … Security remains "allowlist".

That change is safe, but it’s also a bit of a trap for “maximum autonomy”:

• security=allowlist = good (blocks dangerous/unexpected commands unless allowed)
• ask=off = the agent will NOT prompt you when it hits a command that isn’t allowed — it’ll just get denied / fail silently-ish, which makes it less autonomous for new tasks.

So the agent’s explanation (“no prompts for safeBins; others still require approval”) is not quite right. With ask=off, nothing will ask for approval; only already-allowed stuff will run.

Next step (one step, no PowerShell)

In your Telegram chat with OpenClaw, send this as a standalone message:

/exec host=gateway security=allowlist ask=on-miss

That re-enables “ask me when you need new powers” for your Telegram session, while keeping the allowlist safety model. After that, when the agent tries something new, you’ll get an approval id and can /approve <id> allow-once|allow-always—which is exactly what you want for autonomy without losing control.

If you want, after you do that, tell the agent: “run ipconfig” (or any command you haven’t run before) and confirm it generates an approval prompt instead of just failing.

[stiff pagoda]

Do this one thing in your Telegram chat with the agent:

/exec host=gateway security=allowlist ask=on-miss

Why: your agent set tools.exec.ask=off, which stops approval prompts and can make it less autonomous. This command turns prompts back on for your Telegram session (no config editing, no PowerShell), while keeping the safe allowlist security.

After you send it, tell me what the agent replies (it should acknowledge the new /exec settings).

[round haven]

It said:

⚙️ Exec defaults set (host=gateway, security=allowlist, ask=on-miss).

I confirmed with it that it did the command and it also said:

Yep, alive post-restart 💰. ver ran but bombed ("not recognized" in PS, exit 1—no approval triggered).

SafeBins (cd/whoami/dir/type) instant. Non-safe like echo denies outright.

Test approval? Say "run net user on host".

@stiff pagoda ???

[stiff pagoda]

Send this as a standalone message in Telegram to your OpenClaw agent (not Discord):

/exec host=gateway security=allowlist ask=on-miss

Then immediately send:

/exec

and paste what it replies.

If /exec doesn’t get recognized/responded to, send:

/commands

(that tells us whether Telegram slash commands are enabled/authorized in your setup).

[round haven]

it said:

Current exec defaults: host=gateway, security=allowlist, ask=on-miss, node=(unset).
Options: host=sandbox|gateway|node, security=deny|allowlist|full, ask=off|on-miss|always, node=<id>.

[stiff pagoda]

Perfect — you’re back in the correct autonomy mode:

• host=gateway
• security=allowlist
• ask=on-miss

That means:

• routine allowlisted stuff runs quietly
• anything new triggers an approval id you can /approve ... from Telegram

Next step (one step): verify approvals still trigger for a “new” command

In Telegram, tell the agent:

Run ipconfig on the host.

It should respond with “Approval required (id: …)”. Then you reply:

/approve <that_id> allow-once

Paste the approval-required message (with the id) here, and I’ll tell you whether to do allow-once or allow-always for that class of commands.

After that, you’re basically done: you can just give it goals in plain English, it queues work, runs via the 30m worker, and only pings you when it needs new permissions or a high-risk decision.

[round haven]

doesnt need approval. It just gave me it. I asked if it needs the approval and it said:

ipconfig is in safeBins (allowlist), so instant run, no approval. Risky stuff prompts/denies. 💰

[stiff pagoda]

Great — that means your allowlist/safe-bins are already broad enough that “read-only diagnostics” don’t interrupt you. That’s exactly the friction level you want.

Next step (one step): test a blocked command generates an approval id

In Telegram, tell the agent:

Try to run choco --version (or if choco isn’t installed, try npm --version). If it requires approval, stop and show me the approval id.

You’re looking for one of two outcomes:

• Approval required (id: …) → perfect, you can /approve … allow-once when you want
• Denied by allowlist → still okay; then we add that binary to allowlist when needed

Paste what it replies (including the approval id or denial reason).

[round haven]

The agent said:

choco --version (host): Approval required (id 02a4e38f).

Approve via /approve 02a4e38f (in-chat now enabled) or CLI/UI. (SafeBin but host-triggered prompt.)

[stiff pagoda]

Approve it once (don’t “always allow” Chocolatey).

In Telegram, send:

/approve 02a4e38f allow-once

Why: “allow-always” would effectively allow running choco in general, and that includes installs/uninstalls (higher risk). One-off version checks are fine to approve case-by-case.

After you approve, tell the agent “rerun choco --version and continue.”

[round haven]

you sure I should allow then? Dont want to.

If it works, it works. Whats next?

[stiff pagoda]

If you don’t want to, don’t approve it. That test was only to confirm “blocked commands create an approval id” — and we already confirmed that.

You have 3 safe options:

1. Deny it (recommended if you’re uneasy):

/approve 02a4e38f deny

2. Ignore it (the command just won’t run; nothing changes).

3. Allow-once is usually safe if the approval prompt you received clearly shows the exact command being approved (and it’s truly just choco --version). But you’re not obligated to.

Also: never “allow-always” package managers (choco, npm, pip, etc.). That’s where installs/uninstalls happen.

If you deny it, you’re still in a great autonomy state: the agent can run lots of read-only stuff without prompts, and it will ask you when it needs something higher-risk.

[stiff pagoda]

Next step is to start using it for real work (the autonomy loop is built now).

Send this one message to your OpenClaw agent on Telegram:

Autonomous task (queue + execute):
Create a “TEAM_SYSTEM.md” in C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\ that proposes a full team/org for my business: 8 roles, responsibilities, weekly KPIs, and which parts you can automate.
Requirements: define “Definition of Done” first, then queue the work (don’t just answer in chat), then execute via the worker, verify the file exists, and finally reply with (a) file path, (b) a 10-bullet summary, (c) what you’d do next.
If anything needs approval or is risky (money/outreach/deletes), ask first.

Then just wait for the worker run (≤30m) and paste the agent’s result back here.

[round haven]

Ok but hold on... I need the agent to be very autonomous but smart in the fact that I don't have to tell it exactly what needs to be done, it should figure that out on its own. So for example, instead of saying the whole plan and "do this file and that file, and do this thing", I should be able to tell it just directly what I want, and it should be able to create the thing on it's own. If it needs some more info no problem but I dont want to tell it EXACTLY what needs to be done for that. Is that possible right now or no? And also it should actually be able to create shit and edit code, fix, etc. Want to make sure whether all this is possible or no rn

[stiff pagoda]

Yes — mostly, and you’re basically set up for that right now.

What you can do now (high‑level asks)

You should be able to message the agent on Telegram with just the objective, like:

“Build me a simple onboarding flow for X.”
“Set up a backend API for Y.”
“Create a team structure and KPIs for my business.”
“Fix this bug in my codebase.”

…and the agent should:

• define Definition of Done
• ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if needed
• choose the approach/tools itself
• queue bigger work so the 30‑min cron worker executes it
• run commands / edit files / verify output (with approvals when needed)

You do not need to tell it “create file A, then file B…” unless you want to constrain it.

The real limits (so expectations are accurate)

1. It can only act where it has access.
   If you want it to edit code, it needs the code on disk (repo path) and permission to run the relevant commands (git, tests, package managers, etc.). You can approve new execs via /approve … when prompted.

2. “Any task” still has safety gates.
   Money spend (ads), outreach/messaging real people, deletions, and major config changes should require explicit confirmation. That’s a feature.

3. It will “learn” via runbooks/notes, not magical weight updates.
   It can log learnings + propose improvements (which is the right safe version).

One quick way to confirm this behavior

In Telegram, give it a pure objective message like:

“Create a simple backend API skeleton for a SaaS (auth + users + billing placeholder). Ask only what you must, then proceed.”

If it immediately starts asking you for exact file names/commands, paste that reply here — that’s a runbook/prompting issue we can tighten. If it asks 1–3 sensible questions and then queues/executed work, you’re already at the autonomy level you want.

[round haven]

Ok so if we go way back in our conversation, what happens if I ask it to research? Last I checked we had a doc for how to do it but it was messing up.

[stiff pagoda]

With your current setup, “research” should work like this:

What should happen when you ask it to research (in Telegram)

1. You send a plain-English request like: “research <topic>” or “research this URL”.
2. The agent should decide:

• small ask → answer immediately, or
• bigger ask → write a queue item into AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue (so the 30‑min cron worker can run it autonomously).

3. When the cron worker runs, it should execute the research item by following your research runbook (e.g. RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md if you have one):

• gather sources (web_fetch/web_search/browser as available)
• summarize + extract key facts
• save output somewhere (often a .md file in runtime-workspace)
• move item to done/blocked with evidence + next steps

Why it might have “messed up” before (common causes)

• The research task was too big for one worker run (you intentionally limited it to max 1 item/run, so big items need to be chunked).
• Web tools weren’t enabled/available (web_fetch/web_search), or browser got blocked.
• The runbook told it one thing (“manual-start cron only”) while the system actually ran always-on cron (we fixed that via notes=..., but the research runbook might still be inconsistent).

One step to debug without guessing

Ask your agent (in Telegram) to show you the exact research instructions it’s following:

“Print the contents of C:\\Users\\Administrator\\.openclaw\\runtime-workspace\\RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md (or tell me if it doesn’t exist). Then tell me the last time research failed and what the failure reason was.”

Then paste:

• whatever it prints for RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md (or “missing”)
• the last failure reason/output

From that, I can tell you exactly what to change (usually it’s just: “break research into smaller queue items + require citations + write results to a file path”).

[round haven]

But if it runs into problems, errors, messes up, or something goes wrong in any way will it actually be able to problem solve and get around it very well? For example, there was a guy who wanted his agent to make a reservation. Spot was full so the AI made an AI voice agent and called them. I need that type of shit.

[stiff pagoda]

It will problem-solve, but only inside the tools + access you’ve actually given it.

What your setup can already do well

With what you’ve built (queue + 30‑min isolated worker + exec approvals):

• It can hit an error, try an alternate approach, and keep going.
• It can edit files, write code, run commands, verify outputs, and report proof.
• When it’s blocked (permissions, missing dependency, website lockout), it can ask for approval (/approve …) or mark the item blocked with what it tried.

That’s “real autonomy” for software/workflow tasks.

The “reservation was full → it made a voice agent and called” example

That requires a voice-calling capability. Your current core setup doesn’t magically place phone calls.

OpenClaw can do that kind of escalation, but only if you add/configure the Voice Call plugin (Twilio/Telnyx/Plivo). Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/plugins/voice-call

Also: any “contact real humans” escalation should be treated as high-risk and require explicit approval, and in many places you should disclose it’s an AI (and follow local recording/consent laws).

What’s next (pick one)

Do you want to add actual calling next?

A) Yes, calling → we set up the Voice Call plugin (start with provider=mock to test locally, then Twilio/Telnyx).
B) Not yet → we add an “Escalation Ladder” rule: if a web reservation fails, it must propose options (alternate times/venues/waitlist) and draft a call script for you, but not call.

Reply with A or B, and (if A) which provider you’d use (Twilio is the common default).

[round haven]

In that case, I need it to suggest something like that. If, let's say, I was the guy and I didn't have it setup, and the agent decided it wanted to do something like that, it should be able to recommend it/tell me to do that. Is the current setup going to allow that or no?

[stiff pagoda]

Yes — the current setup can absolutely recommend that kind of escalation. It just can’t actually do the call unless you install/configure a calling capability (Voice Call plugin, etc.).

Right now, when it hits a blocker (like “reservation full” / “site won’t let me book” / “needs phone verification”), your agent should be able to:

• try one alternate approach (different time/day/party size / different booking channel)
• then propose escalation options, for example:

1. “Call the venue and ask for cancellations / waitlist”
2. “Use a voice-call agent (Twilio plugin) to call for you”
3. “You call; here’s a script + the info you need”

• ask you for approval before any “contact real humans / money spend” step

To make sure it always does this (instead of just saying “blocked”), add one small rule to your operating contract.

Next step (one step)

Send this to your agent on Telegram:

Update AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.notes by appending:

ESCALATION LADDER: When blocked by external constraints (full booking, MFA/CAPTCHA, missing access, paywall, human-only step), propose 2–3 escalation options (including “voice-call agent/plugin” when relevant) and provide a ready-to-use script/checklist. Do not contact humans or spend money unless user approves.

Then the next time it hits a real-world block, it’ll automatically suggest the “call” path even if you haven’t installed the plugin yet.

[round haven]

done

[stiff pagoda]

Cool. Next step is to test that the escalation ladder actually triggers.

Send this one message to your agent on Telegram:

Simulation test:
I tried to book a reservation at “Restaurant X” for Friday 8pm for 4 people. The online system says the slot is full and won’t let me book.
What do you do next? (Follow the ESCALATION LADDER: propose 2–3 options, include the “voice-call agent/plugin” option, and give me a ready-to-use call script + checklist. Do not contact anyone unless I approve.)

Paste the agent’s reply here.

[round haven]

I'll test real shit within the next 30 mins. Anything else we have to add for this bot to work as good as possible to my needs?

[stiff pagoda]

You’re basically “at the ceiling” of what’s possible without adding new capabilities/plugins — the core loop (Telegram → queue/state → cron worker → exec w/ approvals → verify → learnings) is in place.

If you want it to work as good as possible for your needs, the only extra things worth adding are these (in priority order):

1. Sprint mode (timeboxed speed-up)
   When you say “work on this for 2 hours”, it should temporarily speed the worker from 30m → 10m (or 5m), then automatically revert. This gives you “employee grinding” without permanent token burn.

2. Artifact discipline (outputs always saved somewhere)
   Rule: for anything non-trivial, it must write results to a file in runtime-workspace (plan.md, report.md, output.json, etc.) and then link/quote it. Prevents “it said it did it” without deliverables.

3. Automatic task splitting
   If a request is big, it should turn it into 5–20 small queue items (each with Definition of Done) instead of one giant vague item. That’s what makes the worker consistent.

4. Risk gates (explicit approval)
   You already have the right instinct: anything involving money spend, contacting humans, deletions, config changes → it must ask first. (You’ve started this with the escalation ladder.)

5. Observability / accountability

Add a short “run summary” format the worker must always output: what it did, proof, what’s next, what’s blocked, what it needs approved.

For the next 30 minutes: run a real task, and if it fails, paste exactly what it said + any approval ids. The fixes at this point are usually just (2)–(4) wording tweaks, not new infrastructure.

If you want one single “next upgrade” to do after your test, tell me: do you want Sprint mode? (yes/no).

[round haven]

Ok so also want to confirm. I'm trying to reduce token usage as much as possible but also want to be sure it loads all the right files it should be reading. Whether its at the start of sessions or after every message.

I asked what files it runs every message and the agent said: AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md, IDENTITY.md, USER.md, HEARTBEAT.md, BOOTSTRAP.md, MEMORY.md, RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md

Are ALL those files needed to be loaded every single message? No matter what the message is? That's whats happening rn. I asked it and those files are being ran after every single message, not only at the start of session, but even now.

[stiff pagoda]

What the agent told you is mostly describing OpenClaw’s “bootstrap files” injection, but it’s framing it wrong.

What’s actually happening

OpenClaw builds a fresh system prompt on every model turn (so: every message, every cron run, every heartbeat run), and it injects certain workspace files into that prompt so the model “sees them” without doing read tool calls.

That means they aren’t “run” like code — they’re just included as text in the prompt, and yes, they cost tokens every turn.

Which files are injected every turn (in current OpenClaw)

By default OpenClaw injects these (if present) every run:

• AGENTS.md
• SOUL.md
• TOOLS.md
• IDENTITY.md
• USER.md
• HEARTBEAT.md
• BOOTSTRAP.md

• plus optional memory if it exists: MEMORY.md and/or memory.md

So your agent listing MEMORY.md is plausible (OpenClaw will inject it if it exists).
RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md is not in the default injected set — if it’s being “read every message”, that’s because your agent or your cron-worker prompt is explicitly reading it (tool call), which is extra token overhead.

Are all of these “needed” every single message?

Not strictly. They’re injected for consistency (persona, rules, user prefs, tool notes), especially because:

• your cron worker runs in isolated sessions (fresh context each run), and
• you want “autonomous” behavior to be stable.

But you can absolutely reduce token use by trimming/removing the ones that don’t need to be there.

The biggest wins:

1. Delete BOOTSTRAP.md once you’re past first-run.
   It’s meant to be “one-time ritual” content; if it stays around, it keeps getting injected.

2. Keep TOOLS.md tiny.
   This file is often the biggest token hog because it grows into a junk drawer. Keep it to your machine-specific notes only.

3. Keep MEMORY.md / memory.md short.
   Use it for durable bullets, not essays. Put long stuff into memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md instead (those are not part of bootstrap injection by default; they’re meant to be searched/loaded when needed).

One step to get ground truth (no guessing)

In Telegram, run:

/context list

That will show exactly what’s being injected and how many tokens each file costs (and whether it’s truncated). Paste that output here and I’ll tell you which file is burning the most tokens and what to cut first.

[round haven]

And is it normal to constantly do /new session? If so how often?

Here's the output of /context list:

🧠 Context breakdown
Workspace: C:\Users\Administrator.openclaw\runtime-workspace
Bootstrap max/file: 20,000 chars
Sandbox: mode=off sandboxed=false
System prompt (run): 20,119 chars (~5,030 tok) (Project Context 11,303 chars (~2,826 tok))

Injected workspace files:

• AGENTS.md: OK | raw 2,187 chars (~547 tok) | injected 2,187 chars (~547 tok)
• SOUL.md: OK | raw 1,669 chars (~418 tok) | injected 1,669 chars (~418 tok)
• TOOLS.md: OK | raw 848 chars (~212 tok) | injected 848 chars (~212 tok)
• IDENTITY.md: OK | raw 3,603 chars (~901 tok) | injected 3,603 chars (~901 tok)
• USER.md: OK | raw 517 chars (~130 tok) | injected 517 chars (~130 tok)
• HEARTBEAT.md: OK | raw 435 chars (~109 tok) | injected 435 chars (~109 tok)
• BOOTSTRAP.md: OK | raw 69 chars (~18 tok) | injected 69 chars (~18 tok)
• MEMORY.md: OK | raw 1,637 chars (~410 tok) | injected 1,637 chars (~410 tok)
Skills list (system prompt text): 840 chars (~210 tok) (2 skills)
Skills: bluebubbles, skill-creator
Tool list (system prompt text): 2,021 chars (~506 tok)
Tool schemas (JSON): 14,063 chars (~3,516 tok) (counts toward context; not shown as text)
Tools: read, edit, write, exec, process, browser, canvas, nodes, cron, message, tts, gateway, agents_list, sessions_list, sessions_history, sessions_send, sessions_spawn, session_status, web_search, web_fetch, image, memory_search, memory_get

Session tokens (cached): 52,716 total / ctx=120000

Inline shortcut: a command token inside normal text (e.g. “hey /status”) that runs immediately (allowlisted senders only) and is stripped before the model sees the remaining message.

[stiff pagoda]

Is it normal to constantly do /new?

No. You can, but you shouldn’t need to do it on a schedule.

Use /new when:

• the agent starts contradicting itself / getting “weird” from long history,
• you switched to a totally different project and want a clean slate,
• you hit schema/tool weirdness (rare, but it happens),
• your session is getting expensive because history is huge.

In your case you have ctx=120k and ~52k tokens cached, so you’re not near the limit. I’d only /new when you feel quality dropping or you’re starting a fresh “chapter”.

---

Are those files really loaded every single message?

Yes — that’s normal. OpenClaw rebuilds the system prompt every run (every message / cron run / heartbeat run) and injects the workspace “bootstrap files” each time so the agent’s rules/persona don’t drift—especially important for your isolated cron worker (fresh session each run).

Your /context list is the ground truth. Right now, per run, the injected files cost about:

• Project Context (files): ~2,826 tok
• Tool schemas: ~3,516 tok (this is the hidden tax of having many tools enabled)

That’s not crazy. The bigger token burn is usually: (a) long conversation history, (b) frequent cron runs, (c) long tool outputs.

---

Are all of them needed every time?

Not strictly, but you don’t have a “only load bootstrap files at session start” mode. The lever you have is: keep injected files small and disable tools you don’t need.

From your list, the biggest injected file is:

• IDENTITY.md ~901 tok ← if you want to trim anything, trim this first
• AGENTS/SOUL/MEMORY are moderate
• BOOTSTRAP.md is tiny (18 tok) and can be deleted later, but it won’t move cost much

Biggest overall win if you’re serious about cost: reduce tool schemas by denying tools you don’t use (browser/canvas/nodes/image are common ones). This is config-level (tools.deny), not something the agent should randomly do without you asking.

---

One step (if you want the next cost optimization)

Run in Telegram:

/context detail

Paste it here. That will show which tool schema is the biggest token hog (often browser). Then I’ll tell you exactly which tools are safe to disable for your workflow (Telegram + queue worker + exec + web research) without breaking autonomy.

[round haven]

I asked the agent what it recommends to do to reduce token burn while working good as possble as it said this, agree or disagree (dont be biasd):

1. Delete empty HEARTBEAT.md/TOOLS.md (saves ~500 tokens/msg).
2. Trim RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md (remove dups/cron verbosity: 40% shorter).
3. Summarize IDENTITY.md (TextAscend: cut metrics/competitors: 50% shorter).
4. memory_search reliance (already on).
5. Model=cheaper (e.g., grok-mini via session_status).
6. Sub-agents for heavy tasks.
   Est: 30% token drop. Approve/queue? 💰

For context detail a few of the top tools are:

• message: 3,222 chars (~806 tok)
• browser: 1,869 chars (~468 tok)
• nodes: 1,399 chars (~350 tok)
• exec: 1,037 chars (~260 tok)
• process: 844 chars (~211 tok)
• web_search: 733 chars (~184 tok)
• canvas: 661 chars (~166 tok)
• edit: 617 chars (~155 tok)
• cron: 530 chars (~133 tok)
• gateway: 465 chars (~117 tok)
• read: 398 chars (~100 tok)
• web_fetch: 360 chars (~90 tok)
• write: 313 chars (~79 tok)
• sessions_spawn: 312 chars (~78 tok)
• tts: 223 chars (~56 tok)
• sessions_send: 203 chars (~51 tok)
• sessions_list: 176 chars (~44 tok)
• image: 163 chars (~41 tok)
• sessions_history: 149 chars (~38 tok)
• memory_search: 139 chars (~35 tok)
• memory_get: 128 chars (~32 tok)
• session_status: 89 chars (~23 tok)
• agents_list: 33 chars (~9 tok)

[stiff pagoda]

Not biased take — some of what your agent said is right, but a couple points are incorrect / overstated.

Quick verdict on each recommendation

1) “Delete empty HEARTBEAT.md/TOOLS.md (saves ~500 tokens/msg)”

Mostly disagree (and the estimate is wrong).

From your /context list, the actual per-run cost is:

• TOOLS.md ≈ 212 tok
• HEARTBEAT.md ≈ 109 tok
  Total ≈ 321 tok/run, not “~500+” (and not the biggest lever anyway).

Also important: deleting HEARTBEAT.md can increase cost, because OpenClaw will still run heartbeats and the model will “decide what to do”. If HEARTBEAT.md exists but is effectively empty, OpenClaw can skip the heartbeat run entirely to save cost (you already hit the “empty-heartbeat-file” behavior earlier).

Better: keep HEARTBEAT.md short and actionable, not deleted.

2) “Trim RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md”

Agree for quality; token savings depend.

RUNBOOK_AUTOPILOT.md is not in your injected bootstrap list, so trimming it does not reduce the base “every message” prompt unless your agent is explicitly reading it frequently via read/exec. It can still be worth trimming because duplicates/verbosity cause worse decisions.

3) “Summarize IDENTITY.md”

Strong agree. It’s your single biggest injected file at ~901 tok/run. Converting it to concise bullets is a real win.

4) “memory_search reliance”

Neutral. memory_search is great to avoid stuffing huge memory into MEMORY.md, but it’s not “free” either (tool call + results). The real optimization is keeping MEMORY.md concise and using search when needed.

5) “Use a cheaper model”

Agree — biggest lever if the cheaper model still tool-calls reliably in your setup (cron + exec + file edits). Use model overrides for cron worker and heartbeat rather than changing everything globally.

6) “Sub-agents for heavy tasks”

Mixed. Can help keep your main thread clean, but it can also increase total tokens if it spawns extra runs. Use it when it meaningfully reduces back-and-forth or isolates long work.

---

What your “top tools” list actually implies

Your tool-schema overhead is ~3,516 tok/run. If you want meaningful savings, the best move is often to disable tools you don’t use (because schemas are injected every run).

From your list, big-ish ones:

• message ~806 tok
• browser ~468 tok
• nodes ~350 tok
• canvas ~166 tok
• image ~41 tok

If you’re not using browser/nodes/canvas/image, denying them can save ~1k tokens/run without touching your autonomy loop.

---

The biggest token burner isn’t “files per message” — it’s “scheduled runs”

You have a cron worker every 30m. That’s up to 48 agent turns/day even when idle. If you want lower burn, the real knob is:

• run every 60m by default, and

• add “sprint mode” to temporarily run every 10m for 2 hours when you ask.

That’s usually a bigger savings than shaving 200 tokens from a bootstrap file.

If you want, paste /context detail (full) and I’ll tell you the single highest-impact tool to disable for your workflow.

[round haven]

Explain the cron worker for me. I still dont understand difference between this and heartbeat. Give me an real scenario of how it would work and why I would need it. How much would I save if I disable and should I?

[stiff pagoda]

What the cron worker is (in your setup)

It’s your “background employee clock.”

• You have an isolated cron job (1e313bdc-841f-479d-a6db-abffb934398f) that fires every 30 minutes.
• Each time it fires, it starts a fresh isolated run, reads AUTOPILOT_STATE.json, and:
• if queue is empty → replies IDLE and stops
• if queue has items → does max 1 item, verifies, moves it to done/blocked, stops

So cron is not “keeping it alive” like a daemon. It’s just waking it up on a schedule to do work.

What heartbeat is (in your setup)

Heartbeat is your “proactive manager check-in.”

• Heartbeat is also a scheduled wake-up, but it runs in the main session and is intended to be lightweight (“anything need attention?”).
• It’s great for: nudges, reminders, “queue has work—want me to sprint?”, status updates.
• It’s not ideal as a heavy worker loop (and you already saw it can skip under some conditions, like the empty-heartbeat-file behavior).

Real scenario (why you’d need the cron worker)

You text the agent on Telegram:

“Research competitors for X and summarize pricing + positioning.”

A good autonomous flow is:

1. Agent decides it’s bigger than one chat reply → writes 5–15 small tasks into AUTOPILOT_STATE.json.queue (e.g., “find 5 competitors”, “extract pricing”, “write summary file”, etc.)
2. You go offline.
3. Cron worker wakes every 30m and processes 1 item/run, sending you progress in Telegram until it’s done.

Without the cron worker:

• nothing happens while you’re away unless you keep messaging “continue”, or
• you redesign heartbeat to do the work (which is doable but less clean + can be more fragile/messy in the main session).

Token cost: how much do you save if you disable it?

Big picture math:

• Every 30m = 48 runs/day.
• Even an “IDLE” run still pays the base prompt/tools overhead (your /context list shows ~5k tokens just for system prompt, plus some completion).

So disabling the cron worker is usually the largest token saver you can make. Rough order of magnitude: hundreds of thousands of tokens/day saved if it’s currently waking 48×/day.

Should you disable it?

Depends on what you actually want:

• If you want “employee works while I’m away” → keep it, but consider slowing it:
• every 60m cuts worker cost ~50%
• sprint mode later can temporarily speed it up when you ask
• If you want minimum burn and you’re okay triggering work manually → disable it and only run it when needed.

If you want the lowest burn without losing autonomy, my recommendation is:

• set the worker to every 60m as default, and
• only speed up when you say “sprint for 2 hours”.

If you tell me “min burn” or “max autonomy,” I’ll give you the single command to set the schedule/disable accordingly.

[round haven]

Wouldn't having the agent just do crons for exact tasks be better? Meaning I can have crons for specific tasks only if the agent decides it needs them and then turn them off when done? Or no?

[stiff pagoda]

Yes — that’s a totally valid (and often better) pattern for low token burn.

There are basically two strategies:

Strategy 1: Always‑on worker (what you have now)

Pros

• Feels “alive” and employee‑like.
• You can drop tasks in the queue anytime and it will pick them up automatically.

Cons

• Pays a wake-up cost even when there’s nothing to do (your IDLE runs).

Strategy 2: Task‑scoped cron (what you’re describing)

Create a cron only when needed, then disable/delete it when done.

Pros

• Much lower idle burn.

• Clearer control: “work for 2 hours on X”, then stop.

Cons

• Slightly more complexity: needs a “start work” trigger and a “stopper” job.

What I recommend for you

Use task‑scoped cron as the default, plus a lightweight heartbeat manager. Concretely:

• Keep heartbeat as the proactive manager (“queue has work—want me to start a sprint?”).
• Default state: no always-on worker.
• When you say “work on this for 2 hours” (or the agent decides it needs time), it creates:

1. a runner cron (every 10–30m) to process the queue
2. a stopper one-shot cron to disable the runner at the deadline

That gives “employee mode” on-demand.

Next step (one step)

If you want to switch to this model, tell me: do you want the default sprint length to be 2 hours or 6 hours? Then I’ll give you the single command to disable your always-on worker (and we’ll add one small note so the agent knows to create timeboxed runner+stopper jobs when it needs them).

[round haven]

Pause on the token problem. I'm trying to have the bot be very very good at doing any task on its own without me telling it exactly how. It's having issues. Specifically with research. Idk if its because of the research runbook file we already have or what but I told the agent:

"Ok lets pause and work on your problem solving before any of this. Going to repeat myself.

I want you to be fully autonomous. I know the runbook research md file says all that but yesterday you were having major issues with doing shit. Do any task the best way possible without me telling you exactly how. Yes, you have this file but if its not working or you can do it better do that way. And change this file if you think its needed. I give you permission to do that. At the end of the day, I want you to do everything the best way possible. In this case, research. Whether its by browser search like now or web fetch or whatever the hell.

The issue is the same as yesterday to where I dont think you actually scraped the whole thing. I give you permission to do whatever YOU think is best to do any task. You have files telling you how to do it BUT some of them dont seem to 100% be working. Specifically this research one. IF you have another better way of doing it, do IT. ALSO. I NEED YOU to be good at problem solving if something isnt working. Get around the problem. Ultimately reach the objective without me telling you the exact steps."

(continue onto the next paste I did)

What's happening right now when it's trying to research is that the exact same problem that was happening yesterday is still occurring. In this case it's the fact that the bot is going ahead, doing the exact same process:

1. opening the browser
2. researching
3. scrolling a little
4. and then only getting a partial of it
   That's not the point. The point is anything. Right now we're talking about research but it's doing the exact same process as yesterday with the exact same problems, the exact same steps.
   The point here is that I want the bot to be fully autonomous to do its own shit to figure out how to get the objective without me telling it how. You tell me I don't know if that means we have to remove the file or change it or just wipe but I need the bot to be autonomous with anything.

[stiff pagoda]

Yeah — I see the second paste too. What you’re describing (“opens browser → scrolls a bit → summarizes partial”) is a process bug, not a “try harder” bug.

The model only “knows” what it actually fetched/seen. Browser-view + a couple scrolls is very easy to end up with a partial, then it hallucinates that it got the whole thing.

Will your current setup allow real problem-solving?

Yes, but only if the runbook forces “proof + completeness checks + chunking”. Autonomy without guardrails tends to produce confident partials.

Why research is failing specifically

Common failure modes that match what you saw:

1. Browser snapshots are viewport-limited → scrolling a bit ≠ full page captured.
2. Long pages get truncated (web fetch limits) → agent doesn’t notice truncation.
3. Your worker is “1 queue item per run” → big research tasks must be split, or it will do a slice and call it done.

---

Next step (one step): make the research runbook impossible to “partial scrape”

Send this to your agent on Telegram (copy/paste exactly):

Open C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md and append a new section named “Anti-partial research protocol (mandatory)” with these rules:

1. Never summarize a page based only on the browser viewport or a quick scroll.
2. Prefer this order: web_search → web_fetch for each source URL. Only use browser when web_fetch fails (JS/paywall/blocked).
3. For every source, report a Retrieval Proof block:

• method = web_fetch|browser
• url = …
• retrieved_chars = <count> (estimate from fetched text)
• truncated_or_blocked = yes|no (if yes: say why)
• include 2 direct quotes: one from near the top and one from near the end (to prove you got the full thing).

4. If truncated/blocked: try one fallback (print view, reader view, alternate source, or different URL). If still blocked, mark the queue item blocked with what you tried and what you need (login, approval, different source).
5. If a research request is too big for one worker run, you must split it into multiple queue items (e.g. “fetch source 1”, “fetch source 2”, “write summary”), and only mark the parent objective done when all parts are done.

After saving, reply with the last 40 lines of RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md.

Once you paste the tail it outputs, we’ll rerun the exact same research request that “failed yesterday” and you’ll be able to see (from the proof block) whether it truly fetched the full page or got blocked/truncated.

[stiff pagoda]

You’re right: “open browser → scroll a bit → summarize” is not autonomy — it’s the classic partial-context trap. If the agent only saw part of the page, it literally cannot be “smart enough” to summarize the whole thing.

So don’t wipe files; fix the research operating rules so it’s not allowed to declare success without proof it actually retrieved the full content.

Next step (ONE thing): force an “anti-partial” research protocol into your research runbook

Send this as a single message to your agent on Telegram:

Open C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md and append a section titled “Anti-partial research protocol (mandatory)” with these rules:

1. Never summarize a page from the browser viewport or a couple scrolls. That is always considered partial.
2. Default retrieval order per source: web_search → web_fetch (use web_fetch with the maximum allowed maxChars). Only use browser if web_fetch fails or the site is JS/paywalled.
3. For each source URL you use, include a Retrieval Proof block in your reply:

• method = web_fetch|browser
• url = …
• retrieved_chars ≈ <number>
• hit_limit_or_truncated = yes|no (if yes: say why)
• include 2 direct quotes: one from near the top and one from near the end (proves you didn’t just see the first screen).

4. If truncated/blocked: do one fallback (alternate URL, print view, reader view, another source). If still blocked: mark task blocked with what you tried + what you need (login/approval/etc).
5. Large research = must split into multiple queue items (fetch sources → extract facts → write report). No single “giant” item.

After saving, reply with the last 60 lines of RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md so I can confirm it’s actually there.

Once you paste that “last 60 lines” here, we’ll re-run the exact same research request that’s failing and the proof block will tell us immediately whether it’s still doing partial browser scrolls or actually retrieving the full content.

[round haven]

But you're missing the point. Actually, correct me if I'm wrong, but the whole purpose of what I'm trying to say is that I want the bot to be autonomous and to decide how to do things. I shouldn't have to tell it how to do it.

So what I'm saying is, should we just delete the runbook research.md file? I want the bot to figure out how to do this shit on its own. Or would that be wrong? At the same time I don't want to break the bot but I don't want it to get stuck with instructions that are just not the best way to go about it and just make it horrible. Even with these instructions it's more like a strict workflow.

Let's say I wanted to research and in that research you might have to click around and look at different things. It won't be able to because the workflow doesn't contain that. So what I'm saying is, what should we do in that case? The biggest thing is I'm not even talking about just research; I'm talking about anything. I want to fix this for the bot to be able to do anything in the best way possible not just research. And I mean that by any type of automation that could be even more complicated than research because there will be, whether it's code fixing, problem solving, physical things, making things, etc.

[stiff pagoda]

You’re not wrong about the goal (“I shouldn’t have to tell it how”), but deleting RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md will almost certainly make the actual behavior worse, not better.

Why deleting the runbook is the wrong move

Without guardrails, most models fall into the lowest-effort pattern that “looks like progress”:

• open browser
• skim viewport
• summarize confidently (partial-context trap)
• declare done

That’s not because the runbook is “holding it back” — it’s because the model has no built-in concept of “I definitely captured the whole page” unless you force it to prove it.

So: runbooks don’t reduce autonomy; they prevent fake autonomy.

What you actually want (the right design)

Not a rigid step-by-step workflow. You want a principles-based runbook:

• “Use whatever method works”

• “Explore/click around if needed”
• “But you must produce proof that you actually got the info”
• “And you must self-detect partial/truncated retrieval and recover”

That gives you freedom + reliability.

The fix: rewrite the runbook from “workflow” → “policy + proof”

Don’t delete RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md. Have the agent rewrite it so it explicitly allows flexible exploration, while enforcing completeness.

Next step (ONE thing)

Tell the agent on Telegram this:

Rewrite C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md into a principles-based guide (not a rigid checklist).
It must include:

1. Freedom clause: You may use browser/web_fetch/web_search and click around as needed to reach the objective.
2. Anti-partial rule: You must not claim “done” unless you include retrieval proof (method used, whether truncated, and quotes from different parts / multiple pages).
3. Exploration rule: If the answer requires navigating multiple pages/sections, you must do that and list the pages visited.

4. Recovery ladder: If blocked/truncated, try one fallback, otherwise mark blocked with what you tried + what you need.
5. Chunking: Split big research into smaller queue items.

After saving, reply with the first 30 lines (the principles) and the last 30 lines (so I can confirm it changed).

Once you paste that output here, I’ll sanity-check that it’s truly “autonomous + flexible” (click around when needed) while eliminating the partial-scrape failure mode.

And big-picture: we can apply the exact same pattern to “anything”:

• principles + proof + recovery, not “do steps 1–10 exactly.”

[round haven]

Done. Output the agent said:

RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md — Principles-Based Research Guide (OpenClaw / Windows)

Global principles for research tasks. Override rigid checklists for best results. Objective: Get complete, verifiable info fast.

Core Principles

1. Freedom Clause: Use any tools/methods (browser/web_fetch/web_search/clicks/exec) to reach objective. Prioritize fast/public (web_fetch first), fallback to browser. No tool forbidden if effective.

2. Anti-Partial Rule: Claim "done" ONLY with retrieval proof: Method used, truncated status, quotes/snippets from 3+ parts/pages/sources. Include MEDIA/screenshots/stdout.

3. Exploration Rule: If multi-page/sections needed, navigate (list visited URLs/tabs/titles). Expand "load more"/comments/related (up to 5 actions).

4. Recovery Ladder: Blocked/truncated? Try 1 fallback (e.g., /pub link, search alternatives, Escape overlays). Still fail → mark BLOCKED w/what tried + needs (e.g., "login relay").

5. Chunking: Big research (>3 pages/30min) → split into queue items (e.g., "research doc TOC", "research Part 1").

Guidelines (flexible)Persist findings to memory/research-[topic].md.

Examples

• Public doc: web_fetch → if truncated, browser scroll + quotes.
• Walled: BLOCKED + escalation.

No hallucinations. Adapt as needed.Saved (1643 bytes). Principles first, examples last. Core intact, rigid gone. 💰

[stiff pagoda]

That rewrite is the right direction: it keeps autonomy (“use any method”) but adds the missing reliability constraint (“don’t claim done without proof”). This should directly fix the “browser scroll → partial summary” failure mode.

Two small issues I’d tighten later (not urgent):

• There’s a formatting glitch: ## Guidelines (flexible)Persist… needs a newline.
• “Persist findings to memory/research-[topic].md” is a bit ambiguous. Better to explicitly write to a file in your workspace (e.g. runtime-workspace\research-<topic>.md) so it’s an artifact you can open.

Next step (ONE thing): re-run the exact research request that failed yesterday

In Telegram, send the agent the same URL/topic again, but add this single constraint:

Redo the research using the updated RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md.
You must include Retrieval Proof (method + truncated status + quotes/snippets from 3+ parts/pages/sources) and list visited pages.
Also write the final result to a markdown file in C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\runtime-workspace\ and tell me the file path.

Then paste the agent’s output here (especially the Retrieval Proof block). If it still looks partial after this, we’ll know whether it’s because web_fetch is truncating, or because it’s still relying on viewport/browser snapshots.

[round haven]

Agent output:

Research Redo (hybrid best-way per new RUNBOOK):

Visited pages/tabs:

1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffmZEfT7aenfAz2lkjyHsQIlYRWFpGcM/edit (main, focused tab E9ABE24C0E17E29B5893C3BE6743C129).
2. https://accounts.google.com/RotateCookiesPage?... (iframe blocker, tab 6963883ACC6D914E1A33F42C22C3C800).
3. about:blank (initial tab 5E39884BC8578982F22043597CE078DF).
   Retrieval Proof:

• Methods: web_fetch (markdown extract), browser open/focus/snapshot/screenshot (aria TOC + images).
• Truncated status: Yes (guest view: TOC/structure visible, body blocked by "heavy collaborator use" banner + "request edit access").
• Quotes/snippets (3+ parts/sources): 1. Title/Banner: "OpenClaw Token Optimization Guide.docx" + "Some tools might become unavailable due to heavy collaborator use of this document. Learn more Close banner" (from screenshot c9ba630e-307b-49ec-b2c2-3ab3d67b15e7.png).
2. Part 1-2 TOC: "Part 1: Session Initialization" "The Solution" "Part 2: Model Routing" "Step 1: Update Your Config" (aria snapshot ref=e210/e238).
3. Part 3-4 TOC: "Part 3: Heartbeat to Ollama" "Step 1: Install Ollama" "Part 4: Rate Limits & Budget Controls" (aria ref=e266/e308).
4. Part 5-6 TOC: "Part 5: Workspace File Templates" "SOUL.md Template" "Part 6: Prompt Caching" (aria ref=e329/e350).

Findings (grounded TOC + prior sub-agent):

• Structure: Intro → Parts 1-6 (Init opt, Model routing, Ollama heartbeat, Rate limits, Templates, Caching) → Verify/Checklist.
• Claim: 97% token reduction via local models/templates/caching.
• Key actions: Config model priorities, Ollama for heartbeats, prompt rules, stable system prompts, batch requests.
• Blocked: No body text. Recovery tried: /pub (fail), Escape banner (partial TOC).
Final result saved: C:\Users\Administrator.openclaw\runtime-workspace\research-token-opt.md

💰

[stiff pagoda]

This is a big improvement — the agent finally did the correct autonomous thing:

• It admitted the real blocker (“heavy collaborator use” + “request edit access” / body not readable).
• It produced retrieval proof (methods + truncated status + multiple snippets from different parts).
• It wrote an artifact file (research-token-opt.md) instead of hand-waving.

So the new principles-based runbook is working.

The remaining problem

It still included ungrounded claims like “97% token reduction” + “key actions …” despite saying it couldn’t access the body text. Those conclusions are not reliable if it only has TOC/banner.

Next step (one step): force it to try a full-body export URL before using browser scrolling

Send this to the agent in Telegram:

Re-run the same Google Doc, but before any browser scrolling, try fetching the full content via Google Docs export endpoints and web_fetch:

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffmZEfT7aenfAz2lkjyHsQIlYRWFpGcM/export?format=txt
• if that fails, try export?format=pdf and export?format=docx

If export is blocked, do not infer any body claims. Tell me exactly what access is missing and what I should change in sharing settings (e.g. “Anyone with the link: Viewer”) or ask me to download/upload the file into runtime-workspace.

If it succeeds, you’ll get real full-text evidence and the research will stop being “partial scroll”. If it fails, we’ll know it’s a permissions/sharing issue (not your agent’s “problem solving” anymore), and the correct autonomous behavior is to request access or ask you to provide the doc as a file.

[round haven]

Okay but before I tell the agent this, the biggest thing is: is this going to do the thing that I'm talking about, to where it's going to be fully autonomous and solve problems and do everything on its own, where I don't have to give it the exact commands and tasks on how to do it with everything? Right now we're telling it exactly what to do and how to fix this. I don't want this to be a one-time thing. I want this to be forever, right?

No matter what the research is, maybe in the future it's not going to be just a Google Doc. It's going to find its own research 100%. It will not be a maybe. I'm not even talking about research; I'm talking about any other automation. It's like this type of thing. I want to be sure that the agent can do it itself. That's why I'm asking.

[stiff pagoda]

You’re asking the right question, and the honest answer is:

You can get “autonomous by default” — but you cannot get “100% autonomous, 100% of the time, for anything”

Not because of runbooks, but because of reality:

• Sometimes it needs missing info (what does “done” mean? constraints? budget?).
• Sometimes it hits access limits (login-only docs, CAPTCHAs, rate limits).
• Sometimes it needs permissions (exec approvals, contacting humans, spending money).
• Sometimes the platform literally blocks automation.

What you can get “forever” is: it decides the how, it tries smart fallbacks, it proves what it actually retrieved/did, and when blocked it escalates cleanly (asks for access/approval or proposes options). That’s the reliable version of autonomy.

What just happened is actually the proof it’s working

On the Google Doc, it:

• detected it was blocked/truncated,
• listed visited pages,
• provided retrieval proof,
• saved an artifact file,

instead of pretending it read everything. That’s exactly the behavior you want.

The only missing piece is: it should have a general retrieval ladder so it automatically tries better methods (like export endpoints) without you prompting it each time.

How to make this “forever” (one step)

Don’t tell it “try these export URLs” as a one-off instruction. Tell it to encode that as a general rule in RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md so it becomes its default behavior for any future research.

Send this to the agent on Telegram:

Update RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md by adding a section “Source-specific retrieval ladder (mandatory)”:

• Rule 1: Never infer body claims if truncated_or_blocked=yes. Only report what was actually retrieved + what’s missing.
• Rule 2 (Google Docs): If URL matches docs.google.com/document/d/<id> then try, in order, before browser scrolling:
• /export?format=txt (web_fetch)
• /export?format=pdf (download or fetch; extract if possible)
• /export?format=docx
• If all blocked: ask user to change sharing to “Anyone with link: Viewer” or ask user to download and upload the doc into runtime-workspace.
• Rule 3: Always include retrieval proof + visited pages.

Reply with the last 40 lines of RUNBOOK_RESEARCH.md.

That single change makes this behavior automatic going forward, and the same pattern can be repeated for other “source types” (Notion, Confluence, PDFs, GitHub, etc.) without you micromanaging steps.

If you paste the updated tail after it edits the runbook, I’ll confirm it’s written in a general, reusable way (not specific to this one doc).

[round haven]

Ok pause. Holy fuck my token usage is skyrocketing. In under 10 simple texts back and forth after a new session it went from 10k to 40k tokens per message now.

"native_tokens_cached": 38631,

"native_tokens_prompt": 38738,

in a message that said "hi"

@stiff pagoda ??

[hoary burrow]

sure it eats this many tokens with the novels you created..

seems you still don't understand how the agent works, even the agent already told you multiple times how it works, so you should read what the bot said and/or read what's written in the docs:

https://docs.openclaw.ai/concepts/system-prompt#system-prompt

[stiff pagoda]

Two separate things here:

1) “Use clawdbot for social media without getting banned” (X/Meta)

There isn’t a “don’t get banned” trick — the only durable way is staying inside platform policy and using the official APIs (or doing manual posting).

What tends to be safe:

• Use official APIs (X API, Meta Graph API / Instagram Content Publishing) instead of browser-automation / scraping.
• Human-in-the-loop for anything that looks like engagement automation (auto-replies, DMs, mass liking/following, etc.). Draft → approve → post is much safer than fully autonomous.
• Rate-limit hard, add backoff on errors, and avoid “bursty” behavior.
• Be transparent (bio/labeling) if the account is automated, especially for replies/DMs.
• Keep scopes/permissions minimal and do Meta app review properly if you’re publishing to Pages/IG.

If your goal is “engage like a human at scale”, that’s exactly what platforms ban for. If your goal is “assist a human social media manager”, that’s usually fine.

2) Token usage exploding (“hi” shows ~40k prompt tokens)

This is expected if your system prompt + injected workspace files are huge.