memory-continuity/skills/memory-continuity/SKILL.md

name, description

name

description

memory-continuity

Preserve short-term working continuity for OpenClaw agents when recent in-flight work gets lost after gateway interruption/restart, model fallback or unavailability, /new or fresh sessions, context compaction, or silent execution-agent reporting gaps. Use when you need memory/CURRENT_STATE.md, dual reporting discipline, continuity doctor checks, or repair of continuity drift across agent workspaces.

Memory Continuity

Use this skill to prevent agents from forgetting what is currently in flight when continuity breaks in practical ways: gateway interruption/restart, model fallback/unavailability, /new or fresh sessions, context compaction, or worker results not being surfaced upward in time.

Use memory/CURRENT_STATE.md as a small overwrite-oriented workbench, not as a journal.

Core rules

• Ensure every agent workspace has memory/CURRENT_STATE.md
• Keep CURRENT_STATE.md small
  • main: target 25-40 lines, hard cap 50
  • other agents: target 15-25 lines, hard cap 30
• Required sections:
  • In Flight
  • Blocked / Waiting
  • Recently Finished
  • Next
  • Reset Summary
• Update only on state changes, not on a timer
• Remove stale items instead of endlessly appending

Minimal JIRA-like workflow

Keep the workflow small. Use these task states only:

• planned
• dispatching
• in_progress
• blocked
• reviewing
• done

State meaning:

• planned: task exists and has been defined
• dispatching: main has initiated delegation, but does not yet have enough evidence that the worker truly launched
• in_progress: worker/session has visible execution evidence
• blocked: task cannot safely proceed right now (including launch failure, stalled worker, model failure, auth/tool issues)
• reviewing: deliverable exists and main is validating it
• done: main has accepted the result and updated Tao

Evidence rule:

• Do not upgrade a task state without an evidence point.
• Good evidence points include: non-empty worker session history, worker accepted/milestone reply, commit, branch, PR, release, or runtime log.
• sessions_spawn accepted alone is not enough to claim real progress.

Timeout rules:

• If a worker has no first visible response/evidence within 10 minutes after dispatch, mark the task blocked with reason launch failure.
• If a worker has an ETA and passes that ETA without a milestone, mark the task blocked with reason stalled.
• Silence is not neutral; unexplained silence is a process failure signal.

Dual reporting protocol

Worker → main

Execution agents must report to main at:

• accepted
• blocked
• milestone
• done
• model/environment abnormal

Preferred reply format:

• status
• summary
• evidence
• risk
• next

main → Tao

Main must report to Tao at:

• task formally started
• worker truly in progress (not merely spawn-accepted)
• blocked
• milestone reached
• task/phase completed

Preferred Tao update format:

• who
• status
• output
• next

Ordering rule:

• When a worker reports milestone/completion/blocker, first update CURRENT_STATE.md, then update Tao, then continue with review/commit/next dispatch.
• If no evidence point exists yet (sessionKey with trace / commit / branch / PR / log), do not claim work has already started; say it is about to start.

When to use the doctor

Run scripts/continuity_doctor.py when:

• OpenClaw was upgraded
• gateway restarted and continuity feels suspicious
• an agent seems to have lost short-term context
• you need to confirm CURRENT_STATE.md coverage across workspaces

How to use the doctor

From the main workspace:

python3 skills/memory-continuity/scripts/continuity_doctor.py \\
  --main-workspace /Users/taodeng/.openclaw/workspace/main \
  --agents-root /Users/taodeng/.openclaw/workspaces

The doctor checks:

• main memory/CURRENT_STATE.md exists
• all agent workspaces have memory/CURRENT_STATE.md
• required sections exist
• line-count caps are respected
• AGENTS.md still contains continuity + dual reporting rules

Repair strategy

If drift is found:

1. Restore/create missing memory/CURRENT_STATE.md
2. Restore continuity guidance in AGENTS.md
3. Re-run doctor
4. Only then investigate deeper behavioral failures

References

• For template and limits: read references/template.md
• For doctor semantics and PASS/WARN/FAIL meanings: read references/doctor-spec.md