Agent Autonomy Primitives

Turn any AI agent into a self-directing worker using five composable primitives: typed memory, task files, project grouping, template schemas, and heartbeat loops.

Prerequisites

npm install -g clawvault
clawvault init

The Five Primitives

1. Typed Memory

Every memory has a type. The type determines where it lives and how it's retrieved.

| Type | Directory | When to Use |

|------|-----------|-------------|

| decision | decisions/ | Recording a choice with rationale |

| lesson | lessons/ | Something learned from experience |

| person | people/ | Contact info, relationship context |

| commitment | commitments/ | Promise made, deliverable owed |

| preference | preferences/ | How someone likes things done |

| fact | inbox/ | Raw information to file later |

| project | projects/ | Workstream with goals and status |

Store with type:

clawvault remember decision "Chose Resend over SendGrid" --content "Lower cost, better DX, webhook support"
clawvault remember lesson "LLMs rewrite keywords during compression" --content "Always post-process with regex"

Rule: If you know WHAT KIND of thing it is, use the right command. Dumping everything into daily notes defeats retrieval later.

2. Task Primitives

A task is a markdown file with YAML frontmatter in tasks/:

---
status: open
priority: high
owner: your-agent-name
project: my-project
due: 2026-03-01
tags: [infrastructure, deploy]
estimate: 2h
---
# Deploy API to production

## Context
Server provisioned. Need Dockerfile fix.

## Next Steps
- Fix binding to 0.0.0.0
- Add health endpoint
- Push and verify

Create tasks:

clawvault task add "Deploy API to production" \
  --priority high \
  --owner my-agent \
  --project my-project \
  --due 2026-03-01 \
  --tags "infrastructure,deploy"

Update status:

clawvault task update deploy-api-to-production --status in-progress
clawvault task done deploy-api-to-production --reason "Deployed, health check passing"

Statuses: open → in-progress → done (or blocked)

Priorities: critical > high > medium > low

3. Project Grouping

Projects group related tasks with metadata:

clawvault project add "Outbound Engine" \
  --owner pedro \
  --client versatly \
  --tags "gtm,sales" \
  --deadline 2026-03-15

Tasks reference projects via the project field. Filter tasks by project:

clawvault task list --project outbound-engine

4. Template Schemas

Templates are YAML schema definitions that control what fields exist on every primitive. They live in templates/ in your vault.

See references/template-customization.md for full customization guide.

Key points:

• Vault templates override builtins — drop a task.md in templates/ to change the schema
• Add fields (e.g., sprint, effort, client) by editing the template
• Remove fields you don't need
• Change defaults (e.g., default priority = high)
• Validation is advisory — warns but never blocks

5. Heartbeat Loop

The heartbeat is the autonomy mechanism. Wire it into your agent's periodic wake cycle.

Every heartbeat (e.g., every 30 minutes):

1. clawvault task list --owner <agent-name> --status open
2. Sort by: priority (critical first), then due date (soonest first)
3. Pick the highest-impact task executable RIGHT NOW
4. Execute it
5. On completion: clawvault task done <slug> --reason "what was done"
6. On blocker: clawvault task update <slug> --status blocked --blocked-by "reason"
7. If new work discovered: clawvault task add "new task" --priority <p> --project <proj>
8. If lesson learned: clawvault remember lesson "what happened"
9. Go back to sleep

Implementation for OpenClaw agents:

Add to your HEARTBEAT.md:

## Task-Driven Autonomy

Every heartbeat:
1. `clawvault task list --owner <your-name> --status open` → your work queue
2. Sort by priority + due date
3. Pick highest-impact task you can execute NOW
4. Work it. Update status. Mark done. Report.
5. Check for tasks due within 24h — those get priority

For cron-based agents, schedule a recurring job:

Schedule: every 30 minutes
Action: Read task queue, pick highest priority, execute, report

Composing Primitives into Autonomy

The power is in composition, not any single primitive:

Wake → Read memory → Check tasks → Execute → Learn → Update memory → Sleep
         ↑                                      |
         └──────────────────────────────────────┘

Each cycle compounds:

• Memory feeds context into task execution (decisions, lessons, preferences inform how work gets done)
• Task execution generates new memories (lessons learned, decisions made, commitments created)
• Lessons improve future execution (mistakes aren't repeated)
• Wiki-links ([[entity-name]]) build a knowledge graph across all files
• Projects provide scope boundaries so the agent doesn't drift

Adapting to Your Setup

See references/adaptation-guide.md for detailed patterns on:

• Wiring primitives into existing agent frameworks (OpenClaw, LangChain, CrewAI, custom)
• Choosing which primitives to adopt (start minimal, add as needed)
• Multi-agent collaboration through shared vaults
• Migrating from other memory systems

Quick Start: Zero to Autonomous in 5 Minutes

# 1. Install and init
npm install -g clawvault
clawvault init

# 2. Create your first project
clawvault project add "My Project" --owner my-agent

# 3. Create tasks
clawvault task add "Set up monitoring" --priority high --owner my-agent --project my-project
clawvault task add "Write API docs" --priority medium --owner my-agent --project my-project

# 4. Wire into heartbeat (add to HEARTBEAT.md or cron)
# "Every 30min: clawvault task list --owner my-agent --status open, pick top task, execute"

# 5. Start working
clawvault task update set-up-monitoring --status in-progress
# ... do the work ...
clawvault task done set-up-monitoring --reason "Prometheus + Grafana configured"
clawvault remember lesson "UptimeRobot free tier only checks every 5min" --content "Use Better Stack for <1min checks"

Anti-Patterns

| Don't | Do Instead |

|-------|-----------|

| Store everything in one big memory file | Use typed memory — decisions/, lessons/, people/ |

| Create tasks without owner/project | Always set --owner and --project |

| Ask "what should I work on?" | Read your task queue and decide |

| Forget lessons after learning them | clawvault remember lesson immediately |

| Skip marking tasks done | Always task done --reason — the ledger tracks transitions |

| Create tasks for vague ideas | Put ideas in backlog/, promote to tasks/ when ready |

| Modify template schemas constantly | Stabilize schemas early — field renames break existing files |

Obsidian Integration

Because everything is markdown + YAML frontmatter, Obsidian renders your agent's workspace as a human-readable dashboard:

• Kanban board — open all-tasks.base in Obsidian Bases, drag between status columns
• Blocked view — blocked.base shows what needs human input
• By owner — by-owner.base shows what each agent is working on
• By project — by-project.base scopes views per workstream

The same file is both the agent's data structure AND the human's UI. No sync layer needed.