Constraint Engine

Learn from consequences, not instructions — generate and enforce constraints from experience

constraint-engine (制約)

Unified skill for constraint generation, pre-action checking, circuit breaker management, and constraint lifecycle. Consolidates 7 granular skills into a single enforcement system.

Trigger: 行動前∨閾値到達 (pre-action or threshold reached)

Source skills: constraint-generator, circuit-breaker, emergency-override, constraint-lifecycle, constraint-versioning, positive-framer (partial), contextual-injection (partial)

Installation

bash

openclaw install leegitw/constraint-engine

Dependencies: leegitw/failure-memory (for eligibility data)

bash

# Install with dependencies
openclaw install leegitw/context-verifier
openclaw install leegitw/failure-memory
openclaw install leegitw/constraint-engine

Standalone usage: Requires failure-memory for constraint generation from observations. For full lifecycle management, install the complete suite (see Neon Agentic Suite).

Data handling: This skill operates within your agent's trust boundary. When triggered, it uses your agent's configured model for constraint checking and generation. No external APIs or third-party services are called. Results are written to output/constraints/ in your workspace.

What This Solves

Instructions get ignored. Rules get forgotten. Documentation goes unread. This skill takes a different approach — constraints generated from actual failures:

1. Generate constraints from observations that meet the eligibility threshold (R≥3 ∧ C≥2)
2. Enforce constraints at runtime with a circuit breaker (CLOSED → OPEN → HALF-OPEN)
3. Manage lifecycle from proposal through adoption to retirement

The insight: A constraint born from "this actually broke" carries more weight than "this might break." Consequences teach better than instructions.

Usage

text

/ce <sub-command> [arguments]

Sub-Commands

Command	CJK	Logic	Trigger
/ce check	検査	action→constraints[]→pass∨block	Next Steps (auto)
/ce generate	生成	eligible(obs)→constraint	Next Steps (auto)
/ce status	状態	active[], circuit∈{CLOSED,OPEN,HALF}	Explicit
/ce override	上書	constraint→bypass(temp), audit.log++	Explicit
/ce lifecycle	周期	state∈{draft→active→retiring→retired}	Explicit
/ce version	版本	constraint→v++, history.preserve	Explicit
/ce threshold	閾値	user∨context→custom_threshold	Explicit

Arguments

/ce check

Argument	Required	Description
action	Yes	Action to check against constraints
--severity	No	Minimum severity to check: critical, important, minor (default: all)

/ce generate

Argument	Required	Description
observation	Yes	Observation ID or pattern to generate constraint from
--force	No	Generate even if eligibility criteria not met

/ce status

Argument	Required	Description
--circuit	No	Show circuit breaker status only
--active	No	Show active constraints only

/ce override

Argument	Required	Description
constraint	Yes	Constraint ID to override
reason	Yes	Reason for override (logged for audit)
--duration	No	Override duration (default: "session")

/ce lifecycle

Argument	Required	Description
constraint	Yes	Constraint ID
state	Yes	Target state: draft, active, retiring, retired

/ce version

Argument	Required	Description
constraint	Yes	Constraint ID
--bump	No	Version bump type: major, minor, patch (default: minor)

/ce threshold

Argument	Required	Description
--R	No	Custom recurrence threshold (default: 3)
--C	No	Custom confirmation threshold (default: 2)
--reset	No	Reset to default thresholds

Configuration

Configuration is loaded from (in order of precedence):

1. .openclaw/constraint-engine.yaml (OpenClaw standard)
2. .claude/constraint-engine.yaml (Claude Code compatibility)
3. Defaults (built-in)

yaml

# .openclaw/constraint-engine.yaml
thresholds:
  R: 3                       # Recurrence threshold (default: 3)
  C: 2                       # Confirmation threshold (default: 2)
  false_positive_max: 0.2    # Max D/(C+D) ratio (default: 0.2)
circuit_breaker:
  critical_threshold: 3      # Violations to trip for CRITICAL
  important_threshold: 5     # Violations to trip for IMPORTANT
  minor_threshold: 10        # Violations to trip for MINOR
  window_days: 30            # Violation window (default: 30 days)
lifecycle:
  review_reminder_days: 80   # Days before 90-day review to remind

Core Logic

Eligibility Criteria

Observation becomes eligible for constraint when:

text

R≥3 ∧ C≥2 ∧ D/(C+D)<0.2 ∧ sources≥2

Criterion	Meaning
R≥3	At least 3 recurrences
C≥2	At least 2 human confirmations
D/(C+D)<0.2	False positive rate under 20%
sources≥2	Observed by at least 2 different sources

Positive Reframing

Constraints are automatically reframed positively:

Negative	Positive
"Don't commit without tests"	"Always run tests before commit"
"Don't push to main directly"	"Always create PR for main changes"
"Don't deploy without review"	"Always get code review before deployment"
"Don't skip migrations"	"Always run database migrations before release"

Example: Code Review Constraint

text

[CHECK BLOCKED] deploy production
Constraint violated: CON-20260212-005
  "Always get code review approval before production deployment"
  Severity: CRITICAL

Action: Request review via /ro twin, then retry deployment.

Example: Deployment Gate Constraint

text

[CHECK PASSED] deploy staging
Active constraints checked: 3
  ✓ CON-20260210-001: Tests pass
  ✓ CON-20260211-002: Staging smoke test
  ✓ CON-20260212-003: Database migration verified
All constraints satisfied. Proceeding to staging.

Circuit Breaker States

State	Meaning	Behavior
CLOSED	Normal operation	Constraints enforced
OPEN	Circuit tripped	Block all related actions
HALF-OPEN	Testing recovery	Allow limited actions

Circuit Breaker Thresholds

Severity	Threshold	Window
CRITICAL	3 violations	30 days
IMPORTANT	5 violations	30 days
MINOR	10 violations	30 days

Constraint Lifecycle

text

draft → active → retiring → retired
  │        │         │
  └────────┴─────────┴── 90-day review gates

Output

/ce check output (pass)

text

[CHECK PASSED] git commit -m "feature"
Active constraints checked: 5
All constraints satisfied.

/ce check output (block)

text

[CHECK BLOCKED] git commit -m "feature"

Constraint violated: CON-20260210-001
  "Always run tests before commit"
  Severity: CRITICAL

Action: Run tests first, then retry commit.
Override: /ce override CON-20260210-001 "emergency hotfix"

/ce status output

text

=== Constraint Engine Status ===

Circuit Breaker: CLOSED (healthy)

Active Constraints (5):
- CON-20260210-001: Always run tests before commit [CRITICAL]
- CON-20260212-003: Always lint before commit [IMPORTANT]
- ...

Draft Constraints (2):
- CON-20260215-001: Pending approval

Violations (30d): 2

/ce generate output

text

[CONSTRAINT GENERATED]

From: OBS-20260210-003 (lint-before-commit)
ID: CON-20260215-001
Text: "Always run lint before commit"
Severity: IMPORTANT
Status: draft

Next: Review and approve with /ce lifecycle CON-20260215-001 active

Integration

• Layer: Core
• Depends on: failure-memory (for eligibility data)
• Used by: governance (for constraint reviews), safety-checks (for enforcement)

Failure Modes

Condition	Behavior
Invalid sub-command	List available sub-commands
Constraint not found	Error with suggestion to search
Ineligible observation	Show missing criteria, suggest /fm status
Circuit OPEN	Block action, show recovery guidance
Override without reason	Require reason for audit trail

Next Steps

After invoking this skill:

Condition	Action
Constraint generated	Add to output/constraints/draft/, notify user
Constraint activated	Move to output/constraints/active/
Action blocked	Log to output/hooks/blocked.log, explain why
Circuit OPEN	Surface to user with recovery guidance
Override used	Audit log entry, temporary bypass only

Workspace Files

This skill reads/writes:

text

output/
├── constraints/
│   ├── draft/           # Pending constraints
│   │   └── CON-YYYYMMDD-XXX.md
│   ├── active/          # Enforced constraints
│   │   └── CON-YYYYMMDD-XXX.md
│   ├── retired/         # Historical constraints
│   │   └── CON-YYYYMMDD-XXX.md
│   └── metadata.json    # VFM scoring data
└── hooks/
    └── blocked.log      # Actions blocked by constraints

Security Considerations

What this skill accesses:

• Configuration files in .openclaw/constraint-engine.yaml and .claude/constraint-engine.yaml
• Observation data from failure-memory (via .learnings/ directory)
• Its own output directories output/constraints/ and output/hooks/

What this skill does NOT access:

• Files outside declared workspace paths
• System environment variables
• Network resources or external APIs

What this skill does NOT do:

• Send data to external services
• Execute arbitrary code
• Modify files outside its workspace

Dependency note: This skill reads observation data from failure-memory skill's workspace (.learnings/). Install leegitw/failure-memory for full constraint generation functionality. Without failure-memory, constraint generation will have no observation data to process.

Audit logging: Override actions are logged to output/hooks/blocked.log for audit purposes. Logs are stored locally in the workspace only.

Acceptance Criteria

• /ce check validates action against active constraints
• /ce check blocks when constraint violated, shows reason
• /ce generate creates constraint from eligible observation
• /ce generate applies positive reframing
• /ce status shows circuit breaker state and active constraints
• /ce override creates temporary bypass with audit log
• /ce lifecycle transitions constraint through states
• /ce version increments constraint version preserving history
• Circuit breaker trips at severity-appropriate thresholds
• Workspace files follow documented structure

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Consolidated from 7 skills as part of agentic skills consolidation (2026-02-15).