Windowed Autonomy

Time-windowed autonomous task queue. Autonomy works only during specific time windows (e.g., 8 AM - 8 PM UTC), while cron jobs run overnight. Separates concerns by time - day = autonomy, night = maintenance. Use when you want predictable work schedule, controlled token budget, and clear temporal separation between autonomous work and scheduled maintenance.

luciusrockwing@luciusrockwing

Install

openclaw skills install @luciusrockwing/autonomy-windowed

Windowed Autonomy

Transform your agent from reactive to autonomous worker during specific time windows.

Concept

The agent works autonomously only during defined time windows. Outside windows, the agent only replies HEARTBEAT_OK. Cron jobs run overnight when autonomy is disabled.

text

🌙 Overnight (10 PM - 8 AM UTC):  Autonomy OFF
☀️ Daytime (8 AM - 10 PM UTC):   Autonomy ON

Clear separation: Day = work on queue, Night = cron maintenance

How It Works

1. Time Windows

Define active windows in tasks/QUEUE.md:

markdown

## ⏰ Autonomy Windows

- 🌙 Overnight: 20:00 - 08:00 UTC → Autonomy OFF
- ☀️ Daytime: 08:00 - 20:00 UTC → Autonomy ON

2. Heartbeat Flow

During Active Window:

text

Heartbeat → Check urgent → No → Read QUEUE → Pick task → Work 15-30 min → Update QUEUE → Log

Outside Active Window:

text

Heartbeat → Check urgent → No → Reply "HEARTBEAT_OK" → Sleep

Urgent Override:

text

Heartbeat → Check urgent → YES → Work immediately (even outside window)

3. Window Transitions

Window Opens (8:00 AM):

Autonomous mode enabled
Start pulling from queue
Log to tasks/MODE_HISTORY.md: "Window opened"

Window Closes (8:00 PM):

Autonomous mode disabled
Wrap up current task if in progress
Log transition: "Window closed"
Switch to standby mode (HEARTBEAT_OK only)

Schedule Examples

Time	Activity	Mode
00:00	GitHub backup (cron)	Overnight (no autonomy)
02:00	Heartbeat check	Standby (HEARTBEAT_OK)
03:00	Temp cleanup (cron)	Overnight (no autonomy)
08:00	Window opens	✅ Autonomy ON
09:00	Work on task	Autonomy
12:00	GitHub backup (cron)	Autonomy (pause for backup)
14:00	Work on task	Autonomy
20:00	Window closes	❌ Autonomy OFF
23:00	Daily ops + memory (cron)	Overnights (no autonomy)

Queue Structure

markdown

# Task Queue

## ⏰ Autonomy Windows
- 🌙 Overnight: 20:00 - 08:00 UTC → Autonomy OFF
- ☀️ Daytime: 08:00 - 20:00 UTC → Autonomy ON

---

## 🔴 Ready (can be picked up during windows)
- [ ] @priority:high [Task description]
- [ ] @priority:medium [Task description]

## 🟡 In Progress
- [ ] @agent: @priority:high [Task description]
  - Started: 2026-02-16 14:00 UTC

## 🔵 Blocked
- [ ] @priority:medium [Task] (needs: [what's blocking])

## ✅ Done Today
- [x] @agent: @priority:high [Task]
  - Completed: 2026-02-16 14:25 UTC

## 💡 Ideas
- [Idea for future work]

Priority System

Priority affects task selection order during windows:

Priority	When to use	Selection
`@priority:urgent`	Time-sensitive, deadline < 6h	Pick FIRST, even outside window
`@priority:high`	Important, deadline 24h	Pick first in window
`@priority:medium`	Normal importance	Pick second in window
`@priority:low`	Nice to have	Pick last in window

Window Types

Full Day Window (Default)

Active: 8 AM - 8 PM UTC (12 hours)

Use when:

youris available during these hours
Tasks are not time-sensitive
Want predictable work schedule

Heartbeat frequency: Every 2 hours (6 sessions/day)

Extended Window

Active: 6 AM - 10 PM UTC (16 hours)

Use when:

Want more work hours
yourhas varied schedule

Heartbeat frequency: Every 2 hours (8 sessions/day)

Limited Window

Active: 10 AM - 6 PM UTC (8 hours)

Use when:

Want controlled token budget
yourhas focused availability

Heartbeat frequency: Every 2-3 hours (3-4 sessions/day)

Token Budget

Recommended: 4-6 sessions/day, ~5-10K tokens each = 20-60K/day

Session strategy:

Window Type	Sessions/day	Tokens	Schedule
Full Day (12h)	6	30-60K	Every 2 hours
Extended (16h)	8	40-80K	Every 2 hours
Limited (8h)	4	20-40K	Every 2-3 hours

When to stop:

Window closes (time-based)
Tokens remaining < 5K
Queue empty
youris actively messaging (human priority)

Urgent Tasks Override

Definition: Tasks that cannot wait for window to open

Add to queue with @priority:urgent:

markdown

## 🔴 Ready
- [ ] @priority:urgent Emergency: [task description]

Behavior:

Autonomy works immediately, even if outside window
Override all other considerations
Complete urgent task, then check window status

Wrapping Up When Window Closes

If in middle of task when window closes:

Check task progress:
- If > 80% complete → Finish it
- If < 80% complete → Save progress, move to In Progress, stop
Save state:

markdown

## 🟡 In Progress
- [ ] @agent: @priority:high [Task description]
  - Started: 2026-02-16 19:30 UTC
  - Progress at window close: Completed X section, need to do Y
  - Resume: 2026-02-17 08:00 UTC (next window)

Log to tasks/MODE_HISTORY.md:

markdown

## [2026-02-16 20:00 UTC] Window Closed
Status: Task in progress (60% complete)
Action: Saved state, will resume in next window

Mode History Tracking

File: tasks/MODE_HISTORY.md

markdown

# Window Mode Transitions

## [2026-02-16 08:00 UTC] Window Opened
Mode: Daytime window
Queue state: 3 tasks ready
Expected sessions: 6

## [2026-02-16 20:00 UTC] Window Closed
Mode: Overnight (standby)
Sessions completed: 5
Tasks completed: 4
Tasks remaining: 1 (in progress, resume tomorrow)

## [2026-02-17 08:00 UTC] Window Opened
Mode: Daytime window
Resumed task in progress

Coordinating With Cron

Daytime (Autonomy ON):

Light cron runs fine (Ollama monitor, disk check) - no conflict
Heavy cron (backup) - autonomy pauses during execution

Overnight (Autonomy OFF):

All cron jobs run freely
No autonomy conflicts

Cron schedule:

Time	Cron Job	Autonomy Mode
Every 5 min	Ollama monitor	Any (low impact)
Every hour	Disk check	Any (low impact)
00:00	GitHub backup	OFF (overnight)
03:00	Temp cleanup	OFF (overnight)
08:00	Window opens	ON
12:00	GitHub backup	ON (pause during)
14:00	Daily ops + memory (Sun)	ON (pause during)
20:00	Window closes	OFF (overnight)
23:00	Daily ops + memory	OFF (overnight)

GOALS.md Integration

Link queue tasks to RA's long-term goal: MONEY

Add goal references:

markdown

- [ ] @priority:high Competitor pricing analysis (GOAL: monetization strategy)
- [ ] @priority:medium Write sales email template (GOAL: improve conversion)

Work toward goals during windows:

Research tasks during early window (fresh energy)
Writing tasks during mid window (flow state)
Review tasks during late window (wind down)

.learnings/ Integration

After completing tasks, add findings to .learnings/:

markdown

## [LRN-20260216-001] task-completion
Task: [Task description]

Completed during: Daytime window (14:00-14:25 UTC)
Tokens used: 8K

Key findings: [summarize]

Daily Routine

Window Opens (8:00 AM)

Check queue for tasks in 🔴 Ready
Pick highest priority task
Work 15-30 minutes
Update queue (In Progress or Done)

During Window (9 AM - 8 PM)

Every 2 hours: heartbeat, check queue
Work on next highest priority task
Update queue after completion
Log progress to memory/[today].md

Window Closes (8:00 PM)

Check if task in progress
If yes: Save progress or finish if close
Move to Done Today or keep in In Progress
Log transition tasks/MODE_HISTORY.md
Switch to standby (HEARTBEAT_OK only)

Overnight (8 PM - 8 AM)

Every heartbeat: Check urgent only
If no urgent: Reply HEARTBEAT_OK
Cron jobs run freely
No autonomous work

Task Output Format

markdown

## Task: [Title]

**Completed during:** [Window type] [Time range]
**Duration:** X minutes
**Tokens:** YK

### Work Done
[Describe what was accomplished]

### Output
[Attach output file or content]

### Next Steps
[What to do next - add to Ideas if task spawns follow-up]

Evolving Over Time

The "slowly evolve" approach:

This mode allows The agent to gradually take on more work:

Week 1-2:

Conservative: 4 sessions/day, limited window
Monitor performance, adjust schedule

Week 3-4:

Expand: 6 sessions/day, extended window if needed
Add more task types to queue

Month 2:

Optimize: Tailor window to RA's actual schedule and peak productivity times
Adjust based on what yourfinds valuable

Key: Start small, expand based on feedback and results.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

You want predictable work schedule
You want autonomy to work during specific hours
Tasks are not time-sensitive (can wait for window)
You want clear temporal separation between autonomy and maintenance
You're okay with "slowly evolving" - start small, expand over time

When NOT to Use This Skill

Do not use this skill when:

You want 24/7 autonomous work → Use autonomy-type-based for type-based filtering
Tasks are highly time-sensitive → Use urgency override or different approach
You want task-based separation rather than time-based → Use autonomy-type-based
youris awake during non-standard hours → Adjust windows to match schedule

Quick Reference

Default window: 8 AM - 8 PM UTC (adjustable) Session frequency: Every 2-3 hours during window Priority order: urgent (override) → high → medium → low Queue location: tasks/QUEUE.md

See templates/QUEUE.md for full template structure

Windowed Autonomy

Install

Windowed Autonomy

Concept

How It Works

1. Time Windows

2. Heartbeat Flow

3. Window Transitions

Schedule Examples

Queue Structure

Priority System

Window Types

Full Day Window (Default)

Extended Window

Limited Window

Token Budget

Urgent Tasks Override

Wrapping Up When Window Closes

Mode History Tracking

Coordinating With Cron

GOALS.md Integration

.learnings/ Integration

Daily Routine

Window Opens (8:00 AM)

During Window (9 AM - 8 PM)

Window Closes (8:00 PM)

Overnight (8 PM - 8 AM)

Task Output Format

Evolving Over Time

When to Use This Skill

When NOT to Use This Skill

Quick Reference

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