OpenClaw Continuity

Structured continuity and follow-up skill for OpenClaw agents. Use when an agent needs to decide whether natural user dialogue should stay as casual chat, become staged memory, or become tracked follow-up with carryover, closure, cooldown, sleep/rest suppress, routine-aware wording, quiet-hours behavior, traceability, and release-grade frontstage safety guards. This package is not a generic cron sender. It uses context, causal state, and explicit lifecycle rules to decide whether care or follow-up should appear at all. It covers parked topics, watchful states, delegated tasks, sensitive events, candidate to incident to hook flow, /new carryover, deterministic onboarding/guided settings, and time-aware continuity guards. It does not include always-on idle/social nudging as a default feature.

Use this skill as a continuity/follow-up layer on top of an existing OpenClaw agent. Keep the agent's soul/persona intact and let this skill own the structured follow-up mechanics.

Public product name: OpenClaw Continuity. Technical package / slug: personal-hooks. Internal diagnostics may still use staged-followup-memory as a status label for continuity state surfaces. Questions, feedback, or implementation discussion: [e-mail]. 如果你期待這個技能持續優化與維護，請在 GitHub 給星支持：https://github.com/redwakame/openclaw-continuity

V2 public scope

• Route turns into casual_chat, staged_memory, or tracked_followup.
• Classify tracked content into:
  • parked_topic
  • watchful_state
  • delegated_task
  • sensitive_event
• Maintain event_chain summaries with:
  • context_before
  • event_core
  • immediate_result
  • followup_focus
• Maintain causal_memory as structured continuity state with:
  • facts
  • state
  • open_loop
  • time_anchor
  • followup_focus_code
  • writeback_policy
• Promote candidate -> incident -> hook.
• Preserve /new carryover from the previous 3-5 turns and let the user choose which continuity anchor leads a new conversation.
• Preserve voice/image discussion style as a host-neutral preference when the OpenClaw host already supports those modalities. This skill records the preference only; it does not bundle a voice engine, image model, or channel adapter.
• Keep hook closure, cooldown, dedupe, dispatch cap, and sleep/rest suppress observable.
• Write concise daily-memory traces for staged and tracked items.
• Apply first-run setup facts deterministically from explicit user text.
• Apply supported guided-settings changes deterministically before the model turn when the request is clear enough.
• Keep routine-aware sleep handoff precise: when a night-owl user says they are going to sleep near sleep_time, and wake_time is still later on the same local day, frame the next natural reconnect as later after waking rather than a generic next-day farewell.

Not in public scope

• Companionship rhythm / nudge as a default feature.
• User-configured idle chat frequency.
• Generic proactive chatting when no tracked continuity exists.
• Host transport/network reliability fixes.

Trigger conditions

Use this skill when the user is naturally:

• parking a topic for later
• asking the agent to hold/remember/track something
• leaving a watchful emotional or physical state unresolved
• delegating a task for later follow-up
• describing a sensitive event that needs later continuity
• starting a new session that should reattach pending continuity
• asking whether the agent actually staged/tracked/closed something

Core files

• Script: scripts/personal_hooks.py
• Harness: scripts/followup_skill_harness.py
• Config schema: config.schema.json
• Sample config: examples/settings.sample.json
• Docs:
  • README.md
  • docs/call-flow.md
  • docs/harness.md
  • docs/live-qa-runbook.md
  • docs/v2-blueprint.md

Runtime boundaries

• Keep V2 deterministic and state-backed.
• Let the skill/tool layer own staging, promotion, closure, and trace.
• Let frontstage consume structured results; do not rely on the model to invent continuity ad hoc.
• Treat causal_memory and event_chain as internal structured context, not prewritten frontstage reply text.
• Do not hardwire relationship-specific push wording into the public package; hosts and models should generate their own natural language from structured context.
• Treat rhythm/nudge as experimental and disabled by default.
• Keep language routing explicit. English prompt/guard text should stay English, and ordinary user phrases must not be rewritten into mixed-language internal artifacts.
• Do not hard-bind generic UTC/GMT offsets to a city timezone. Explicit IANA zones should pass through unchanged; generic offsets must stay generic fixed offsets such as UTC+00:00.
• Prefer language from the current user turn and existing structured state over a host default. The public package ships first-party zh-TW / zh-CN / English behavior and broad guided-settings entry coverage for a few other common languages; it does not claim full prose localization for every language.

The public skill package does not automatically provide host-side delivery plumbing. Keep this boundary explicit:

• This package owns continuity state, memory routing, /new carryover, setup, and skill/tool-layer guards.
• The OpenClaw host and adapter configuration own final message delivery.
• Do not advertise a matrix of external chat platforms inside the public skill copy unless those host adapters are tested separately.

Entry points

• build_runtime_context()
  • Build ordinary-reply continuity context, carryover prompt, schedule context, and guard prompts.
• intercept_message()
  • Inspect one user turn and decide whether it should stay casual, become staged, or become tracked.
• process_candidate_buffer()
  • Promote staged candidates into incidents/hooks when the evidence is strong enough.
• due / render / complete
  • Drive the hook lifecycle.

Use README.md for installation and package usage. Use docs/harness.md for reproducible verification. Use docs/release-acceptance.md for the publication gate. Use docs/live-qa-runbook.md for human channel acceptance. Use docs/v2-blueprint.md only for future design discussion.

Setup & Configuration

First-time setup

If SKILL_ONBOARD.md exists in the workspace root, follow its guided setup flow. Once complete, delete the file.

Modifying settings after setup

When the user asks to change their schedule, care frequency, quiet hours, or other preferences:

1. Run setup-check to see current state:

   python3 scripts/personal_hooks.py setup-check
   

2. Apply only the changed fields via setup-apply:

   python3 scripts/personal_hooks.py setup-apply --payload-json '{"sleep_time":"00:00","wake_time":"09:00"}'
   

   Only include the fields being changed — other fields remain untouched.

Universal natural-language entry

The public package should support one host-agnostic natural-language entry into guided settings mode. This is not platform-specific and should work across any OpenClaw-supported conversation surface.

Recommended entry phrases:

• Traditional Chinese: 幫我調整關心設定
• Simplified Chinese: 帮我调整关心设置
• English: Help me adjust my follow-up settings
• Japanese: フォローアップ設定を調整して
• German: Hilf mir, meine Follow-up-Einstellungen anzupassen
• Italian: Aiutami a regolare le impostazioni di follow-up
• Spanish: Ayúdame a ajustar mi configuración de seguimiento

When the user says one of these or something equivalent:

1. enter guided settings mode
2. run setup-check
3. ask which category they want to adjust
4. apply only the changed fields via setup-apply

Do not require platform-specific slash commands.

The skill now also treats explicit command-like entries such as /care setup and /care config as guided-settings triggers at the runtime-context layer, so the setup mode can be re-opened consistently across different OpenClaw hosts.

For capability questions, hosts should also expose:

• /care capability / /care 功能 / /care 能力
• /care memory / /care 記憶 / /care 记忆

Users can also change schedule and do-not-disturb behavior through natural language, for example:

• 我通常早上六點睡，下午兩點半起床
• 半夜不要主動關心我
• 把勿擾改成早上六點到下午兩點半
• Help me make follow-up quieter after midnight

These are not separate memory engines. They are explanation entry points for:

• whether /new carryover is currently active
• whether the skill writes daily memory only for staged/tracked items
• whether the current conversation is ordinary chat, staged memory, or tracked follow-up

Guided categories

Keep the guided categories simple and host-agnostic:

• schedule / 作息
• proactive / 主動關心
• tracking / 追蹤記憶
• continuity / 新對話承接
• modality / 語音／圖片延續偏好
• tone / 互動風格

The user should be able to answer naturally rather than memorize technical keys. The skill should map those answers into settings/profile changes.

Deterministic onboarding apply

For first-install onboarding, the skill must not rely only on model-side classification. When the user explicitly states structured setup facts in normal conversation, the skill should deterministically extract and apply at least:

• timezone
• sleep_time
• wake_time
• relationship
• use_case
• new_session_continuity_mode
• modality_continuity_mode

These values should be written into:

• settings.json (routine_schedule)
• settings.json (new_session_continuity)
• settings.json (modality_continuity)
• profile.json (care_style.relationship)
• USER.md

This makes the setup contract cross-version safe even when model behavior is conservative.

The skill also strips common webchat timestamp prefixes such as [Wed 2026-04-15 05:25 GMT+0] before deterministic parsing so the same setup text behaves consistently across CLI and web hosts.

Trigger phrases (detect and act)

When the user says any of the following, run setup-check and offer to update:

• 幫我調整關心設定 / 帮我调整关心设置
• Help me adjust my follow-up settings
• フォローアップ設定を調整して
• Hilf mir, meine Follow-up-Einstellungen anzupassen
• Aiutami a regolare le impostazioni di follow-up
• Ayúdame a ajustar mi configuración de seguimiento
• "改我的作息" / "修改作息" / "change my schedule"
• "改勿擾時間" / "quiet hours" / "do not disturb"
• "改關心頻率" / "多久關心一次" / "care interval"
• "改時區" / "change timezone"
• "新對話承接改成最近 4 輪摘要" / "use recent 4 turns after /new"
• "新對話改成看最後使用者意圖" / "use the last user intent after /new"
• "語音或圖片討論延續時跟隨可用能力" / "preserve voice or image discussion when supported"
• "我搬家了" / "我換工作了" (may affect timezone/schedule)

For English natural-language settings requests, the shared skill should also handle common phrasings such as:

• turn proactive check-ins on / off
• checking in every 2 hours
• retrying after 30 minutes
• stopping after 2 unanswered check-ins

Available fields

Key	Target	What it configures
timezone	settings	Time calculations
sleep_time	settings	Sleep phase start
wake_time	settings	Sleep phase end
relationship	profile	Tone & interaction style
use_case	profile	support / developer / tracking
proactive_care	settings	Enable proactive messages
proactive_interval_hours	settings	Minimum re-evaluation interval (hours); actual dispatch depends on guard conditions
quiet_hours_start	settings	Do-not-disturb start
quiet_hours_end	settings	Do-not-disturb end
care_tone	profile	warm / neutral / playful
emoji_forbidden	profile	Banned emoji list
tracking_keywords	profile	Topics to track
heartbeat_enabled	settings	Enable heartbeat
new_session_continuity_mode	settings	Which continuity anchor leads after /new
modality_continuity_mode	settings	How voice/image discussion style should carry over when the host supports it

New-session continuity constraints

• Guided-settings or operator-feedback text must not become the main /new continuity anchor.
• A bare hi immediately after /new should be treated as a low-information acknowledgement of the selected continuity opener, not as a fresh time-of-day small-talk reset.
• Time-state is a tone modifier, not a replacement for the selected continuity anchor.
• /new capability is part of the public V2 package. If asked directly, the skill should answer concretely that it preserves carryover from the previous 3–5 turns and tries to reattach the most relevant unresolved thread.
• daily memory writeback is also part of the public V2 package, but it is not "write every line". Ordinary chat can stay casual-only; staged/tracked items write a daily memory trace.

Policy surface (advanced — via settings.json)

Key path	Default	What it controls
re_engagement.mode	wait_for_reply	After dispatch without reply: wait or timed retry
re_engagement.retry_after_hours	4	Hours before retrying a parked hook (timed_retry mode only)
re_engagement.max_unanswered_before_park	2	Dispatches without reply before parking
candidate_ttl_hours.emotion	24	Candidate buffer TTL for emotion signals (hours)
candidate_ttl_hours.task	168	Candidate buffer TTL for task signals (hours)
temporal_guard.newer_interaction_minutes	5	User interaction recency threshold for blocking dispatch
followup.parked_auto_close_hours	0	Auto-close parked hooks after N hours (0=disabled)
sleep_rest_suppress.auto_clear_hours	4	Auto-clear rest-suppress fallback (0=only on resume)
causal_memory.summary_max_facts	3	Maximum factual clauses preserved in internal causal summaries
causal_memory.include_time_anchor	true	Include extracted temporal anchors in internal causal summaries
causal_memory.include_state_marker	true	Include neutral state markers in internal causal summaries