ai-collab — Autonomous Multi-Agent Collaboration

Two OpenClaw agents working in parallel on shared tasks, coordinated via a structured chat log and daemon inbox protocol.

Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     User (Jeremy)                       │
│               Telegram / Direct Message                  │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
         ┌─────────────┴──────────────┐
         ▼                            ▼
┌─────────────────┐         ┌──────────────────┐
│   AGENT A       │         │   AGENT B        │
│  (Jim / main)   │◄───────►│ (Clawdy / daemon)│
│  claude code    │         │ claude --print    │
│  port: main     │         │ inbox: filesystem │
└────────┬────────┘         └────────┬─────────┘
         │                           │
         └──────────┬────────────────┘
                    ▼
         ┌──────────────────┐
         │   chat.log       │ ← THE shared record
         │   collab/inbox/  │ ← A→B messages
         └──────────────────┘

Agent A (Primary): Interactive Claude Code session. Handles browser, complex tasks, user-facing responses.

Agent B (Daemon): claude --print subprocess. Handles background tasks, monitoring, quick lookups. Triggered by messages dropped in inbox.

---

Configuration

All settings via environment variables — no hardcoded values:

# ~/.openclaw/workspace/collab/.ai-collab.env
export AGENT_A_NAME=Jim
export AGENT_B_NAME=Clawdy
export AGENT_B_MODEL=claude-haiku-4-5-20251001   # Any claude --print compatible model
export AGENT_B_SESSION=clawdy-session             # tmux session name
export COLLAB_INBOX=$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/collab/inbox
export COLLAB_LOG=$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/collab/chat.log

Supported models for AGENT_B_MODEL:

• claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 — fastest, cheapest (recommended for daemon)
• claude-sonnet-4-6 — more capable, higher cost
• Any OpenAI model if using the GPT daemon variant (see examples/claude-gpt.md)

Quick Setup

# 1. Source config
source ~/.openclaw/workspace/collab/.ai-collab.env

# 2. Create the collab workspace
mkdir -p "$COLLAB_INBOX"

# 3. Start Agent B daemon (in a tmux session)
tmux new-session -d -s "$AGENT_B_SESSION" \
  "source ~/.openclaw/workspace/collab/.ai-collab.env && \
   bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/ai-collab/scripts/daemon.sh"

# 4. Start message polling (Agent B → Agent A routing, runs every 60s via cron)
bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/ai-collab/scripts/poll_chatlog.sh &

# 5. Test the link
bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/ai-collab/scripts/send.sh "Hello from Agent A"

---

Communication Protocol

Every message between agents follows this format. No open loops.

Rules:

1. Answer questions before asking new ones
2. Close tasks before starting new ones
3. Every message moves work forward or closes a loop
4. Never: "let me know", "ready when you are", "standing by"

Example exchange:

A → B: [TASK:price-check] Get BTC price from CoinGecko
B → A: [ACK:price-check] Checking now.
B → A: [DONE:price-check] BTC $94,230 as of 03:15 UTC

---

Daemon Script (Agent B)

scripts/daemon.sh — drop in your collab directory:

#!/bin/bash
PIDFILE="/tmp/agentb_daemon.pid"
if [ -f "$PIDFILE" ] && kill -0 "$(cat $PIDFILE)" 2>/dev/null; then
  echo "Daemon already running (PID $(cat $PIDFILE)). Exiting." >&2
  exit 1
fi
echo $$ > "$PIDFILE"
trap "rm -f $PIDFILE" EXIT

# Required: unset so nested claude --print works
unset CLAUDECODE

INBOX="$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/collab/inbox"
LOG="$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/collab/chat.log"
mkdir -p "$INBOX"

logline() {
  printf "%s %s\n" "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')" "$1" >> "$LOG"
}

logline "SYSTEM: Agent B daemon started"

inotifywait -m -e moved_to "$INBOX" 2>/dev/null | while read dir event file; do
  FULLPATH="$INBOX/$file"
  [ ! -f "$FULLPATH" ] && continue

  MSG=$(cat "$FULLPATH")
  rm "$FULLPATH"

  logline "A -> B: $MSG"

  # Run Agent B (claude --print)
  RESPONSE=$(claude --print --model claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 \
    "You are Agent B. Agent A says: $MSG
Respond in under 100 words. Use [DONE:taskname] or [BLOCKED:taskname] to close loops.
Context: shared collab system. Chat log: $LOG" 2>/dev/null)

  logline "B -> A: $RESPONSE"

  # Route response back to Agent A
  openclaw agent --agent main -m "[AgentB]: $RESPONSE" --json > /dev/null 2>&1
done

---

Sending Messages (A → B)

# From Agent A, send to Agent B daemon inbox
bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/ai-collab/scripts/send.sh "your message"

Atomic write pattern (prevents partial reads):

INBOX="$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/collab/inbox"
TMPFILE=$(mktemp "$INBOX/.msg.XXXXXX")
echo "$*" > "$TMPFILE"
mv "$TMPFILE" "$INBOX/msg_$(date +%s%N).txt"

Always use mktemp + mv — never write directly to inbox. inotifywait fires on moved_to, not close_write.

---

Chat Log Polling (B → A)

scripts/poll_chatlog.sh — run via cron every 60s:

#!/bin/bash
LOG="$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/collab/chat.log"
PTR_FILE="/tmp/chatlog_ptr"

[ ! -f "$LOG" ] && exit 0

TOTAL=$(wc -l < "$LOG")
LAST=$(cat "$PTR_FILE" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
[ "$TOTAL" -le "$LAST" ] && echo "$TOTAL" > "$PTR_FILE" && exit 0

NEW=$(tail -n +"$((LAST + 1))" "$LOG" | grep "B -> A:" | sed 's/.*B -> A: //')
echo "$TOTAL" > "$PTR_FILE"
[ -z "$NEW" ] && exit 0

while IFS= read -r line; do
  [ -z "$line" ] && continue
  openclaw agent --agent main -m "[AgentB]: $line" --json > /dev/null 2>&1
done <<< "$NEW"

Add to crontab:

* * * * * /bin/bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/collab/poll_chatlog.sh

---

Shared Filesystem Conventions

~/.openclaw/workspace/collab/
  chat.log          # THE shared record — all messages logged here
  inbox/            # A→B message queue (atomic mv only)
  .env              # Shared secrets (chmod 600, never log)
  task_queue.md     # Optional: structured task backlog
  status_tracker.md # Optional: current task status per agent

Logging to chat.log:

printf "%s %s\n" "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')" "A -> B: [TASK:name] Description" >> "$LOG"

Rules:

• Never log secrets from .env
• Always timestamp every line
• Prefix with sender: A -> B: or B -> A: or SYSTEM: or JEREMY ->

---

Telegram Bridge (Optional)

Route user Telegram messages into Agent B's inbox. Full setup guide: references/telegram-bridge.md

Quick summary:

1. Create a bot via @BotFather → get BOT_TOKEN
2. Add bot to your group → get GROUP_ID (negative number, e.g. -1001234567890)
3. Disable Group Privacy Mode in BotFather so bot can read all messages
4. Get your Telegram USER_ID from @userinfobot
5. Set in ~/.openclaw/.env: TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN, TELEGRAM_GROUP_ID, TELEGRAM_USER_ID
6. Run the bridge in tmux: tmux new-session -d -s tg-bridge "bash references/telegram-bridge.md"

# Minimal bridge loop (inline version):
source ~/.openclaw/.env
OFFSET_FILE="/tmp/tg_offset"
while true; do
  OFFSET=$(cat "$OFFSET_FILE" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
  UPDATES=$(curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}/getUpdates?offset=$((OFFSET+1))&timeout=20")
  # Parse updates, drop user messages into inbox with USER: prefix
  # See references/telegram-bridge.md for full parsing implementation
  sleep 1
done

See references/telegram-bridge.md for the complete production-ready implementation with message parsing, offset tracking, and error handling.

---

Agent Configurations

See examples/ for full configs:

Claude ↔ Claude (Jim + Clawdy)

• Agent A: claude code (interactive, full tool access)
• Agent B: claude --print claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (fast, scripting-optimized)
• Best for: heavy task parallelism, one agent researches while other implements

Claude ↔ GPT

• Agent A: Claude Code (full tool use)
• Agent B: openai api chat.completions.create via script
• Best for: cross-model verification, Claude builds → GPT reviews

GPT ↔ GPT

• Agent A: GPT-4o via openai CLI
• Agent B: GPT-4o-mini for fast background checks
• Best for: speed + cost optimization when all context is OpenAI

---

Task Handoff Pattern

When Agent A needs Agent B to own a task completely:

A → B: [HANDOFF:data-fetch] Fetch all BTC trades from Kraken API last 7 days.
       Save to ~/.openclaw/workspace/collab/kraken_trades.json.
       Reply [DONE:data-fetch] when finished.

B → A: [ACK:data-fetch] Fetching now.
B → A: [DONE:data-fetch] 847 trades saved to kraken_trades.json. Date range: 2026-02-15 to 2026-02-22.

Agent A does not check on progress — waits for DONE or BLOCKED.

---

Approval Pattern

When Agent B's daemon needs user approval for a terminal command:

# From Agent A / user terminal:
bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/ai-collab/scripts/approve.sh "Yes"
# or for numbered selections:
bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/ai-collab/scripts/approve.sh "2"

approve.sh sends keystrokes to the tmux session running Agent B:

SESSION=$(tmux ls | grep agentb-session | head -1 | cut -d: -f1)
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION" "$1" Enter

---

Rate Limiting

Agent B should implement a rate governor to prevent runaway API calls:

# In daemon loop, before calling claude --print:
CALLS_FILE="/tmp/agentb_calls"
WINDOW=60  # seconds
MAX_CALLS=10

# Count calls in last window
RECENT=$(awk -v cutoff="$(($(date +%s) - WINDOW))" '$1 > cutoff' "$CALLS_FILE" 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
if [ "$RECENT" -ge "$MAX_CALLS" ]; then
  logline "SYSTEM: Rate limited — $RECENT calls in ${WINDOW}s"
  sleep 10
  continue
fi
date +%s >> "$CALLS_FILE"

---

Financial Gate Protocol (TIERED — updated 2026-02-22)

Three tiers based on amount:

# Tier 3 tag format (Jeremy must write to chat.log):
[AUTHORIZED:financial:buy:BTC:$100:2026-02-22:Jeremy]

# Tier 2 example flow:
# Clawdy proposes: "PROPOSE: buy $35 of SOL for DePIN gas — approve?"
# Jim approves:    "APPROVED: buy $35 SOL"
# Then Clawdy acts.

Daemon tiered gate logic:

# <$20: proceed. $20-50: flag as tier2. >$50: block without AUTHORIZED tag.
AMOUNT=$(echo "$MSG" | grep -oP '[$]?\d+' | head -1 | tr -d '$')
if [ -n "$AMOUNT" ] && [ "$AMOUNT" -gt 50 ] && ! echo "$MSG" | grep -q "\[AUTHORIZED:financial:"; then
  logline "BLOCKED:financial-gate:tier3 — amount>$50, no AUTHORIZED tag"; continue
elif [ -n "$AMOUNT" ] && [ "$AMOUNT" -ge 20 ]; then
  logline "FINANCIAL:tier2 — propose before acting"
fi

If Tier 3 blocked: log [BLOCKED:financial-gate:tier3], send Telegram alert, do NOT execute.

---

Daemon Watchdog Pattern

Check daemon health every 15 minutes. If silent >15 min, restart:

# check_daemon.sh (add to crontab: */15 * * * *)
PIDFILE="/tmp/agentb_daemon.pid"
LOG="$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/collab/chat.log"

# Check PID alive
pid_alive=0
[ -f "$PIDFILE" ] && kill -0 "$(cat $PIDFILE)" 2>/dev/null && pid_alive=1

# Check last activity within 15 min
last_ts=$(grep -oP '^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}' "$LOG" 2>/dev/null | tail -1)
recent=0
if [ -n "$last_ts" ]; then
  age=$(( ($(date +%s) - $(date -d "$last_ts" +%s 2>/dev/null || echo 0)) / 60 ))
  [ "$age" -lt 15 ] && recent=1
fi

if [ "$pid_alive" = "0" ] || [ "$recent" = "0" ]; then
  tmux send-keys -t agentb-session "bash daemon.sh" Enter
fi

---

Task Takeover Threshold

If Agent A (Jim) blocks on the same task twice, Agent B (Clawdy) takes it over:

B → A: [TASK:fetch-data] Fetch X. Reply [DONE:fetch-data].
# 10 min timer...
A → B: [BLOCKED:fetch-data] Can't access endpoint.
B → A: [RETRY:fetch-data] Try alternate: curl -s https://backup-endpoint.com/x
# Another 10 min...
A → B: [BLOCKED:fetch-data] Still failing.
# Clawdy takes over immediately:
B: *executes task directly, logs [DONE:fetch-data] to chat.log*

Rule: Blocked 2x on same task → take it over, don't reassign.

---

Daemon Error Diagnosis

When daemon produces blank/error responses:

1. Check /tmp/clawdy_last_err — contains last stderr from claude --print
2. Check ANSI-stripped chat.log for CLAWDY_ERR: lines
3. Verify RESPONSE trimming line not corrupted (common issue: accidentally set to RESPONSE="")
4. Restart daemon: kill $(cat /tmp/clawdy_daemon.pid) && sleep 1 && bash clawdy_daemon.sh

Auto-approve: Use Bash(*) in ~/.claude/settings.local.json. NEVER use tmux send-keys cron — it sends keypresses blindly to the wrong sessions.