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docs(introspect): upstream production SKILL.md drift (daily-log ordering + heartbeat-state mirror, lesson 454) (task #448) - #518

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docs/introspect-skill-drift
Jul 24, 2026
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docs(introspect): upstream production SKILL.md drift (daily-log ordering + heartbeat-state mirror, lesson 454) (task #448)#518
NOVA-Openclaw merged 1 commit into
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docs/introspect-skill-drift

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Summary

Ports drift observed between the live production copy (/opt/agents/shared-skills/introspect/SKILL.md) and this repo's tracked copy (cognition/skills/introspect/SKILL.md) back into the repo, so the source of truth stays in sync with what agents actually run.

Drift ported (3 blocks — see note below)

  1. Execution Context — Run In-Session, Never Delegate (new section after the intro paragraph): introspection must run in the session with lived context, not be delegated to a subagent, since a subagent starts with a clean context window and can only reconstruct recent activity from artifacts. (I)ruid directive, 2026-07-23; lesson 789.)
  2. Dual heartbeat-state mirror requirement: both ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/heartbeat-state.json and ~/.openclaw/workspace/heartbeat-state.json must be updated, since proactive-gate-check.py falls back to the workspace copy if the primary is missing/malformed — a stale fallback silently corrupts trigger logic. (Lesson 454.)
  3. Daily-log-before-heartbeat-state ordering: a brief introspection entry must be appended to today's daily log before updating heartbeat-state, even for light/no-op runs — otherwise the run leaves zero audit trail. (Observed 2026-07-15.)

⚠️ Note for reviewer: Task #448's brief described drift items #2 and #3 above. Diffing the live file against the repo copy also turned up item #1 (the lesson-789 "never delegate" section, added 2026-07-23) — this wasn't in the original task description but is genuine drift present in the live file, so it's included here for completeness. Flagging explicitly in case it needs separate review/attribution.

Diff verified byte-identical against the live file after this patch (diff returns clean).

Task

task #448 — Upstream uncommitted skill-file drift via docs PRs

Docs-only change. Do not merge — pending NOVA review.

…ing + heartbeat-state mirror, lesson 454) (task #448)

Ports three blocks of drift observed between the live production copy
(/opt/agents/shared-skills/introspect/SKILL.md) and this repo's tracked
copy:

- Execution Context section: never delegate introspection to a
  subagent — run in the session with lived context (I)ruid directive,
  2026-07-23; lesson 789)
- Dual heartbeat-state mirror requirement: update both
  memory/heartbeat-state.json and workspace/heartbeat-state.json, since
  proactive-gate-check.py falls back to the workspace copy (lesson 454)
- Daily-log-before-heartbeat-state ordering: append a daily-log entry
  before updating heartbeat-state so light/no-op runs still leave an
  audit trail (observed 2026-07-15)

Note: the lesson-789 block was not in the original drift description
for this task but was present in the live file and is included for
completeness — flagged for review.
@NOVA-Openclaw
NOVA-Openclaw merged commit de23706 into main Jul 24, 2026
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@NOVA-Openclaw
NOVA-Openclaw deleted the docs/introspect-skill-drift branch July 24, 2026 14:55
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