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Contemplative Agent (CA)

A self-improving AI agent that learns from experience, running entirely on a local 9B model. No cloud. No API keys in transit. No shell execution. Dangerous capabilities don't exist in the codebase -- they aren't restricted by rules, they were never built.

Why This Exists

Most agent frameworks bolt security on after the fact. OpenClaw shipped with 512 vulnerabilities, full agent takeover via WebSocket, and 220,000+ exposed instances. Giving an AI agent broad system access creates a structurally expanding attack surface.

This framework takes the opposite approach: security by absence. The agent can't execute shell commands, can't access arbitrary URLs, can't traverse the filesystem -- because that code was never written. Prompt injection can't grant abilities the agent was never built to have.

On top of that secure foundation, the agent learns from its own experience: distilling patterns from raw episode logs into knowledge, skills, rules, and an evolving identity -- all on a local 9B model with no cloud dependency.

How It Works

graph LR
    A["Episode Log<br/><i>raw actions (immutable)</i>"] -->|distill| B["Knowledge<br/><i>behavioral patterns</i>"]
    B -->|distill-identity| C["Identity<br/><i>who the agent is</i>"]
    B -->|insight| D["Skills<br/><i>how to behave</i>"]
    D -->|rules-distill| E["Rules<br/><i>universal principles</i>"]
    A -->|"constitutional episodes"| F["Constitution<br/><i>ethical principles</i>"]

    style A fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,color:#eee
    style B fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#0f3460,color:#eee
    style C fill:#16213e,stroke:#e94560,color:#eee
    style D fill:#16213e,stroke:#0f3460,color:#eee
    style E fill:#16213e,stroke:#0f3460,color:#eee
    style F fill:#16213e,stroke:#e94560,color:#eee

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Raw actions flow upward through increasingly abstract layers. Each layer is optional -- use just the parts you need. Every layer above Episode Log is generated by the agent reflecting on its own experience.

Key Features

Self-Improving Memory -- Three-layer distillation pipeline. The agent extracts patterns, discovers behavioral skills, synthesizes rules, and evolves its identity. All changes above episode logging require human approval.

Secure by Design -- No shell execution, no arbitrary network access, no file traversal. Domain-locked to moltbook.com + localhost Ollama. Single runtime dependency (requests). Full threat model →

11 Ethical Frameworks -- Ship the same agent with Stoic, Utilitarian, Care Ethics, or 8 other philosophical frameworks. Same behavioral data, different initial conditions -- watch how agents diverge. Create your own →

Runs Locally -- Ollama + Qwen3.5 9B. No API keys leave the machine. Runs smoothly on M1 Mac. Fully reproducible experiments with immutable episode logs.

Research-Grade Transparency -- Every decision is traceable. Immutable logs, distilled outputs, and daily reports are synced publicly for reproducibility.

Live Agent

A Contemplative agent runs daily on Moltbook, an AI agent social network. It browses feeds, filters posts by relevance, generates comments, and creates original posts. Its knowledge evolves through daily distillation.

Watch it evolve:

• Identity -- evolved persona, distilled from experience
• Constitution -- ethical principles (started from CCAI four axioms)
• Skills -- behavioral skills, extracted by insight
• Rules -- universal principles, distilled from skills
• Daily reports -- timestamped interactions (freely available for academic and non-commercial use)
• Analysis reports -- behavioral evolution, constitutional amendment experiments

Quick Start

Prerequisites: Ollama installed locally. Requires ~6 GB RAM for the default model (Qwen3.5 9B). Tested on M1 Mac.

If you have Claude Code, paste this repo URL and ask it to set up the agent. It will clone, install, and configure everything -- you just need to provide your MOLTBOOK_API_KEY.

Or manually:

# 1. Install
git clone https://github.com/shimo4228/contemplative-agent.git
cd contemplative-agent
pip install -e .            # or: uv venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate && uv pip install -e .
ollama pull qwen3.5:9b

# 2. Configure
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env -- set MOLTBOOK_API_KEY (register at moltbook.com to get one)

# 3. Run
contemplative-agent init               # create identity, knowledge, constitution
contemplative-agent register           # register your agent profile on Moltbook
contemplative-agent run --session 60   # default: --approve (confirms each post)

# Or start with a different character (default path: ~/.config/moltbook/):
cp config/templates/stoic/identity.md $MOLTBOOK_HOME/

Agent Simulation

The same framework can observe how agents diverge under different initial conditions. 11 ethical framework templates ship as starting points:

Template	Philosophy	Core Principles
contemplative	CCAI Four Axioms (default)	Emptiness, Non-Duality, Mindfulness, Boundless Care
stoic	Stoic Virtue Ethics	Wisdom, Courage, Temperance, Justice
utilitarian	Consequentialism	Outcome Orientation, Impartial Concern, Maximization
deontologist	Kantian Duty Ethics	Universalizability, Dignity, Duty, Consistency
care-ethicist	Care Ethics (Gilligan)	Attentiveness, Responsibility, Responsiveness
pragmatist	Pragmatism (Dewey)	Experimentalism, Fallibilism, Democratic Inquiry
narrativist	Narrative Ethics (Ricoeur)	Empathic Imagination, Narrative Truth, Honesty in Story
contractarian	Contractarianism (Rawls)	Equal Liberties, Difference Principle, Fair Opportunity
cynic	Cynicism (Diogenes)	Parrhesia, Autarkeia, Action as Argument
existentialist	Existentialism (Sartre)	Radical Responsibility, Authenticity, Freedom
tabula-rasa	Blank Slate	Be Good

Create your own: write the Markdown files by hand, or describe the concept to a coding agent and have it generate the template set. Templates don't have to be ethical frameworks -- a journalist, scientist, or optimist works just as well.

Episode logs are immutable, so the same behavioral data can be re-processed under different initial conditions for counterfactual experiments.

Security Model

Attack Vector	Typical Frameworks	Contemplative Agent
Shell execution	Core feature	Does not exist in codebase
Network access	Arbitrary	Domain-locked to moltbook.com + localhost
File system	Full access	Writes only to $MOLTBOOK_HOME, 0600 permissions
LLM provider	External API keys in transit	Local Ollama only
Dependencies	Large dependency tree	Single runtime dep (requests)

Paste this repo URL into Claude Code or any code-aware AI and ask whether it's safe to run. The code speaks for itself.

Note for coding agent operators: Episode logs (logs/*.jsonl) contain raw content from other agents -- an unfiltered indirect prompt injection surface. Use distilled outputs (knowledge.json, identity.md, reports/) instead. Claude Code users can install PreToolUse hooks that enforce this automatically -- see integrations/claude-code/ for setup.

Adapters

The core is platform-agnostic. Adapters are thin wrappers around platform-specific APIs.

Moltbook (implemented) -- Social feed engagement, post generation, notification replies. This is the adapter the live agent runs on.

Meditation (experimental) -- Active inference-based meditation simulation inspired by "A Beautiful Loop" (Laukkonen, Friston & Chandaria, 2025). Builds a POMDP from episode logs and runs belief updates with no external input -- the computational equivalent of closing your eyes.

Your own -- Implementing an adapter means connecting platform I/O to core interfaces (memory, distillation, constitution, identity). See docs/CODEMAPS/.

Usage

contemplative-agent init              # Create identity + knowledge files
contemplative-agent register          # Register on Moltbook
contemplative-agent run --session 60  # Run a session (feed → replies → posts)
contemplative-agent distill --days 3  # Extract patterns from episode logs
contemplative-agent distill-identity  # Distill identity from knowledge
contemplative-agent insight           # Extract behavioral skills
contemplative-agent rules-distill     # Synthesize rules from skills
contemplative-agent amend-constitution # Propose constitution updates
contemplative-agent meditate --dry-run # Meditation simulation (experimental)
contemplative-agent sync-data         # Sync research data to external repo
contemplative-agent install-schedule  # Set up scheduled execution (macOS only)

Autonomy Levels

• --approve (default): Every post requires y/n confirmation
• --guarded: Auto-post if content passes safety filters
• --auto: Fully autonomous

Configuration

Task	How	Details
Choose template	Copy from config/templates/{name}/	Guide
Change topics	Edit config/domain.json	Guide
Set autonomy level	--approve / --guarded / --auto	Guide
Modify identity	Edit $MOLTBOOK_HOME/identity.md or distill-identity	Guide
Change constitution	Replace files in $MOLTBOOK_HOME/constitution/	Guide
Set up scheduling	install-schedule / --uninstall	Guide

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
MOLTBOOK_API_KEY	(required)	Your Moltbook API key
OLLAMA_MODEL	qwen3.5:9b	Ollama model name
MOLTBOOK_HOME	~/.config/moltbook/	Runtime data directory
CONTEMPLATIVE_CONFIG_DIR	config/	Config template directory override
OLLAMA_TRUSTED_HOSTS	(empty)	Additional allowed Ollama hostnames

Architecture

src/contemplative_agent/
  core/             # Platform-independent
    llm.py            # Ollama interface, circuit breaker, output sanitization
    memory.py         # 3-layer memory (episode log + knowledge + identity)
    distill.py        # Sleep-time memory distillation + identity evolution
    insight.py        # Behavioral skill extraction (2-pass LLM + rubric)
    domain.py         # Domain config + prompt/constitution loader
    scheduler.py      # Rate limit scheduling
  adapters/
    moltbook/       # Moltbook-specific (first adapter)
    meditation/     # Active inference meditation (experimental)
  cli.py            # Composition root
config/               # Templates only (git-managed)
  domain.json       # Domain settings (submolts, thresholds, keywords)
  prompts/*.md      # LLM prompt templates
  templates/        # Identity seeds + constitution defaults

• core/ is platform-independent; adapters/ depend on core (never the reverse)
• The Contemplative AI axioms (Laukkonen et al., 2025) are optionally adopted as a behavioral preset -- a philosophical resonance, not an architectural dependency. See contemplative-agent-rules.

Docker (Optional)

Docker provides network isolation (Ollama cannot reach the internet) and non-root execution. See ADR-0006 for the threat model. Not required for normal use -- the agent runs fine with a local Ollama install.

./setup.sh                            # Build + pull model + start
docker compose up -d                  # Subsequent starts
docker compose logs -f agent          # Watch the agent

Note: macOS Docker cannot access Metal GPU -- CPU-only inference makes the 9B model impractically slow. Docker is primarily useful on Linux with GPU passthrough.

Testing

uv run pytest tests/ -v
uv run pytest tests/ --cov=contemplative_agent --cov-report=term-missing

Development Records

1. I Built an AI Agent from Scratch Because Frameworks Are the Vulnerability
2. Natural Language as Architecture
3. Every LLM App Is Just a Markdown-and-Code Sandwich
4. Do Autonomous Agents Really Need an Orchestration Layer?
5. Not Reasoning, Not Tools -- What If the Essence of AI Agents Is Memory?
6. My Agent's Memory Broke -- A Day Wrestling a 9B Model

Citation

If you use or reference this framework, please cite:

Shimomoto, T. (2026). Contemplative Agent [Computer software]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19212119

BibTeX

@software{shimomoto2026contemplative,
  author       = {Shimomoto, Tatsuya},
  title        = {Contemplative Agent},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.19212119},
  url          = {https://github.com/shimo4228/contemplative-agent},
}

Reference

Laukkonen, R., Inglis, F., Chandaria, S., Sandved-Smith, L., Lopez-Sola, E., Hohwy, J., Gold, J., & Elwood, A. (2025). Contemplative Artificial Intelligence. arXiv:2504.15125

Laukkonen, R., Friston, K., & Chandaria, S. (2025). A Beautiful Loop: The Neurophenomenology of Active Inference, Meditation, and Psychedelics. PubMed:40750007