## Summary
Introduces a configurable workflow state machine that replaces all hardcoded
state labels. The default workflow matches current behavior exactly, ensuring
backward compatibility.
## Architecture
### lib/workflow.ts — Core workflow engine
XState-style statechart configuration:
```typescript
type StateConfig = {
type: 'queue' | 'active' | 'hold' | 'terminal';
role?: 'dev' | 'qa';
label: string;
color: string;
priority?: number;
on?: Record<string, TransitionTarget>;
};
```
All behavior is derived from the config:
- Queue states: `type: 'queue'`, grouped by role, ordered by priority
- Active states: `type: 'active'` — worker occupied
- Transitions: defined with optional actions (gitPull, detectPr, closeIssue, reopenIssue)
- Labels and colors: derived from state.label and state.color
### Derivation functions
- `getStateLabels()` — all labels for issue tracker sync
- `getLabelColors()` — label → color mapping
- `getQueueLabels(role)` — queue labels for a role, ordered by priority
- `getActiveLabel(role)` — the active/in-progress label for a role
- `getRevertLabel(role)` — queue label to revert to on failure
- `detectRoleFromLabel()` — detect role from a queue label
- `getCompletionRule(role, result)` — derive transition rule from config
## Files Changed
- **lib/workflow.ts** — NEW: workflow engine and default config
- **lib/providers/provider.ts** — deprecate STATE_LABELS, LABEL_COLORS; derive from workflow
- **lib/providers/github.ts** — use workflow config for label operations
- **lib/providers/gitlab.ts** — use workflow config for label operations
- **lib/services/pipeline.ts** — use getCompletionRule() from workflow
- **lib/services/tick.ts** — use workflow for queue/active labels
- **lib/services/health.ts** — use workflow for active/revert labels
- **lib/tools/work-start.ts** — use workflow for target label
## Backward Compatibility
- DEFAULT_WORKFLOW matches current hardcoded behavior exactly
- Deprecated exports kept for any external consumers
- No breaking changes to tool interfaces or project state
## Future Work
- Load per-project workflow overrides from projects.json
- User-facing config in projects/workflow.json
- Tool schema generation from workflow states
## Problem
`dispatchTask()` shells out to `openclaw gateway call sessions.patch` which
times out when the gateway is busy, causing:
1. Notifications never fire (they're at the end of dispatchTask)
2. Worker state may not be recorded
3. Workers run silently
## Solution (3 changes)
### 1. Make `ensureSession` fire-and-forget
Session key is deterministic, so we don't need to wait for confirmation.
Health check catches orphaned state later.
### 2. Use runtime API for notifications instead of CLI
Pass `runtime` through opts and use direct API calls:
- `runtime.channel.telegram.sendMessageTelegram()`
- `runtime.channel.whatsapp.sendMessageWhatsApp()`
- etc.
### 3. Move notification before session dispatch
Fire workerStart/workerComplete notifications early (after label transition)
before the session calls that can timeout.
## Files Changed
- lib/dispatch.ts — fire-and-forget ensureSession, early notification, accept runtime
- lib/notify.ts — use runtime API for direct channel sends
- lib/services/pipeline.ts — early notification, accept runtime
- lib/services/tick.ts — pass runtime through to dispatchTask
- lib/tool-helpers.ts — accept runtime in tickAndNotify
- lib/tools/work-start.ts — pass api.runtime to dispatchTask
- lib/tools/work-finish.ts — pass api.runtime to executeCompletion/tickAndNotify
## Changes
- Remove `activeSessions` parameter from health check (was never populated)
- Add gateway session lookup via `openclaw gateway call status`
- Add issue label lookup via `provider.getIssue(issueId)`
- Implement detection matrix with 6 issue types:
- session_dead: active worker but session missing in gateway
- label_mismatch: active worker but issue not in Doing/Testing
- stale_worker: active for >2h
- stuck_label: inactive but issue has Doing/Testing label
- orphan_issue_id: inactive but issueId set
- issue_gone: active but issue deleted/closed
## Files
- lib/services/health.ts — complete rewrite with three-source triangulation
- lib/tools/health.ts — remove activeSessions param, fetch sessions from gateway
- lib/services/heartbeat.ts — remove empty activeSessions calls, pass sessions map
- Updated WorkerState type to use 'level' instead of 'tier'.
- Modified functions related to worker state management, including parseWorkerState, emptyWorkerState, getSessionForLevel, activateWorker, and deactivateWorker to reflect the new terminology.
- Adjusted health check logic to utilize 'level' instead of 'tier'.
- Refactored tick and setup tools to accommodate the change from 'tier' to 'level', including model configuration and workspace scaffolding.
- Updated tests to ensure consistency with the new 'level' terminology.
- Revised documentation and comments to reflect the changes in terminology from 'tier' to 'level'.
- Introduced a new heartbeat service that runs at defined intervals to perform health checks on workers and fill available task slots based on priority.
- Added a health tool to scan worker health across projects with optional auto-fix capabilities.
- Updated the status tool to provide a lightweight overview of worker states and queue counts without health checks.
- Enhanced task creation tool descriptions to clarify task state handling.
- Implemented tests for the work heartbeat logic, ensuring proper project resolution, worker state management, and task prioritization.
Problem:
When workers were deactivated (task completed or fixed by health checks),
the startTime field was not being cleared. This caused:
- Inactive workers to retain stale timestamps
- Misleading duration data in projects.json
- Potential confusion in health checks and status displays
Example from projects.json:
{
"qa": {
"active": false,
"issueId": null,
"startTime": "2026-02-10T08:51:50.725Z", // Stale!
"tier": "qa"
}
}
Root Cause:
The deactivateWorker() function only set active: false and issueId: null,
but did not clear startTime. Similarly, health check auto-fixes that
deactivated workers also failed to clear startTime.
Solution:
Always set startTime: null when deactivating a worker to ensure clean state.
Changes:
1. lib/projects.ts:
- deactivateWorker() now sets startTime: null
- Updated function comment to document this behavior
2. lib/services/health.ts:
- All three auto-fix paths that deactivate workers now clear startTime:
* active_no_session fix (line 77)
* zombie_session fix (line 98)
* stale_worker fix (line 138)
Impact:
- Inactive workers now have clean state (startTime: null)
- Duration calculations only apply to active workers
- Health checks work with accurate data
- No stale timestamps persisting across task completions
- Complements fix from #108 (which ensures startTime is set on activation)
Together with #108:
- #108: Always SET startTime when activating worker
- #113: Always CLEAR startTime when deactivating worker
- Result: startTime accurately reflects current task duration
Addresses issue #113
- Moved setup logic into dedicated files: agent.ts, config.ts, index.ts, workspace.ts.
- Introduced tool-helpers.ts for shared functions across tools, reducing boilerplate.
- Updated tools (status, task-comment, task-create, task-update, work-finish, work-start) to utilize new helper functions for workspace resolution and provider creation.
- Enhanced error handling and context detection in tools.
- Improved project resolution logic to streamline tool execution.
- Added new functionality for agent creation and configuration management in setup.
Remove hard-coded auto-chain dispatch (DEV done→QA, QA fail→DEV) and
replace with a general-purpose projectTick service that scans the queue
and fills free worker slots after every state transition.
- Create lib/services/tick.ts: consolidates shared helpers and core
projectTick() function from duplicated code in work-start/auto-pickup
- work_finish: replaces auto-chain block with projectTick call
- work_start: adds projectTick after dispatch to fill parallel slots
- auto_pickup: delegates per-project loop to projectTick
- Remove autoChain from Project type, migration code, and project-register
- Remove scheduling config dependency from work_finish
- Net -112 lines: simpler, self-healing pipeline
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Updated import paths for task management providers in task-comment, task-create, and task-update tools.
- Removed deprecated task-complete and task-pickup tools, replacing them with work-finish and work-start tools for improved task handling.
- Enhanced work-finish and work-start tools to streamline task completion and pickup processes, including context-aware detection and auto-scheduling features.
- Updated package.json to include build scripts and main entry point.
- Modified tsconfig.json to enable output directory, declaration files, and source maps for better TypeScript support.
