devclaw-gitea/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md

DevClaw — Architecture & Component Interaction

Agents vs Sessions

Understanding the OpenClaw model is key to understanding how DevClaw works:

• Agent — A configured entity in openclaw.json. Has a workspace, model, identity files (SOUL.md, IDENTITY.md), and tool permissions. Persists across restarts.
• Session — A runtime conversation instance. Each session has its own context window and conversation history, stored as a .jsonl transcript file.
• Sub-agent session — A session created under the orchestrator agent for a specific worker role. NOT a separate agent — it's a child session running under the same agent, with its own isolated context. Format: agent:<parent>:subagent:<project>-<role>-<level>.

Session-per-level design

Each project maintains separate sessions per developer level per role. A project's DEV might have a junior session, a medior session, and a senior session — each accumulating its own codebase context over time.

Orchestrator Agent (configured in openclaw.json)
  └─ Main session (long-lived, handles all projects)
       │
       ├─ Project A
       │    ├─ DEV sessions: { junior: <key>, medior: <key>, senior: null }
       │    └─ QA sessions:  { reviewer: <key>, tester: null }
       │
       └─ Project B
            ├─ DEV sessions: { junior: null, medior: <key>, senior: null }
            └─ QA sessions:  { reviewer: <key>, tester: null }

Why per-level instead of switching models on one session:

• No model switching overhead — each session always uses the same model
• Accumulated context — a junior session that's done 20 typo fixes knows the project well; a medior session that's done 5 features knows it differently
• No cross-model confusion — conversation history stays with the model that generated it
• Deterministic reuse — level selection directly maps to a session key, no patching needed

Plugin-controlled session lifecycle

DevClaw controls the full session lifecycle end-to-end. The orchestrator agent never calls sessions_spawn or sessions_send — the plugin handles session creation and task dispatch internally using the OpenClaw CLI:

Plugin dispatch (inside work_start):
  1. Assign level, look up session, decide spawn vs send
  2. New session:  openclaw gateway call sessions.patch → create entry + set model
                   openclaw gateway call agent → dispatch task
  3. Existing:     openclaw gateway call agent → dispatch task to existing session
  4. Return result to orchestrator (announcement text, no session instructions)

The agent's only job after work_start returns is to post the announcement to Telegram. Everything else — level assignment, session creation, task dispatch, state update, audit logging — is deterministic plugin code.

Why this matters: Previously the plugin returned instructions like { sessionAction: "spawn", model: "sonnet" } and the agent had to correctly call sessions_spawn with the right params. This was the fragile handoff point where agents would forget cleanup: "keep", use wrong models, or corrupt session state. Moving dispatch into the plugin eliminates that entire class of errors.

Session persistence: Sessions created via sessions.patch persist indefinitely (no auto-cleanup). The plugin manages lifecycle explicitly through the health tool.

What we trade off vs. registered sub-agents:

Feature	Sub-agent system	Plugin-controlled	DevClaw equivalent
Auto-reporting	Sub-agent reports to parent	No	Heartbeat polls for completion
Concurrency control	maxConcurrent	No	work_start checks active flag
Lifecycle tracking	Parent-child registry	No	projects.json tracks all sessions
Timeout detection	runTimeoutSeconds	No	health flags stale >2h
Cleanup	Auto-archive	No	health manual cleanup

DevClaw provides equivalent guardrails for everything except auto-reporting, which the heartbeat handles.

System overview

graph TB
    subgraph "Telegram"
        H[Human]
        TG[Group Chat]
    end

    subgraph "OpenClaw Runtime"
        MS[Main Session<br/>orchestrator agent]
        GW[Gateway RPC<br/>sessions.patch / sessions.list]
        CLI[openclaw gateway call agent]
        DEV_J[DEV session<br/>junior]
        DEV_M[DEV session<br/>medior]
        DEV_S[DEV session<br/>senior]
        QA_R[QA session<br/>reviewer]
    end

    subgraph "DevClaw Plugin"
        WS[work_start]
        WF[work_finish]
        TCR[task_create]
        ST[status]
        SH[health]
        PR[project_register]
        DS[setup]
        TIER[Level Resolver]
        PJ[projects.json]
        AL[audit.log]
    end

    subgraph "External"
        GL[Issue Tracker]
        REPO[Git Repository]
    end

    H -->|messages| TG
    TG -->|delivers| MS
    MS -->|announces| TG

    MS -->|calls| WS
    MS -->|calls| WF
    MS -->|calls| TCR
    MS -->|calls| ST
    MS -->|calls| SH
    MS -->|calls| PR
    MS -->|calls| DS

    WS -->|resolves level| TIER
    WS -->|transitions labels| GL
    WS -->|reads/writes| PJ
    WS -->|appends| AL
    WS -->|creates session| GW
    WS -->|dispatches task| CLI

    WF -->|transitions labels| GL
    WF -->|closes/reopens| GL
    WF -->|reads/writes| PJ
    WF -->|git pull| REPO
    WF -->|auto-chain dispatch| CLI
    WF -->|appends| AL

    TCR -->|creates issue| GL
    TCR -->|appends| AL

    ST -->|lists issues by label| GL
    ST -->|reads| PJ
    ST -->|appends| AL

    SH -->|reads/writes| PJ
    SH -->|checks sessions| GW
    SH -->|reverts labels| GL
    SH -->|appends| AL

    PR -->|creates labels| GL
    PR -->|writes entry| PJ
    PR -->|appends| AL

    CLI -->|sends task| DEV_J
    CLI -->|sends task| DEV_M
    CLI -->|sends task| DEV_S
    CLI -->|sends task| QA_R

    DEV_J -->|writes code, creates MRs| REPO
    DEV_M -->|writes code, creates MRs| REPO
    DEV_S -->|writes code, creates MRs| REPO
    QA_R -->|reviews code, tests| REPO

End-to-end flow: human to sub-agent

This diagram shows the complete path from a human message in Telegram through to a sub-agent session working on code:

sequenceDiagram
    participant H as Human (Telegram)
    participant TG as Telegram Channel
    participant MS as Main Session<br/>(orchestrator)
    participant DC as DevClaw Plugin
    participant GW as Gateway RPC
    participant CLI as openclaw gateway call agent
    participant DEV as DEV Session<br/>(medior)
    participant GL as Issue Tracker

    Note over H,GL: Issue exists in queue (To Do)

    H->>TG: "check status" (or heartbeat triggers)
    TG->>MS: delivers message
    MS->>DC: status()
    DC->>GL: list issues by label "To Do"
    DC-->>MS: { toDo: [#42], dev: idle }

    Note over MS: Decides to pick up #42 for DEV as medior

    MS->>DC: work_start({ issueId: 42, role: "dev", level: "medior", ... })
    DC->>DC: resolve level "medior" → model ID
    DC->>DC: lookup dev.sessions.medior → null (first time)
    DC->>GL: transition label "To Do" → "Doing"
    DC->>GW: sessions.patch({ key: new-session-key, model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5" })
    DC->>CLI: openclaw gateway call agent --params { sessionKey, message }
    CLI->>DEV: creates session, delivers task
    DC->>DC: store session key in projects.json + append audit.log
    DC-->>MS: { success: true, announcement: "🔧 Spawning DEV (medior) for #42" }

    MS->>TG: "🔧 Spawning DEV (medior) for #42: Add login page"
    TG->>H: sees announcement

    Note over DEV: Works autonomously — reads code, writes code, creates MR
    Note over DEV: Calls work_finish when done

    DEV->>DC: work_finish({ role: "dev", result: "done", ... })
    DC->>GL: transition label "Doing" → "To Test"
    DC->>DC: deactivate worker (sessions preserved)
    DC-->>DEV: { announcement: "✅ DEV DONE #42" }

    MS->>TG: "✅ DEV DONE #42 — moved to QA queue"
    TG->>H: sees announcement

On the next DEV task for this project that also assigns medior:

sequenceDiagram
    participant MS as Main Session
    participant DC as DevClaw Plugin
    participant CLI as openclaw gateway call agent
    participant DEV as DEV Session<br/>(medior, existing)

    MS->>DC: work_start({ issueId: 57, role: "dev", level: "medior", ... })
    DC->>DC: resolve level "medior" → model ID
    DC->>DC: lookup dev.sessions.medior → existing key!
    Note over DC: No sessions.patch needed — session already exists
    DC->>CLI: openclaw gateway call agent --params { sessionKey, message }
    CLI->>DEV: delivers task to existing session (has full codebase context)
    DC-->>MS: { success: true, announcement: "⚡ Sending DEV (medior) for #57" }

Session reuse saves ~50K tokens per task by not re-reading the codebase.

Complete ticket lifecycle

This traces a single issue from creation to completion, showing every component interaction, data write, and message.

Phase 1: Issue created

Issues are created by the orchestrator agent or by sub-agent sessions via task_create or directly via gh/glab. The orchestrator can create issues based on user requests in Telegram, backlog planning, or QA feedback. Sub-agents can also create issues when they discover bugs during development.

Orchestrator Agent → Issue Tracker: creates issue #42 with label "Planning"

State: Issue tracker has issue #42 labeled "Planning". Nothing in DevClaw yet.

Phase 2: Heartbeat detects work

Heartbeat triggers → Orchestrator calls status()

sequenceDiagram
    participant A as Orchestrator
    participant QS as status
    participant GL as Issue Tracker
    participant PJ as projects.json
    participant AL as audit.log

    A->>QS: status({ projectGroupId: "-123" })
    QS->>PJ: readProjects()
    PJ-->>QS: { dev: idle, qa: idle }
    QS->>GL: list issues by label "To Do"
    GL-->>QS: [{ id: 42, title: "Add login page" }]
    QS->>GL: list issues by label "To Test"
    GL-->>QS: []
    QS->>GL: list issues by label "To Improve"
    GL-->>QS: []
    QS->>AL: append { event: "status", ... }
    QS-->>A: { dev: idle, queue: { toDo: [#42] } }

Orchestrator decides: DEV is idle, issue #42 is in To Do → pick it up. Evaluates complexity → assigns medior level.

Phase 3: DEV pickup

The plugin handles everything end-to-end — level resolution, session lookup, label transition, state update, and task dispatch to the worker session. The agent's only job after is to post the announcement.

sequenceDiagram
    participant A as Orchestrator
    participant WS as work_start
    participant GL as Issue Tracker
    participant TIER as Level Resolver
    participant GW as Gateway RPC
    participant CLI as openclaw gateway call agent
    participant PJ as projects.json
    participant AL as audit.log

    A->>WS: work_start({ issueId: 42, role: "dev", projectGroupId: "-123", level: "medior" })
    WS->>PJ: readProjects()
    WS->>GL: getIssue(42)
    GL-->>WS: { title: "Add login page", labels: ["To Do"] }
    WS->>WS: Verify label is "To Do"
    WS->>TIER: resolve "medior" → "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5"
    WS->>PJ: lookup dev.sessions.medior
    WS->>GL: transitionLabel(42, "To Do", "Doing")
    alt New session
        WS->>GW: sessions.patch({ key: new-key, model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5" })
    end
    WS->>CLI: openclaw gateway call agent --params { sessionKey, message }
    WS->>PJ: activateWorker + store session key
    WS->>AL: append work_start + model_selection
    WS-->>A: { success: true, announcement: "🔧 ..." }

Writes:

• Issue Tracker: label "To Do" → "Doing"
• projects.json: dev.active=true, dev.issueId="42", dev.level="medior", dev.sessions.medior=key
• audit.log: 2 entries (work_start, model_selection)
• Session: task message delivered to worker session via CLI

Phase 4: DEV works

DEV sub-agent session → reads codebase, writes code, creates MR
DEV sub-agent session → calls work_finish({ role: "dev", result: "done", ... })

This happens inside the OpenClaw session. The worker calls work_finish directly for atomic state updates. If the worker discovers unrelated bugs, it calls task_create to file them.

Phase 5: DEV complete (worker self-reports)

sequenceDiagram
    participant DEV as DEV Session
    participant WF as work_finish
    participant GL as Issue Tracker
    participant PJ as projects.json
    participant AL as audit.log
    participant REPO as Git Repo
    participant QA as QA Session (auto-chain)

    DEV->>WF: work_finish({ role: "dev", result: "done", projectGroupId: "-123", summary: "Login page with OAuth" })
    WF->>PJ: readProjects()
    PJ-->>WF: { dev: { active: true, issueId: "42" } }
    WF->>REPO: git pull
    WF->>PJ: deactivateWorker(-123, dev)
    Note over PJ: active→false, issueId→null<br/>sessions map PRESERVED
    WF->>GL: transitionLabel "Doing" → "To Test"
    WF->>AL: append { event: "work_finish", role: "dev", result: "done" }

    alt autoChain enabled
        WF->>GL: transitionLabel "To Test" → "Testing"
        WF->>QA: dispatchTask(role: "qa", level: "reviewer")
        WF->>PJ: activateWorker(-123, qa)
        WF-->>DEV: { announcement: "✅ DEV DONE #42", autoChain: { dispatched: true, role: "qa" } }
    else autoChain disabled
        WF-->>DEV: { announcement: "✅ DEV DONE #42", nextAction: "qa_pickup" }
    end

Writes:

• Git repo: pulled latest (has DEV's merged code)
• projects.json: dev.active=false, dev.issueId=null (sessions map preserved for reuse)
• Issue Tracker: label "Doing" → "To Test" (+ "To Test" → "Testing" if auto-chain)
• audit.log: 1 entry (work_finish) + optional auto-chain entries

Phase 6: QA pickup

Same as Phase 3, but with role: "qa". Label transitions "To Test" → "Testing". Uses the reviewer level.

Phase 7: QA result (4 possible outcomes)

7a. QA Pass

sequenceDiagram
    participant QA as QA Session
    participant WF as work_finish
    participant GL as Issue Tracker
    participant PJ as projects.json
    participant AL as audit.log

    QA->>WF: work_finish({ role: "qa", result: "pass", projectGroupId: "-123" })
    WF->>PJ: deactivateWorker(-123, qa)
    WF->>GL: transitionLabel(42, "Testing", "Done")
    WF->>GL: closeIssue(42)
    WF->>AL: append { event: "work_finish", role: "qa", result: "pass" }
    WF-->>QA: { announcement: "🎉 QA PASS #42. Issue closed." }

Ticket complete. Issue closed, label "Done".

7b. QA Fail

sequenceDiagram
    participant QA as QA Session
    participant WF as work_finish
    participant GL as Issue Tracker
    participant PJ as projects.json
    participant AL as audit.log

    QA->>WF: work_finish({ role: "qa", result: "fail", projectGroupId: "-123", summary: "OAuth redirect broken" })
    WF->>PJ: deactivateWorker(-123, qa)
    WF->>GL: transitionLabel(42, "Testing", "To Improve")
    WF->>GL: reopenIssue(42)
    WF->>AL: append { event: "work_finish", role: "qa", result: "fail" }
    WF-->>QA: { announcement: "❌ QA FAIL #42 — OAuth redirect broken. Sent back to DEV." }

Cycle restarts: Issue goes to "To Improve". Next heartbeat, DEV picks it up again (Phase 3, but from "To Improve" instead of "To Do").

7c. QA Refine

Label: "Testing" → "Refining"

Issue needs human decision. Pipeline pauses until human moves it to "To Do" or closes it.

7d. Blocked (DEV or QA)

DEV Blocked: "Doing" → "To Do"
QA Blocked:  "Testing" → "To Test"

Worker cannot complete (missing info, environment errors, etc.). Issue returns to queue for retry. No auto-chain — the task is available for the next heartbeat pickup.

Completion enforcement

Three layers guarantee that work_finish always runs:

1. Completion contract — Every task message sent to a worker session includes a mandatory ## MANDATORY: Task Completion section listing available results and requiring work_finish even on failure. Workers are instructed to use "blocked" if stuck.

2. Blocked result — Both DEV and QA can use "blocked" to gracefully return a task to queue without losing work. DEV blocked: Doing → To Do. QA blocked: Testing → To Test. This gives workers an escape hatch instead of silently dying.

3. Stale worker watchdog — The heartbeat's health check detects workers active for >2 hours. With fix=true, it deactivates the worker and reverts the label back to queue. This catches sessions that crashed, ran out of context, or otherwise failed without calling work_finish. The health tool provides the same check for manual invocation.

Phase 8: Heartbeat (continuous)

The heartbeat runs periodically (via background service or manual work_heartbeat trigger). It combines health check + queue scan:

sequenceDiagram
    participant HB as Heartbeat Service
    participant SH as health check
    participant TK as projectTick
    participant WS as work_start (dispatch)
    Note over HB: Tick triggered (every 60s)

    HB->>SH: checkWorkerHealth per project per role
    Note over SH: Checks for zombies, stale workers
    SH-->>HB: { fixes applied }

    HB->>TK: projectTick per project
    Note over TK: Scans queue: To Improve > To Test > To Do
    TK->>WS: dispatchTask (fill free slots)
    WS-->>TK: { dispatched }
    TK-->>HB: { pickups, skipped }

Data flow map

Every piece of data and where it lives:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Issue Tracker (source of truth for tasks)                       │
│                                                                 │
│  Issue #42: "Add login page"                                    │
│  Labels: [Planning | To Do | Doing | To Test | Testing | ...]   │
│  State: open / closed                                           │
│  MRs/PRs: linked merge/pull requests                            │
│  Created by: orchestrator (task_create), workers, or humans     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        ↕ gh/glab CLI (read/write, auto-detected)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DevClaw Plugin (orchestration logic)                            │
│                                                                 │
│  setup          → agent creation + workspace + model config     │
│  work_start     → level + label + dispatch + role instr (e2e)   │
│  work_finish    → label + state + git pull + auto-chain         │
│  task_create    → create issue in tracker                       │
│  task_update    → manual label state change                     │
│  task_comment   → add comment to issue                          │
│  status         → read labels + read state                      │
│  health         → check sessions + fix zombies                  │
│  project_register → labels + prompts + state init (one-time)    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        ↕ atomic file I/O          ↕ OpenClaw CLI (plugin shells out)
┌────────────────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ projects/projects.json         │ │ OpenClaw Gateway + CLI       │
│                                │ │ (called by plugin, not agent)│
│  Per project:                  │ │                              │
│    dev:                        │ │  openclaw gateway call       │
│      active, issueId, level    │ │    sessions.patch → create   │
│      sessions:                 │ │    sessions.list  → health   │
│        junior: <key>           │ │    sessions.delete → cleanup │
│        medior: <key>           │ │                              │
│        senior: <key>           │ │  openclaw gateway call agent │
│    qa:                         │ │    --params { sessionKey,    │
│      active, issueId, level    │ │      message, agentId }      │
│      sessions:                 │ │    → dispatches to session   │
│        reviewer: <key>         │ │                              │
│        tester: <key>           │ │                              │
└────────────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────────────┘
        ↕ append-only
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ log/audit.log (observability)                                   │
│                                                                 │
│  NDJSON, one line per event:                                    │
│  work_start, work_finish, model_selection,                      │
│  status, health, task_create, task_update,                      │
│  task_comment, project_register, setup, heartbeat_tick          │
│                                                                 │
│  Query: cat audit.log | jq 'select(.event=="work_start")'      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Telegram / WhatsApp (user-facing messages)                      │
│                                                                 │
│  Per group chat:                                                │
│    "🔧 Spawning DEV (medior) for #42: Add login page"          │
│    "⚡ Sending DEV (medior) for #57: Fix validation"            │
│    "✅ DEV DONE #42 — Login page with OAuth."                   │
│    "🎉 QA PASS #42. Issue closed."                              │
│    "❌ QA FAIL #42 — OAuth redirect broken."                    │
│    "🚫 DEV BLOCKED #42 — Missing dependencies."                │
│    "🚫 QA BLOCKED #42 — Env not available."                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Git Repository (codebase)                                       │
│                                                                 │
│  DEV sub-agent sessions: read code, write code, create MRs      │
│  QA sub-agent sessions: read code, run tests, review MRs        │
│  work_finish (DEV done): git pull to sync latest                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Scope boundaries

What DevClaw controls vs. what it delegates:

graph LR
    subgraph "DevClaw controls (deterministic)"
        L[Label transitions]
        S[Worker state]
        PR[Project registration]
        SETUP[Agent + workspace setup]
        SD[Session dispatch<br/>create + send via CLI]
        AC[Auto-chaining<br/>DEV→QA, QA fail→DEV]
        RI[Role instructions<br/>loaded per project]
        A[Audit logging]
        Z[Zombie cleanup]
    end

    subgraph "Orchestrator handles"
        MSG[Telegram announcements]
        HB[Heartbeat scheduling]
        DEC[Task prioritization]
        M[Developer assignment<br/>junior/medior/senior]
    end

    subgraph "Sub-agent sessions handle"
        CR[Code writing]
        MR[MR creation/review]
        WF_W[Task completion<br/>via work_finish]
        BUG[Bug filing<br/>via task_create]
    end

    subgraph "External"
        DEPLOY[Deployment]
        HR[Human decisions]
    end

IssueProvider abstraction

All issue tracker operations go through the IssueProvider interface, defined in lib/providers/provider.ts. This abstraction allows DevClaw to support multiple issue trackers without changing tool logic.

Interface methods:

• ensureLabel / ensureAllStateLabels — idempotent label creation
• createIssue — create issue with label and assignees
• listIssuesByLabel / getIssue — issue queries
• transitionLabel — atomic label state transition (unlabel + label)
• closeIssue / reopenIssue — issue lifecycle
• hasStateLabel / getCurrentStateLabel — label inspection
• hasMergedMR / getMergedMRUrl — MR/PR verification
• addComment — add comment to issue
• healthCheck — verify provider connectivity

Current providers:

• GitHub (lib/providers/github.ts) — wraps gh CLI
• GitLab (lib/providers/gitlab.ts) — wraps glab CLI

Planned providers:

• Jira — via REST API

Provider selection is handled by createProvider() in lib/providers/index.ts. Auto-detects GitHub vs GitLab from the git remote URL.

Error recovery

Failure	Detection	Recovery
Session dies mid-task	health checks via sessions.list Gateway RPC	fix=true: reverts label, clears active state. Next heartbeat picks up task again (creates fresh session for that level).
gh/glab command fails	Plugin tool throws error, returns to agent	Agent retries or reports to Telegram group
openclaw gateway call agent fails	Plugin catches error during dispatch	Plugin rolls back: reverts label, clears active state. Returns error. No orphaned state.
sessions.patch fails	Plugin catches error during session creation	Plugin rolls back label transition. Returns error.
projects.json corrupted	Tool can't parse JSON	Manual fix needed. Atomic writes (temp+rename) prevent partial writes.
Label out of sync	work_start verifies label before transitioning	Throws error if label doesn't match expected state.
Worker already active	work_start checks active flag	Throws error: "DEV already active on project". Must complete current task first.
Stale worker (>2h)	health and heartbeat health check	fix=true: deactivates worker, reverts label to queue. Task available for next pickup.
Worker stuck/blocked	Worker calls work_finish with "blocked"	Deactivates worker, reverts label to queue. Issue available for retry.
project_register fails	Plugin catches error during label creation or state write	Clean error returned. Labels are idempotent, projects.json not written until all labels succeed.

File locations

File	Location	Purpose
Plugin source	~/.openclaw/extensions/devclaw/	Plugin code
Plugin manifest	~/.openclaw/extensions/devclaw/openclaw.plugin.json	Plugin registration
Agent config	~/.openclaw/openclaw.json	Agent definition + tool permissions + model config
Worker state	~/.openclaw/workspace-<agent>/projects/projects.json	Per-project DEV/QA state
Role instructions	~/.openclaw/workspace-<agent>/projects/roles/<project>/	Per-project dev.md and qa.md
Audit log	~/.openclaw/workspace-<agent>/log/audit.log	NDJSON event log
Session transcripts	~/.openclaw/agents/<agent>/sessions/<uuid>.jsonl	Conversation history per session
Git repos	~/git/<project>/	Project source code