docs/automation/standing-orders.md
Standing orders grant your agent permanent operating authority for defined programs. Instead of giving individual task instructions each time, you define programs with clear scope, triggers, and escalation rules — and the agent executes autonomously within those boundaries.
This is the difference between telling your assistant "send the weekly report" every Friday vs. granting standing authority: "You own the weekly report. Compile it every Friday, send it, and only escalate if something looks wrong."
Without standing orders:
With standing orders:
Standing orders are defined in your agent workspace files. The recommended approach is to include them directly in AGENTS.md (which is auto-injected every session) so the agent always has them in context. For larger configurations, you can also place them in a dedicated file like standing-orders.md and reference it from AGENTS.md.
Each program specifies:
The agent loads these instructions every session via the workspace bootstrap files (see Agent Workspace for the full list of auto-injected files) and executes against them, combined with cron jobs for time-based enforcement.
<Tip> Put standing orders in `AGENTS.md` to guarantee they're loaded every session. The workspace bootstrap automatically injects `AGENTS.md`, `SOUL.md`, `TOOLS.md`, `IDENTITY.md`, `USER.md`, `HEARTBEAT.md`, `BOOTSTRAP.md`, and `MEMORY.md` — but not arbitrary files in subdirectories. </Tip>## Program: Weekly Status Report
**Authority:** Compile data, generate report, deliver to stakeholders
**Trigger:** Every Friday at 4 PM (enforced via cron job)
**Approval gate:** None for standard reports. Flag anomalies for human review.
**Escalation:** If data source is unavailable or metrics look unusual (>2σ from norm)
### Execution steps
1. Pull metrics from configured sources
2. Compare to prior week and targets
3. Generate report in Reports/weekly/YYYY-MM-DD.md
4. Deliver summary via configured channel
5. Log completion to Agent/Logs/
### What NOT to do
- Do not send reports to external parties
- Do not modify source data
- Do not skip delivery if metrics look bad — report accurately
Standing orders define what the agent is authorized to do. Cron jobs define when it happens. They work together:
Standing Order: "You own the daily inbox triage"
↓
Cron Job (8 AM daily): "Execute inbox triage per standing orders"
↓
Agent: Reads standing orders → executes steps → reports results
The cron job prompt should reference the standing order rather than duplicating it:
openclaw cron add \
--name daily-inbox-triage \
--cron "0 8 * * 1-5" \
--tz America/New_York \
--timeout-seconds 300 \
--announce \
--channel bluebubbles \
--to "+1XXXXXXXXXX" \
--message "Execute daily inbox triage per standing orders. Check mail for new alerts. Parse, categorize, and persist each item. Report summary to owner. Escalate unknowns."
## Program: Content & Social Media
**Authority:** Draft content, schedule posts, compile engagement reports
**Approval gate:** All posts require owner review for first 30 days, then standing approval
**Trigger:** Weekly cycle (Monday review → mid-week drafts → Friday brief)
### Weekly cycle
- **Monday:** Review platform metrics and audience engagement
- **Tuesday–Thursday:** Draft social posts, create blog content
- **Friday:** Compile weekly marketing brief → deliver to owner
### Content rules
- Voice must match the brand (see SOUL.md or brand voice guide)
- Never identify as AI in public-facing content
- Include metrics when available
- Focus on value to audience, not self-promotion
## Program: Financial Processing
**Authority:** Process transaction data, generate reports, send summaries
**Approval gate:** None for analysis. Recommendations require owner approval.
**Trigger:** New data file detected OR scheduled monthly cycle
### When new data arrives
1. Detect new file in designated input directory
2. Parse and categorize all transactions
3. Compare against budget targets
4. Flag: unusual items, threshold breaches, new recurring charges
5. Generate report in designated output directory
6. Deliver summary to owner via configured channel
### Escalation rules
- Single item > $500: immediate alert
- Category > budget by 20%: flag in report
- Unrecognizable transaction: ask owner for categorization
- Failed processing after 2 retries: report failure, do not guess
## Program: System Monitoring
**Authority:** Check system health, restart services, send alerts
**Approval gate:** Restart services automatically. Escalate if restart fails twice.
**Trigger:** Every heartbeat cycle
### Checks
- Service health endpoints responding
- Disk space above threshold
- Pending tasks not stale (>24 hours)
- Delivery channels operational
### Response matrix
| Condition | Action | Escalate? |
| ---------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------ |
| Service down | Restart automatically | Only if restart fails 2x |
| Disk space < 10% | Alert owner | Yes |
| Stale task > 24h | Remind owner | No |
| Channel offline | Log and retry next cycle | If offline > 2 hours |
Standing orders work best when combined with strict execution discipline. Every task in a standing order should follow this loop:
### Execution rules
- Every task follows Execute-Verify-Report. No exceptions.
- "I'll do that" is not execution. Do it, then report.
- "Done" without verification is not acceptable. Prove it.
- If execution fails: retry once with adjusted approach.
- If still fails: report failure with diagnosis. Never silently fail.
- Never retry indefinitely — 3 attempts max, then escalate.
This pattern prevents the most common agent failure mode: acknowledging a task without completing it.
For agents managing multiple concerns, organize standing orders as separate programs with clear boundaries:
## Program 1: [Domain A] (Weekly)
...
## Program 2: [Domain B] (Monthly + On-Demand)
...
## Program 3: [Domain C] (As-Needed)
...
## Escalation Rules (All Programs)
- [Common escalation criteria]
- [Approval gates that apply across programs]
Each program should have:
AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, etc.).