Daemon and Automation

You want AIWG working in the background — running scheduled tasks, watching for events, sending you a message when something happens. Not just responding when you ask, but acting on its own with defined boundaries.

This is the daemon mode.

What the daemon does

The daemon is a persistent process that:

Watches your codebase — runs checks when files change (security scan on save, tests on edit)
Runs on a schedule — nightly audit, weekly dependency check, daily doc sync
Sends notifications — posts to Telegram, webhooks, or a web dashboard when things happen
Accepts tasks remotely — submit a task from your phone via Telegram, get results back
Runs autonomously (optional) — proposes and executes small maintenance tasks with defined safety constraints

Quickest start — background task runner

Initialize from the default profile:

aiwg daemon-init

This creates `.aiwg/daemon.yaml` from the `manager` profile. Open and edit it to match your setup.

Start the daemon:

aiwg daemon start

Open the web dashboard:

http://localhost:7474

That's the control panel. You can submit tasks, watch running loops, and see history.

Connecting a Telegram bot

Most people find the Telegram integration the most practical — get a notification on your phone when a task completes, submit a task without opening your laptop.

1. Create a Telegram bot at @BotFather. Takes two minutes. Copy the token.

2. Get your chat ID — message your bot, then run:

curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/getUpdates"

The `chat.id` is in the response.

3. Add to your daemon config:

# .aiwg/daemon.yaml
messaging:
  telegram:
    token: "${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}"
    rooms:
      - chat_id: 123456789
        label: personal
        is_default: true

4. Set the environment variable and restart:

export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=your-token-here
aiwg daemon start

5. Send commands from Telegram:

/status
/ralph-status
/health
/ask what is the current test coverage?

Behaviors — event-driven automation

Behaviors are scripts that fire automatically when system events occur. They live in `agentic/code/behaviors/` and deploy to your AI platform alongside agents and commands.

Built-in behaviors:

Behavior	When it runs	What it does
`security-sentinel`	On file save (`.ts`, `.js`), on deploy, every 30 min	Scans for security issues, reports findings
`test-watcher`	On file save in `test/`, on schedule	Runs affected tests, posts results
`build-monitor`	After build completes, on schedule	Tracks build health over time
`quality-gate-watcher`	On commit, on PR open	Enforces quality criteria before merge
`artifact-sync`	On `.aiwg/` file change	Keeps artifact index in sync

Deploy and activate:

aiwg use sdlc --provider openclaw   # OpenClaw (native behavior support)

Or run them manually to test:

bash agentic/code/behaviors/security-sentinel/scripts/main.sh

Create your own behavior:

aiwg add-behavior my-check --hooks on_file_write --description "Check what I care about"

Edit the generated `BEHAVIOR.md` and `scripts/main.sh` with your logic.

Scheduled tasks

Add scheduled jobs to `.aiwg/daemon.yaml`:

schedule:
  - name: nightly-audit
    cron: "0 2 * * *"        # 2am every night
    action: security-audit
    description: Nightly security check

  - name: weekly-deps
    cron: "0 9 * * MON"      # Monday morning
    action: doc-sync
    description: Sync documentation

  - name: test-coverage
    cron: "0 */4 * * *"      # Every 4 hours
    action: test-sync
    description: Check test coverage drift

Available built-in actions: `doctor`, `validate-metadata`, `doc-sync`, `test-sync`, `cleanup-audit`, `security-audit`

For custom actions, add a `prompt` field:

- name: my-custom-check
  cron: "0 8 * * *"
  prompt: "Review the last 24 hours of git commits and summarize what changed"

Autonomous mode (advanced)

Autonomous mode lets the daemon propose and execute small maintenance tasks on its own — without you asking. It's off by default and constrained by a strict allowlist.

Enable it in `.aiwg/daemon.yaml`:

daemon:
  autonomous:
    enabled: true
    thinking_interval_minutes: 60
    max_daily_tasks: 5
    budget_cap_usd: 2.00
    require_approval: true                    # Set false to run without asking
    allowed_actions:
      - doc-sync
      - cleanup-audit
      - test-sync
    blocked_actions:
      - deploy
      - release
      - git-push

With `require_approval: true`, the daemon will message you via Telegram before executing anything, and wait for your `/approve` or `/reject`.

With `require_approval: false`, it acts within the `allowed_actions` list automatically. The budget cap and daily limit prevent runaway spending.

Docker (isolated environment)

Run the daemon in a container so it doesn't share your shell environment:

aiwg daemon start --docker

Your project directory mounts at `/workspace` inside the container. The web UI is still accessible at `localhost:7474`. Provider credentials pass in via environment variables or a mounted `.env` file.

Checking what's running

aiwg mc status          # All active tasks
aiwg mc watch           # Live stream of activity
aiwg ralph-status       # Current agent loop status

Or open the web dashboard at `localhost:7474` for a visual view.

Stopping the daemon

aiwg daemon stop

All running loops complete their current iteration before the process exits.