# Discovery Findings: Live Status v4

## Overview

Planner sub-agent (proj035-planner) conducted inline discovery before drafting the plan. Key findings are documented here.

## Discovery 1: JSONL Transcript Format

**Confirmed format (JSONL, version 3):**

Each line is a JSON object with `type` field:

- `session` — First line only. Contains `id` (UUID), `version: 3`, `cwd`
- `model_change` — `provider`, `modelId` change events
- `thinking_level_change` — thinking on/off
- `custom` — Subtypes: `model-snapshot`, `openclaw.cache-ttl` (turn boundary marker)
- `message` — Main event type. `role` = `user`, `assistant`, or `toolResult`

Message content types:

- `{type: "text", text: "..."}` — plain text from any role
- `{type: "toolCall", id, name, arguments: {...}}` — tool invocations in assistant messages
- `{type: "thinking", thinking: "..."}` — internal reasoning (thinking mode)

Assistant messages carry extra fields: `api`, `provider`, `model`, `usage`, `stopReason`, `timestamp`

ToolResult messages carry: `toolCallId`, `toolName`, `isError`, `content: [{type, text}]`

**Key signals for watcher:**

- `stopReason: "stop"` + no new lines → agent turn complete → idle
- `stopReason: "toolUse"` → agent waiting for tool results → NOT idle
- `custom.customType: "openclaw.cache-ttl"` → turn boundary marker

## Discovery 2: Session Keying

Session keys in sessions.json follow the pattern: `agent:{agentId}:{context}`

Examples:

- `agent:main:main` — direct session
- `agent:main:mattermost:channel:{channelId}` — channel session
- `agent:main:mattermost:channel:{channelId}:thread:{threadId}` — thread session
- `agent:main:subagent:{uuid}` — SUB-AGENT SESSION (has `spawnedBy`, `spawnDepth`, `label`)
- `agent:main:hook:gitea:{repo}:issue:{n}` — hook-triggered session
- `agent:main:cron:{name}` — cron session

Sub-agent entry fields relevant to watcher:

- `sessionId` — maps to `{sessionId}.jsonl` filename
- `spawnedBy` — parent session key (for nesting)
- `spawnDepth` — nesting depth (1 = direct child of main)
- `label` — human-readable name (e.g., "proj035-planner")
- `channel` — delivery channel (mattermost, etc.)

Sessions files: `/home/node/.openclaw/agents/{agentId}/sessions/`

- `sessions.json` — registry (updated on every message)
- `{uuid}.jsonl` — transcript files
- `{uuid}-topic-{topicId}.jsonl` — topic-scoped transcripts

## Discovery 3: OpenClaw Hook Events

Available internal hook events (confirmed from source):

- `command:new`, `command:reset`, `command:stop` — user commands
- `command` — all commands
- `agent:bootstrap` — before workspace files injected
- `gateway:startup` — gateway startup (250ms after channels start)

**NO session:start or session:end hooks exist.** The hooks system covers commands and gateway lifecycle only, NOT individual agent runs.

Sub-agent lifecycle hooks (`subagent_spawned`, `subagent_ended`) are channel plugin hooks, not internal hooks — not directly usable from workspace hooks.

**Hook handler files:** workspace hooks support `handler.ts` OR `handler.js` (both discovered automatically via `handlerCandidates` in workspace.ts).

## Discovery 4: Mattermost API

- `PostEditTimeLimit = -1` — unlimited edits on this server
- Bot token: `n73636eit7bg3rgmpsj693mwno` (default/main bot account)
- Multiple bot accounts available per agent (see openclaw.json `accounts`)
- API base: `https://slack.solio.tech/api/v4`
- Post update: `PUT /api/v4/posts/{id}` — no time limit, no count limit

## Discovery 5: Current v1 Failure Modes

- Agents call `live-status create/update/complete` manually
- `deploy-to-agents.sh` injects verbose 200-word protocol into AGENTS.md
- Agents forget to call it (no enforcement mechanism)
- IDs get lost between tool calls (no persistent state)
- No sub-agent visibility (sub-agents have separate sessions)
- Thread sessions create separate OpenClaw sessions → IDs not shared
- Final response dumps multiple status updates (spam from forgotten updates)

## Discovery 6: Repo State

- Workspace copy: `/home/node/.openclaw/workspace/projects/openclaw-live-status/`
  - `src/live-status.js` — 283 lines, v2 CLI with --agent, --channel, --reply-to, create/update/complete/delete
  - `deploy-to-agents.sh` — AGENTS.md injection approach
  - `skill/SKILL.md` — manual usage instructions
  - `src/agent-accounts.json` — agent→bot account mapping
- Remote repo (ROOH/MATTERMOST_OPENCLAW_LIVESTATUS): `src/live-status.js` is outdated (114 lines v1)
- Makefile with check/test/lint/fmt targets already exists in remote repo

## Synthesis

The transcript-tailing daemon approach is sound and the format is stable. The key implementation insight is: **watch sessions.json to discover new sessions, then watch each JSONL file for that session**. Sub-agents are automatically discoverable via `spawnedBy` fields. The hook system can auto-start the daemon on gateway startup via `gateway:startup` event. No new OpenClaw core changes are needed.
