fix: agent can't see Gitea webhooks in Mattermost (bot-to-bot limitation)

Mattermost hides bot messages from other bots to prevent loops.
Document why the notification poller exists as a workaround.

AUTOMATED_DEV.md

@@ -226,13 +226,26 @@ Docker build, and branch protection enforces CI. No single point of failure.
 Every repo has a Gitea webhook that sends all activity (pushes, PRs, issues,
 comments, reviews, CI status) to a channel in our self-hosted
 [Mattermost](https://mattermost.com) instance. This creates a real-time feed
-where everyone — human and agent — can see what's happening across all projects
-without cross-communication overhead.
+where the human can see what's happening across all projects without checking
+Gitea's notification inbox.
 
-The agent also has its own Mattermost bot user (`@claw`), separate from the
-human. This means:
+**Important caveat:** The agent can't see this feed directly. Gitea's webhook
+messages arrive in Mattermost as a "bot" integration user. Mattermost
+deliberately hides bot messages from other bot users to prevent infinite
+bot-to-bot loops. This means the agent's Mattermost bot account is blind to the
+Gitea webhook feed, even though it's posted in a channel the agent has access
+to.
 
-- The agent posts status updates to dedicated channels (`#git` for Gitea work,
+This is why we built the [notification poller](#the-notification-poller) — a
+separate Python script that polls Gitea's notification API directly, bypassing
+Mattermost entirely. The human sees Gitea activity via the Mattermost webhook
+feed; the agent sees it via the API poller. Same events, different delivery
+paths, because of a Mattermost platform limitation.
+
+The agent has its own Mattermost bot user (`@claw`), separate from the human.
+This means:
+
+- The agent posts status updates to dedicated channels (`#git` for work status,
   `#claw` for general work narration)
 - The human's DMs stay clean — only direct alerts and responses
 - In group channels, it's clear who said what
@@ -243,16 +256,33 @@ human. This means:
 A practical setup:
 
 - **#git** — Real-time Gitea webhook feed (all repos) + agent's work status
-  updates. Everyone sees commits, PRs, reviews, CI results as they happen.
+  updates. The human sees commits, PRs, reviews, CI results as they happen. (The
+  agent posts here but can't read the webhook messages — see caveat above.)
 - **#claw** — Agent's internal work narration. Useful for debugging what the
   agent is doing, but notifications muted so it doesn't disturb anyone.
 - **DM with agent** — Private conversation, sitreps, sensitive commands
 - **Project-specific channels** — For coordination with external collaborators
 
-The webhook feed in #git means nobody needs to check Gitea's notification inbox
-manually. PRs, reviews, and CI results flow into a channel that's always open.
-The agent monitors the same feed (via its notification poller) and can react to
-events in near-realtime.
+### The Notification Poller
+
+Because the agent can't see Gitea webhooks in Mattermost (bot-to-bot visibility
+issue), we built a lightweight Python script that polls the Gitea notifications
+API every 2 seconds and wakes the agent via OpenClaw's `/hooks/wake` endpoint
+when new notifications arrive.
+
+Key design decisions:
+
+- **The poller never marks notifications as read.** That's the agent's job after
+  processing. Prevents the poller and agent from racing.
+- **Tracks notification IDs, not counts.** Only fires on genuinely new
+  notifications, not re-reads of existing ones.
+- **The wake message tells the agent to route output to Gitea/Mattermost, not
+  DM.** Prevents chatty notification processing from disturbing the human.
+- **Zero dependencies.** Python stdlib only (`urllib`, `json`, `time`). Runs
+  anywhere.
+
+Full source code is available in
+[OPENCLAW_TRICKS.md](OPENCLAW_TRICKS.md#the-gitea-notification-poller).
 
 ## CI: Gitea Actions