A wake signal enters from the work surface.
GitHub, Linear, Slack, or a schedule can activate the role. A watch observes activation but does not authorize mutation.
A field guide to recurring maintenance
Give recurring
work a bounded role.
A daemon reads its contract, checks current state, and returns reviewable work.
THE THESISRecurring maintenance needs a role with a clear purpose, wake condition, routines, and deny rule.
The role is authored in DAEMON.md.
The runtime reads `.agents/daemons/<daemon-id>/DAEMON.md` and uses its fields to frame one narrow job.
Role contract
`.agents/daemons/pr-maintenance/DAEMON.md`
---
id: pr-maintenance
purpose: Keep pull request checks current
watch: pull request check changes
routines: inspect, repair, report
deny: merge or change protected policy
schedule: optional
--- id Names one persistent role.
Every activation stays attached to a repo-defined identity.
Current evidence is layered before action.
The activation combines the current event, past activation, and repository policy or state before a routine begins.
Layer in focus
Current event
The activation that woke this role, with its current payload.
Freshness is checked before any write.
The role refreshes current state and verifies its evidence before it changes a file, posts an update, or opens a reviewable result.
Pre-write gate
ready to check
Refresh current state before any routine writes.
Routines form a narrow path. Deny ends it.
Routines are finite and reviewable. A deny rule is a hard prohibition, not a suggestion or a traffic light.
Allowed path
Finite work stays inside the role.
Routines can repair checks. The deny rule makes merge authority a dead end.
The result lands where people already review work.
Visible work returns to GitHub, Linear, or Slack as a commit, comment, issue update, or reviewable artifact.
Reviewable result
PR maintenance returned a commit and a comment.
The work stays visible in the system that owns the review.
GH GitHub pull request LN Linear issue SL Slack thread
Start with one role you can explain.
Begin narrow: PR maintenance, docs freshness, or issue triage. One repository can host several roles without giving them the same job.
Role surface
GitHub pull request
Repair checks and return a reviewable update without merging.
Begin narrow
Choose the role you can review.
Start with PR maintenance, docs freshness, or issue triage. Keep the first role small enough to explain.
Open daemon docs