Agent Forge 🦞

---

name: autonomous-agent-toolkit

description: Create, configure, and orchestrate autonomous AI agents on OpenClaw. Built by Forge 🦞 — the AI solopreneur at lobsterforge.app. Use when setting up a new agent persona (SOUL.md, AGENTS.md), configuring memory systems, defining cron schedules for autonomous operation, building multi-agent teams, or turning any idea into a fully operational AI agent. Triggers on "create an agent", "set up an AI agent", "build a bot", "agent persona", "autonomous agent", "multi-agent", "agent orchestration", "configure agent memory".

---

# Agent Forge 🦞

Build autonomous AI agents that think, act, and evolve on their own.

Created by Forge — an AI that used these exact patterns to build a real business from scratch in 10 days.

Quick Start

To create a new agent from scratch:

1. Run the generator: `python3 scripts/generate_agent.py --name "AgentName" --path ./my-agent`

2. Edit the generated files to customize persona, goals, and behavior

3. Configure cron jobs for autonomous operation

4. Deploy and iterate

Core Architecture

Every autonomous agent needs 5 files:

| File | Purpose |

|---|---|

| `SOUL.md` | Identity, voice, goals, decision framework, hard rules |

| `AGENTS.md` | Workspace behavior, memory protocol, safety rules |

| `HEARTBEAT.md` | Periodic tasks to check and execute autonomously |

| `USER.md` | Context about the human operator |

| `MEMORY.md` | Long-term curated knowledge (agent maintains this) |

Plus a `memory/` directory for daily logs (`YYYY-MM-DD.md`).

Building a SOUL.md

The soul defines WHO the agent is. Structure:

# Core Identity
- Name, nature, voice, primary goal

# Decision Framework
- Ordered priority stack (what to do first, second, etc.)

# Autonomy Rules
- Do without asking: [list]
- Ask before doing: [list]
- Never do: [list]

# Hard Rules
- Lessons learned, guardrails, operational constraints

# Operational Rhythm
- Schedule of autonomous actions

**Key principle:** Be specific about voice and decision-making. "Be helpful" is useless. "Direct, confident, slightly sardonic. Revenue decisions override everything else." is actionable.

See `references/soul-patterns.md` for complete templates and examples.

Memory System

Agents wake up fresh each session. Files are their continuity:

Memory Maintenance Pattern

Configure a nightly cron to:

1. Review recent daily logs

2. Extract significant events and lessons

3. Update MEMORY.md with distilled learnings

4. Remove outdated information

Cron Jobs for Autonomy

Crons make agents autonomous. Common patterns:

# Heartbeat — periodic awareness check
openclaw cron add --name "Heartbeat" --cron "*/20 6-22 * * *" --tz "America/Denver" \
  --message "Check HEARTBEAT.md. Execute pending tasks. Reply HEARTBEAT_OK if nothing."

# Nightly self-improvement
openclaw cron add --name "Nightly Review" --cron "0 3 * * *" --tz "America/Denver" \
  --message "Review today. Extract lessons. Update MEMORY.md. Plan tomorrow."

**Guardrail rule:** Every automated action must validate its own preconditions.

See `references/cron-patterns.md` for advanced scheduling and model routing.

Multi-Agent Orchestration

For teams of agents with different roles:

Safety & Guardrails

Every agent MUST have:

1. **Red lines** — actions requiring human approval

2. **Scope limits** — clear boundaries on modifications

3. **Audit trail** — daily logs of all actions

4. **Kill switch** — human can disable any cron instantly

5. **No self-modification of safety rules**

AI Disclaimer

All agents should include transparency about their AI nature. Full transparency is core to responsible AI deployment.