Phoenix Loop

---

name: phoenix-loop

description: Turn agent failures into permanent improvements. Auto-diagnose blocked tasks, extract lessons, and wire them into reusable skills. Privacy-first: all data stays local.

---

# Phoenix Loop

Rise from failures. Complete tasks persistently.

When the agent encounters blockers, failures, or repeated friction, this skill starts a self-healing loop: Diagnose -> Extract -> Crystallize -> Verify.

Core Mechanism

1. Diagnose

# Read recent blocked items
Get-Content memory/blocked-items.md | Select-String "Blocker" -Context 3

# Extract failure patterns
Get-Content memory/tasks.md | Select-String "Status: failed" -Context 5

**Diagnosis Checklist**:

2. Extract

Extract reusable patterns from failures:

## Failure Pattern: {pattern_name}
- Trigger: {when_this_happens}
- Root Cause: {root_cause}
- Solution: {fix_steps}
- Verification: {verification_criteria}

3. Crystallize

Write the lesson to a local skill:

skills/local/{pattern_name}-recovery.md

**Skill Template**:

# {Pattern Name} Recovery

## Trigger
When {condition} happens

## Steps
1. {step_1}
2. {step_2}
3. {step_3}

## Verification
- [ ] {check_1}
- [ ] {check_2}

## Fallback
If failed, execute {fallback_action}

4. Verify

Next time a similar issue occurs:

1. Search `skills/local/` for matching skills

2. Execute recovery steps

3. Log result to `memory/{date}.md`

4. Update skill if needed

Privacy Security

**All data stored locally**:

**Sensitive Data Filter**:

Before writing to any memory or skill, check and remove:

Executable Completion Criteria

A phoenix-loop task is complete if and only if:

| Criteria | Verification Command |

|----------|---------------------|

| Failure pattern named | `Select-String "Failure Pattern" memory/blocked-items.md` |

| Local skill created | `Test-Path skills/local/{name}-recovery.md` |

| Skill has trigger section | `Select-String "## Trigger" skills/local/{name}.md` |

| Skill has verification steps | `Select-String "## Verification" skills/local/{name}.md` |

| Memory updated | `Select-String "phoenix-loop" memory/{today}.md` |

| Privacy check passed | Skill file contains no `apiKey|token|secret` |

Usage Example

Scenario: Missing API Key Blocks Task

**1. Diagnose**:

Blocker: Missing Brave API key
Attempted: web_search (failed)
Unblock Input: User runs `openclaw configure --section web`

**2. Extract Pattern**:

Failure Pattern: missing-api-key
Trigger: Tool requires unconfigured API key
Solution: 1. Detect missing key 2. Return config command 3. Provide fallback

**3. Crystallize Skill**:

# Missing API Key Recovery

## Trigger
When tool returns "missing_*_api_key" error

## Steps
1. Extract required key name
2. Return config command: openclaw configure --section {section}
3. Provide manual fallback option

## Verification
- [ ] User receives clear config instructions
- [ ] At least 1 alternative provided

**4. Verify**:

Next time an API key issue occurs, auto-apply this skill.

Heartbeat Integration

Add to `HEARTBEAT.md`:

## Self-Check (Every 24 Hours)
1. Check `memory/blocked-items.md` for blockers older than 24h
2. Run phoenix-loop diagnosis on each long-term blocker
3. If reusable pattern found, create or update skill

Rollback

If the skill causes issues:

# Disable skill (rename)
Rename-Item skills/local/{name}-recovery.md skills/local/{name}-recovery.md.disabled

# Delete skill
Remove-Item skills/local/{name}-recovery.md

References

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Rise stronger from every failure.