Autoresearch Skill#

Run autonomous iteration loops: Goal → Metric → Loop (make change → verify → keep/revert → repeat).

Core Protocol#

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SETUP:
1. Define GOAL (what to improve)
2. Define METRIC (how to measure success)
3. Define SCOPE (what can be modified)
4. Establish BASELINE (current metric value)

LOOP (forever or N iterations):
1. Review current state + history + results log
2. Pick next change (based on what worked, what failed, what's untried)
3. Make ONE focused change
4. Commit change (for rollback)
5. Run mechanical verification (tests, benchmarks, scores)
6. If improved → keep. If worse → revert. If error → fix or skip.
7. Log the result
8. Repeat until goal reached or max iterations

Principles#

1. One change per iteration — Atomic changes. If it breaks, you know why.
2. Mechanical verification only — No subjective "looks good." Use metrics.
3. Automatic rollback — Failed changes revert instantly.
4. Git is memory — Each experiment is committed. Git revert preserves history.
5. Simplicity wins — Equal results + less code = KEEP

Quick Start#

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Goal: Improve memory search Top-1 hit rate from 65% to 75%
Metric: Benchmark score (openclaw cron runs --id <job-id> --limit 1)
Scope: ~/.openclaw/workspace/MEMORY.md, ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
Max Iterations: 5

Then run the loop manually or spawn a subagent to execute it.

Usage Patterns#

Pattern 1: Manual Loop (Interactive)#

For simple tasks, run the loop yourself:

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Iteration 1:
  - Change: [describe what you'll change]
  - Verify: [run verification]
  - Result: [keep/revert + reason]
  - Log entry

Pattern 2: Spawn Subagent (Autonomous)#

For longer tasks, spawn a subagent with the loop instructions:

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sessions_spawn with:
  - task: Full autoresearch loop specification
  - timeoutSeconds: 600 (10 min per iteration)
  - mode: run (one-shot) or session (persistent)

Pattern 3: Background Process#

For very long loops, use exec with background continuation:

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exec with:
  - command: The optimization script
  - background: true
  - yieldMs: 60000 (check every minute)

Verification Commands#

DomainVerify CommandMemory searchopenclaw cron runs --id <job-id> --limit 1Testsnpm test, pytest, cargo testBuildnpm run build, cargo buildLinteslint ., ruff check .Benchmarksnpm run bench, custom benchmark scriptCoveragenpm test -- --coverage

Logging Format#

Track iterations in TSV format:

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iteration	change	metric_before	metric_after	delta	status	description
0	baseline	65.0	65.0	0.0	baseline	initial state
1	lowered minScore	65.0	70.0	+5.0	keep	improved retrieval
2	tried larger model	70.0	68.0	-2.0	revert	worse, reverted
3	added corpus entry	70.0	72.0	+2.0	keep	filled gap

Subagent Template#

When spawning a subagent for autoresearch, use this template:

markdown

GOAL: [what to improve]
METRIC: [how to measure]
VERIFICATION: [command to run]
SCOPE: [files that can be modified]
MAX_ITERATIONS: [number]

CONSTRAINTS:
- [resource limits]
- [safety rules]
- [reversibility requirements]

APPROACH:
1. Establish baseline
2. For each iteration:
   a. Identify next change
   b. Make ONE atomic change
   c. Run verification
   d. Compare to baseline
   e. Keep if improved, revert if worse
   f. Log result
3. Report final results

Common Patterns#

Improving Benchmark Scores#

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Goal: Improve benchmark score
Metric: Benchmark output
Changes: Config tweaks, corpus improvements, model changes
Iterations: 5-10

Fixing Tests#

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Goal: All tests passing
Metric: Test count failing
Changes: Fix one test at a time
Iterations: Until zero failures

Reducing Bundle Size#

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Goal: Bundle < 100KB
Metric: Build output size
Changes: Remove dependencies, tree-shake, minify
Iterations: Until target met

Increasing Coverage#

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Goal: Coverage > 80%
Metric: Coverage percentage
Changes: Add tests for uncovered lines
Iterations: Until target met

Failure Handling#

FailureResponseSyntax errorFix immediately, don't count as iterationRuntime errorAttempt fix (max 3 tries), then move onResource exhaustionRevert, try smaller variantTimeoutRevert, simplify approachExternal dependency failedSkip, log, try different approach

Stopping Conditions#

• Goal metric reached
• Max iterations hit
• No improvement for 3 consecutive iterations
• User interrupt (Ctrl+C or /stop)

References#

For advanced patterns, see:

• references/workflows.md — Multi-step workflows
• references/metrics.md — Common metric patterns