OpenClaw Swarm Layer#

Turn workflow specifications into executable task graphs. Dispatch tasks through manual fallback or ACP automation. Supervise execution through an optional autopilot control plane. Track execution via persistent sessions with reuse and thread binding. Gate completion with review approval. Auto-retry on failure. Generate reports to local disk and Obsidian.

Current release baseline: openclaw-swarm-layer@0.5.12, validated on OpenClaw local mini 2026.6.5 with startup tool contracts, plugin doctor checks, conservative ACP failure mapping, artifact-acceptance smoke (positive note-producing task plus negative missing-artifact task on a live ACP backend), unique-bridge-session smoke, parallel admission checks, and the full unit/e2e regression suite.

What It Does#

• Spec-driven planning — Write a Markdown spec with goals and phased tasks → generates a dependency-ordered task graph, including explicit [parallel] phase barriers
• Multi-runner execution — Manual (operator-driven safe fallback) and ACP (default-capable automation path)
• Session management — Persistent sessions with binding-key reuse, thread-bound follow-up, and steering messages
• Review gates — Tasks require explicit approve/reject; structured quality rubrics for weighted multi-dimension scoring
• Sprint contracts — Negotiated verifiable acceptance criteria per task with automated evaluator injection (GAN-inspired pattern)
• Artifact acceptance — Optional expectedArtifacts (absolute paths or globs) per task; a completed ACP run with missing artifacts is downgraded to failed with failure.source: "artifact-validation" instead of reaching done
• Cross-session continuity — Progress summary synthesis, bootstrap startup sequence, harness assumption tracking
• Protective guardrails — Task field immutability guard, session budget control (duration + retries)
• Automatic retry — Configurable per-task retry policy with dead letter tracking for exhausted tasks
• Concurrency protection — ACP session concurrency limits with queued task scheduling (FIFO)
• Reject-retry workflow — Review rejections return tasks to ready for re-run; configurable retry limits
• Parallel dispatch — --parallel N and --all-ready batch dispatch with concurrency-aware queued-task drain
• Autopilot control plane — Supervised status/start/pause/resume/stop/tick flows with lease-backed decisions, optional watcher-driven ticks, and degraded-mode holds
• Operator reports — Status snapshots, run logs, review logs, spec archives, completion summaries → local + Obsidian sync

What It Does NOT Do#

• Not a distributed multi-node orchestrator — single machine, single project
• Not a CI/CD pipeline — no git push, PR creation, or deployment automation
• Not an autonomous PR factory — operator stays in the loop for review decisions

Install#

Three installation paths:

ClawHub (skill only):

bash

openclaw skills install swarm-layer

ClawHub package (full plugin):

bash

openclaw plugins install clawhub:openclaw-swarm-layer

npm (full plugin):

bash

npm install openclaw-swarm-layer
openclaw plugins install -l node_modules/openclaw-swarm-layer

GitHub (source):

bash

git clone https://github.com/xucheng/openclaw-swarm-layer.git
cd openclaw-swarm-layer && npm install && npm run build
openclaw plugins install -l /path/to/openclaw-swarm-layer

After install, verify: openclaw plugins info openclaw-swarm-layer should show Status: loaded.

End-to-End Example#

bash

# 1. Initialize
openclaw swarm init --project <TEMP_DIR>/my-project

# 2. Write a spec
cat > <TEMP_DIR>/my-project/SPEC.md << 'EOF'
# Feature Build
## Goals
- Implement and test the new feature
## Phases
### Implement
- Write the core logic
### Test
- Run unit tests
EOF

# 3. Plan
openclaw swarm plan --project <TEMP_DIR>/my-project --spec <TEMP_DIR>/my-project/SPEC.md
# → specId: feature-build, taskCount: 2

# 4. Execute first task
openclaw swarm run --project <TEMP_DIR>/my-project --runner acp
# → action: dispatched, runId: implement-task-1-run-...

# 5. Poll until complete
openclaw swarm session status --project <TEMP_DIR>/my-project --run <runId>
# → status: completed

# 6. Approve
openclaw swarm review --project <TEMP_DIR>/my-project --task <taskId> --approve
# → status: done

# 7. Execute next task, repeat steps 4-6

# 8. View report
openclaw swarm report --project <TEMP_DIR>/my-project

Links#

• GitHub: https://github.com/xucheng/openclaw-swarm-layer
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/openclaw-swarm-layer
• Docs: https://github.com/xucheng/openclaw-swarm-layer/tree/main/docs
• Issues: https://github.com/xucheng/openclaw-swarm-layer/issues
• ClawHub: https://clawhub.ai/skills/swarm-layer

---

Module Router#

Determine which module to use based on what the user needs:

User IntentModuleKey CommandsInstall, configure, initializeSetupplugins install, doctor, initPlan, execute, review, session opsOperateplan, run, review, session *Supervised automation controlOperateautopilot status/start/pause/resume/stop/tickSomething broken, stuck, or failingDiagnosedoctor, session status/cancel/cleanupCheck progress, read reportsReportstatus, report, session list/inspect

When unsure, start with openclaw swarm status --project . to assess the situation.

---

Setup#

When to Use#

First-time install, ACP configuration, project initialization, or config troubleshooting.

Flow#

1. Prerequisites#

bash

node --version     # >= 22
openclaw --version # >= 2026.3.22

The 0.5.12 release was smoke-tested on OpenClaw local mini 2026.6.5 with a Daily Papers-style live ACP workload.

2. Install Plugin#

bash

openclaw plugins install clawhub:openclaw-swarm-layer   # Published package
openclaw plugins install -l /path/to/openclaw-swarm-layer
openclaw plugins info openclaw-swarm-layer   # Should show Status: loaded

3. Configure ACP Public Path#

json

{
  "plugins": { "entries": { "openclaw-swarm-layer": { "config": {
    "defaultRunner": "auto",
    "acp": {
      "enabled": true,
      "defaultAgentId": "codex",
      "allowedAgents": ["codex"],
      "defaultMode": "run",
      "defaultRuntimeMode": "auto"
    }
  }}}}
}

4. Verify#

bash

openclaw swarm doctor --json
# severity should be "healthy" or "warning", not "blocked"

5. Initialize Project#

bash

openclaw swarm init --project .

6. Optional: Obsidian Sync + Journal#

json

{
  "obsidianRoot": "/path/to/vault/reports",
  "journal": {
    "enableRunLog": true,
    "enableReviewLog": true,
    "enableSpecArchive": true,
    "enableCompletionSummary": true
  }
}

Setup Troubleshooting#

• Plugin not loading → openclaw plugins info openclaw-swarm-layer
• ACP unavailable → openclaw swarm doctor --json, confirm public ACP export readiness and runner resolution
• ACP stuck in read-only → set acp.defaultRuntimeMode to auto for Codex-backed workflow tasks
• Legacy bridge config warning → remove bridge.acpFallbackEnabled after confirming ACP public path is ready

---

Operate#

When to Use#

Plan and execute workflows, manage sessions, complete review cycles.

Core Loop#

text

Write Spec → Plan → Status → Run → Poll Session → Review → Repeat

Write a Spec#

markdown

# My Workflow
## Goals
- What to achieve
## Phases
### Phase 1
- Task A
- Task B

Plan → Run → Review#

bash

openclaw swarm plan --project . --spec SPEC.md      # Import and generate tasks
openclaw swarm status --project . --sync              # Sync active runs, then see what's ready
openclaw swarm run --project . --sync-active --dry-run # Preview after active-run sync
openclaw swarm run --project . --sync-active --runner acp # Execute (acp/manual)
openclaw swarm run --project . --sync-active --parallel 3 # Dispatch up to 3 ready/queued tasks
openclaw swarm run --project . --sync-active --all-ready # Fill all available concurrency slots
openclaw swarm session status --project . --run <id>  # Poll until complete
openclaw swarm review --project . --task <id> --approve
openclaw swarm review --project . --task <id> --reject --retry-now  # Reject and force retry

Autopilot Control Plane#

bash

openclaw swarm autopilot status --project .           # Health + last decision
openclaw swarm autopilot start --project .            # Start supervised loop
openclaw swarm autopilot pause --project . --reason "operator review"
openclaw swarm autopilot resume --project .
openclaw swarm autopilot tick --project . --dry-run   # Inspect next actions without mutating state
openclaw swarm autopilot stop --project . --mode graceful

Use autopilot when you want the workflow to keep progressing under policy control instead of manually calling run, session status, and recovery commands one by one.

Optional watcher mode:

json

{
  "autopilot": {
    "enabled": true,
    "watcherMode": "hybrid",
    "watcher": {
      "debounceMs": 100,
      "safetyTickMs": 300000,
      "library": "auto"
    }
  }
}

Use watcherMode: "polling" as the rollback path.

Runner Selection#

RunnerUse WhenmanualSafe explicit fallback when ACP automation is unavailable or not desiredacpDefault-capable automation path through the public ACP control-plane

Session Operations#

bash

session list --project .                                    # List all
session inspect --project . --session <id>                  # Details
session follow-up --project . --session <id> --task <desc>  # Inject task
session steer --project . --session <id> --message <text>   # Redirect
session cancel --project . --run <id>                       # Abort
session cleanup --project . --stale-minutes 60              # Clean orphans

Session Policies#

PolicyBehaviornoneNew session each run (default)create_persistentCreates reusable persistent sessionreuse_if_availableReuse idle persistent session if match foundrequire_existingFail if no matching session exists

Harness Enhancement (GAN-Inspired Patterns)#

Enable advanced harness features for long-running agent orchestration:

json

{
  "enforceTaskImmutability": true,
  "bootstrap": { "enabled": true },
  "evaluator": { "enabled": true, "autoInjectAfter": ["coding"] }
}

Sprint Contracts — Add Acceptance Criteria to your spec. plan auto-generates a SprintContract with verifiable criteria attached to coding tasks.

Evaluator Injection — When evaluator.enabled, each coding task gets an auto-injected -eval task that validates the contract. Dependency chains adjust automatically:

text

coding-task → coding-task-eval → next-task

Quality Rubrics — Replace binary approve/reject with 4-dimension weighted scoring:

• functionality (0.3) / correctness (0.3) / design (0.2) / craft (0.2)
• Weighted total >= 6.0 → approve; < 6.0 → reject

Cross-Session Progress — progress.json auto-updated after each run and review. Bootstrap sequence loads progress on startup: verify env → load progress → select task → verify baseline.

Task Immutability — When enforceTaskImmutability is enabled, agents cannot mutate task definitions (title, deps, runner, etc.). Only status, review.status, and contract.criteria[].passes are mutable.

Session Budget — Set runner.budget.maxDurationSeconds and runner.budget.maxRetries per task. Exceeded budgets annotate [BUDGET EXCEEDED] on run records.

Assumption Tracking — WorkflowState.assumptions tracks model capability, environment, tooling, and workflow structure assumptions with validation lifecycle.

Conversational Patterns#

User SaysDo This"start a new workflow"Help write spec → plan → status"run the next task"status → dry-run → run"what's happening?"status → session status for running tasks"approve everything"List review queue → approve each"enable harness mode"Add evaluator + immutability + bootstrap config"something is stuck"→ Diagnose module

---

Diagnose#

When to Use#

Tasks stuck, ACP readiness failures, sessions not updating, dead letters, orphans.

Diagnostic Flow#

text

1. openclaw swarm doctor --json      → Check ACP readiness and bridge-exit health
2. openclaw swarm status --project . → Find abnormal tasks/sessions
3. Investigate specific issue (see below)

Doctor Severity#

SeverityMeaningActionhealthyAll goodNonewarningWorks but riskyAddress warnings when convenientblockedCannot executeFollow remediation immediately

Issue Resolution#

Legacy bridge compatibility warning:

• doctor --json → check warnings / remediation
• Common: remove stale bridge.acpFallbackEnabled, or clean up old versionAllow/ openclawRoot metadata

Stuck running task:

bash

swarm session status --project . --run <runId>   # Check if session died
swarm session cancel --project . --run <runId>   # Force cancel if hung

Dead letter task (retries exhausted):

• swarm status → find dead_letter tasks
• Fix root cause → manually reset task to ready

Orphaned sessions (stale active):

bash

swarm session cleanup --project . --stale-minutes 60

Version drift (after OpenClaw upgrade):

bash

swarm doctor --json
# Remove stale bridge metadata if present → rerun doctor → verify runner resolution

---

Report#

When to Use#

Check progress, generate reports, understand session inventory.

Quick Check#

bash

openclaw swarm status --project .  # Structured summary
openclaw swarm report --project .  # Full Markdown report

Report Sections#

SectionContentAttentionItems needing action: review / blocked / running / dead_letterTasksAll tasks with current statusReview QueueTasks awaiting approve/rejectHighlightsNotable terminal events (completed/failed/cancelled)Recommended ActionsWhat to do nextRecent RunsLast 5 runsSessionsLast 5 sessions with stateSession Reuse CandidatesWhich tasks can reuse which sessions

Report Files#

FileTriggerModeswarm-report.mdEvery operationOverwriterun-log.md``swarm runAppendreview-log.md``swarm reviewAppendspecs/<specId>.md``swarm planCreate oncecompletion-summary.mdAll tasks doneOverwrite

Local: <project>/.openclaw/swarm/reports/ (always) Obsidian: <obsidianRoot>/<project>/ (optional async mirror)

Conversational Patterns#

User SaysDo This"what's the status?"status → summarize counts + attention"show me the report"report → read and present key sections"what needs attention?"status → focus on attention array"how are sessions?"status → show session counts + recent

---

Tools Reference#

For AI tool calling. All tools accept --json for structured output.

ToolParametersPurposeswarm_status``project, sync?Workflow status with optional active-run sync and attention itemsswarm_task_plan``project, specImport spec, generate task graphswarm_run``project, task?, dryRun?, parallel?, allReady?, syncActive?Sync active runs when requested, then dispatch runnable or queued tasksswarm_review_gate``project, task, approve?, reject?, note?Approve/reject review (reject returns to ready by default)swarm_session_status``project, runPoll session statusswarm_session_cancel``project, run, reason?Cancel sessionswarm_session_close``project, run, reason?Close session