# Watchdog

Use when configuring `rig watchdog` policies, authoring...

- Repository: https://github.com/mvschwarz/openrig (8541 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add mvschwarz/openrig --skill watchdog -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add mvschwarz/openrig --skill watchdog -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add mvschwarz/openrig --skill watchdog -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add mvschwarz/openrig --skill watchdog -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Use when configuring `rig watchdog` policies, authoring wake/refocus/alignment-checkpoint messages, or choosing the right intervention level for a stale-owner situation. The 3-level continuity-check stack (wake / refocus / alignment-checkpoint), the discipline that prevents cadence pollution and bureaucracy theater, and the artifact-pool loop-edge pattern for evidence-aware waking.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Watchdog

Continuity checks are timed or evidence-triggered interventions that
keep an agent workflow from going idle, drifting, or entering needless
bureaucracy. They operationalize the refocus doctrine.

## Use this when

- **Authoring a watchdog policy** for a long-running rig (artifact-pool
  edges, stale-owner detection, periodic reminders).
- **Choosing the intervention level** for a stale-owner situation: is
  this a wake, a refocus, or an alignment checkpoint?
- **Drafting wake/refocus/alignment-checkpoint message text** that
  prevents cadence pollution and bureaucracy theater.
- **Deciding cadence**, scan vs wake intervals, conservative vs
  aggressive nudging.

## Don't use this when

- The agent is actively working and closing artifacts. Prefer no-op.
- The intervention is masking bad startup or workflow design, fix the
  underlying cause, don't compensate via watchdog.
- The work has a clear next-action handoff already in queue. Use queue
  nudges instead of a watchdog policy.

## The 3-level intervention stack

| Level | Goal | When | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Wake** | Restart motion | Owner appears idle, stale, blocked, or missing a next handoff | Small liveness nudge, does NOT reframe the work |
| **Refocus** | Correct drift | Output shows mode drift, approval regression, weak stop-condition reasoning | Medium alignment nudge, re-centers on role, north star, current approved workstream, coordination mode, stop conditions; does NOT interrupt valid work |
| **Alignment checkpoint** | Rebuild shared map | Phase boundary, lifecycle mutation, product-intent decision, confusing contradiction | Larger deliberate pause, agent runs full refocus before proceeding |

`cron`, timers, and `rig watchdog` are scheduling substrates. They
should NOT imply that every tick means the same semantic action. The
intervention level is chosen by evidence, not cadence.

## Current best practice for refocus message text

A well-shaped refocus message:

The rest: https://github.com/mvschwarz/openrig/blob/HEAD/packages/daemon/specs/agents/shared/skills/core/watchdog/SKILL.md