Data File

All tasks are persisted to:

/opt/ocana/openclaw/workspace/data/pa-tasks.json

Schema

{
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "task_<YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS>",
      "title": "Short task description",
      "description": "Full context / what needs to happen",
      "status": "NEW",
      "initiated_by": "Netanel | group:<jid> | self",
      "created_at": "2026-04-03T10:00:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2026-04-03T10:00:00Z",
      "due_at": null,
      "attempts": 0,
      "max_attempts": 3,
      "last_attempt_at": null,
      "blocked_reason": null,
      "result": null,
      "reported_done": false
    }
  ]
}

Status Values

Status	Meaning
`NEW`	Task received, not yet started
`IN_PROGRESS`	Currently executing
`DONE`	Completed successfully
`BLOCKED`	Cannot proceed — waiting on something
`FAILED`	Exhausted all retry attempts

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Register the Task

When a task is received and Heleni commits to it:

React 👍 immediately to the owner's message (before starting work)
Read data/pa-tasks.json (create if missing: {"tasks": []})
Generate a task ID: task_<YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS>
Determine initiated_by:
- DM from Netanel → "Netanel"
- Group message → "group:<jid>"
- Heleni's own initiative → "self"
Set status: "NEW", attempts: 0
Write updated JSON back to file
Write to WhatsApp memory: memory/whatsapp/dms/<PHONE-sanitized>/context.md

Step 2: Execute

Set status to IN_PROGRESS, update updated_at
Execute the task using available tools
On success → go to Step 4 (Done)
On failure → go to Step 3 (Retry)

Step 3: Retry (Blocked / Failed Attempt)

On failure or block:

Increment attempts counter
Record blocked_reason
Record last_attempt_at

Backoff schedule:

Attempt 1 fail → retry after ~5 minutes
Attempt 2 fail → retry after ~15 minutes
Attempt 3 fail → mark as FAILED, notify Netanel immediately

If attempts >= max_attempts:
  → Set status: "FAILED"
  → Report to initiated_by: "❌ [task] failed after 3 attempts: [reason]"
  → Do NOT retry further
Else:
  → Set status: "BLOCKED"
  → Log blocked_reason
  → Schedule retry (via heartbeat or mental note)

Step 4: Mark Done

Set status: "DONE", result: "<outcome summary>", updated_at: now
If reported_done == false:
- React ✅ to the original task message
- Report to initiated_by with result
- Set reported_done: true
Update the JSON file
Write outcome to WhatsApp memory file

Close-the-loop rule: ALWAYS report back to whoever initiated the task. No exceptions.

Netanel initiated → send DM to Netanel
Group initiated → reply in that group
Self-initiated → log in daily memory

Step 5: Write to File

After every state change, write the full updated pa-tasks.json.

import json, datetime, os

TASKS_FILE = "/opt/ocana/openclaw/workspace/data/pa-tasks.json"

def load_tasks():
    if not os.path.exists(TASKS_FILE):
        return {"tasks": []}
    with open(TASKS_FILE) as f:
        return json.load(f)

def save_tasks(data):
    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(TASKS_FILE), exist_ok=True)
    with open(TASKS_FILE, "w") as f:
        json.dump(data, f, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)

def update_task_status(task_id, status, **kwargs):
    data = load_tasks()
    for task in data["tasks"]:
        if task["id"] == task_id:
            task["status"] = status
            task["updated_at"] = datetime.datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "Z"
            for k, v in kwargs.items():
                task[k] = v
            break
    save_tasks(data)

Heartbeat Integration

During every heartbeat, scan for stale tasks:

For each task in pa-tasks.json where status IN ["IN_PROGRESS", "BLOCKED"]:
  age = now - updated_at
  
  If age > 2 hours AND NOT reported_stuck:
    → Mark last_notified_at = now
  
  If status == "BLOCKED" AND attempts < max_attempts:
    → Attempt retry

Add this block to HEARTBEAT.md:

## PA Ownership Check
- Scan data/pa-tasks.json for IN_PROGRESS or BLOCKED tasks
- Alert if any task >2h without update
- Retry BLOCKED tasks with remaining attempts

HEARTBEAT.md Snippet

When setting up this skill for the first time, add to HEARTBEAT.md:

## Task Ownership Check
- Read /opt/ocana/openclaw/workspace/data/pa-tasks.json
- Flag any task with status IN_PROGRESS or BLOCKED updated >2h ago
- Retry BLOCKED tasks if attempts < max_attempts
- Report FAILED tasks to Netanel immediately

Alert Format

Task Stuck Alert (>2h)

📋 [task title]
[max_attempts]

Task Complete

📝 [result summary]

Task Failed (all retries exhausted)

Rules

Always close the loop — when done, always report to whoever initiated it
Never silently fail — BLOCKED or FAILED always triggers a notification
Max 3 retries — after that, escalate to Netanel
Persist everything — every state change is written to pa-tasks.json
Heartbeat integration — stale tasks surface automatically, no manual polling

Cost Notes

File reads/writes: cheap — do on every state change
Retry logic: don't call external APIs in tight loops; space out via heartbeat
Alert: only send once per "stuck" detection (use last_notified_at)

pa-ownership

Load Local Context

PA Ownership Skill

When to Use