three-shifts

Three Shifts v3 — Daily Standup Engine

Architecture: Plan 3x daily → deliver for approval → execute in main session.

Why v3: V2 had a 15-minute autonomous cycle executor that never worked — state machine deadlocked for 19 days, burning ~27M tokens on no-ops. V3 removes it entirely. Plans are generated by cron, execution happens through normal conversation when the user approves.

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How It Works

1. Planner cron fires (6 AM, 2 PM, 10 PM) — reads context, generates a prioritized task list
2. User reviews — approves, modifies, or skips
3. Agent executes in main session — when the user says "go" or gives specific instructions
4. Daily memory captures what was done — next planner reads it for continuity

No file-based state machine. No autonomous executor. The main session IS the executor.

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File Structure

shifts/
├── tasks.md        # Current shift plan (generated by planner)
├── context.md      # Stack, constraints, known pitfalls
└── state.json      # Shift metadata (which shift, approval status)

tasks.md

Generated by the planner each shift. This is a task list, not a state machine.

# Morning Shift — 2026-03-13
Approved by: user | Approved at: 6:15 AM CST

## P1 (Must do)
1. Fix bootstrap key server (keys.everclaw.xyz returning 404)
2. Test installer on fresh Linux environment

## P2 (Should do)
3. Update MEMORY.md with yesterday's work
4. Review open PRs across EverClaw repos

## P3 (Could do)
5. Memory file maintenance (archive >7 day old dailies)

## Blocked/Waiting
- XMTP agent-to-agent — blocked on BASE_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY

state.json

Minimal metadata for the planner to read between shifts:

{
  "shift": "morning",
  "date": "2026-03-13",
  "status": "approved",
  "approvedAt": "2026-03-13T06:15:00-05:00",
  "approvedBy": "user"
}

Status values: planned | approved | skipped

context.md

Living document of constraints and lessons. Updated by the agent when something new is learned.

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Shifts

Shift	Cron	Window	Character
Morning ☀️	6:00 AM	6 AM – 2 PM	Comms, decisions, urgent items
Afternoon ?️	2:00 PM	2 PM – 10 PM	Deep work, building, coding
Night ?	10:00 PM	10 PM – 6 AM	Research, maintenance, cleanup

All times in user's local timezone.

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Planning Phase

Model: venice/kimi-k2-5 (cost-efficient, good at structured plans)

See PLANNER.md for the full planner instructions.

What the planner reads:

• shifts/tasks.md — previous shift's plan (check for incomplete items)
• shifts/context.md — rules, constraints, pitfalls
• shifts/state.json — previous shift metadata
• memory/daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md — recent activity
• MEMORY.md — active projects (⚡ Active Context section)

Plan format:

☀️/?️/? [SHIFT] SHIFT PLAN
Date: [DATE] | Window: [START]–[END] CST

P1 (Must do):
1. [Task] — [Est. time] — [Why now]

P2 (Should do):
3. [Task] — [Est. time]

P3 (Could do):
5. [Task] — [Est. time]

Blocked/Waiting:
- [Item] — [Blocker]

Reply: "Approve" / "Skip" / "Add: [task]"

Carryover

If shifts/tasks.md has items from a previous shift that weren't completed:

• Carry forward into the new plan, marked as [carryover]
• Night shift: auto-approve carryover from morning/afternoon (no user ping)

Approval flow

User says	What happens
"Approve"	Plan written to tasks.md, state.json updated
"Add: [task]"	Task added to plan, then approved
"Skip"	State.json set to "skipped", next planner picks up
No response (30 min)	Plan stays, next shift carries forward

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Execution

Execution happens in the main session through normal conversation. There is no autonomous executor.

When the user approves a shift plan:

• The agent works through the tasks in priority order
• Progress is captured in memory/daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md
• If interrupted by higher-priority work, remaining tasks carry over to the next shift

The planner's job is to surface the right priorities — not to control execution.

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Safety Rules

Always OK (any shift)

• Reading files, organizing workspace
• Research and analysis
• Code review, documentation
• Memory updates, planning
• Git status, non-destructive commands

Requires Approval (via shift plan)

• Sending emails, messages, social posts
• Creating PRs, pushing code
• Financial transactions
• Any external-facing action

Night Shift Constraints

• No external communications (Signal, email, social)
• No financial transactions
• No destructive operations (rm, force push, branch delete)
• No security changes (key rotation, permissions)
• P3 maintenance tasks (memory, cleanup, docs) are OK autonomous

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Cron Setup

Three planner jobs. No executor job.

Morning ☀️:    cron 0 6 * * * (America/Chicago)
Afternoon ?️:  cron 0 14 * * * (America/Chicago)
Night ?:      cron 0 22 * * * (America/Chicago)

All use venice/kimi-k2-5, isolated sessions, deliver via Signal.

See references/config.md for customizing schedule, models, and weekend behavior.

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Version History

• v3.0.0 (2026-03-13) — Removed broken cycle executor. Simplified to daily standup engine. Plans generated by cron, execution in main session.
• v2.0.0 (2026-02-27) — Added 15-minute cycle executor (state machine). Never worked — state deadlock caused 1,527 no-op runs over 19 days.
• v1.0.0 (2026-02-22) — Single long session per shift. Timeouts killed entire shifts.