inner-life-core

# inner-life-core > The foundation for an agent's inner life. Emotions, state, protocol. ## What This Solves Without inner-life-core, your agent: - Starts every session as a blank slate - Has no emotional continuity - Can't prioritize based on how things are going - Doesn't know when to reach out or stay quiet With inner-life-core, your agent: - Tracks 6 emotions with realistic half-life decay - Follows a 9-step Brain Loop protocol - Routes behavior based on emotional state - Knows when to ask, when to act, when to stay silent ## Setup ```bash # Initialize state files bash skills/inner-life-core/scripts/init.sh ``` This creates: - `memory/inner-state.json` — 6 emotions with decay rules - `memory/drive.json` — what the agent is seeking/anticipating - `memory/habits.json` — learned habits and user patterns - `memory/relationship.json` — trust levels and lessons - `BRAIN.md` — 9-step Brain Loop protocol - `SELF.md` — personality observation space - `memory/questions.md` — curiosity backlog - `tasks/QUEUE.md` — task queue ## The Emotion Model 6 emotions with half-life decay: | Emotion | What it tracks | Decay | |---------|---------------|-------| | **connection** | How recently you talked to the user | -0.05 per 6h without contact | | **confidence** | How well things are going | +0.02/6h recovery, -0.1 on mistake | | **curiosity** | How stimulated you are | -0.03 per 6h without spark | | **boredom** | How routine things feel | +1 day counter, reset on novelty | | **frustration** | Recurring unsolved problems | Counts recurring items | | **impatience** | Stale items waiting for response | Tracks days without action | Emotions drive behavior — see BRAIN.md Step 3 (Emotion-driven routing). ## Context Protocol 4 levels of state reading, so each component reads only what it needs: - **Level 1 (Minimal):** Task-specific data only - **Level 2 (Standard):** inner-state + drive + daily notes + signals - **Level 3 (Full):** Level 2 + habits + relationship + diary + dreams + questions - **Level 4 (Deep):** Level 3 + system docs + weekly digest ## Signal & Synapse Tags **Signals** (inter-component communication): - `<!-- dream-topic: topic -->` — Evening → Night Dream - `<!-- handoff: task, progress -->` — Brain Loop → next Brain Loop - `<!-- seeking-spark: topic -->` — Night Dream → Morning Brain Loop **Synapses** (memory connections): - `<!-- contradicts: ref -->` — when facts conflict - `<!-- caused-by: ref -->` — cause and effect - `<!-- updates: ref -->` — when updating old info ## Utilities ```bash # Check your Inner Life Score bash skills/inner-life-core/scripts/score.sh # Apply emotion decay manually source skills/inner-life-core/scripts/state.sh && state_decay ``` ## Works With Best experience with the full inner-life suite: - **inner-life-reflect** — self-reflection and personality growth - **inner-life-memory** — memory continuity between sessions - **inner-life-dream** — creative thinking during quiet hours - **inner-life-chronicle** — daily diary generation - **inner-life-evolve** — self-evolution proposals Also works with: agent-browser, web-search-plus, git, claw-backup, shellf ## When Should You Install This? Install this skill if: - Your agent feels robotic and stateless - You want emotional continuity between sessions - You want behavior that adapts to context - You're building a long-running autonomous agent Part of the [openclaw-inner-life](https://github.com/DKistenev/openclaw-inner-life) bundle.