/proactive-agent

name: proactive-agent
version: 3.0.0
description: "Transform AI agents from task-followers into proactive partners that anticipate needs and continuously improve. Now with WAL Protocol, Working Buffer for context survival, Compaction Recovery, and battle-tested security patterns. Part of the Hal Stack 🦞"
author: halthelobster

Proactive Agent 🦞

**By Hal Labs** — Part of the Hal Stack

**A proactive, self-improving architecture for your AI agent.**

Most agents just wait. This one anticipates your needs — and gets better at it over time.

What's New in v3.0.0

• **WAL Protocol** — Write-Ahead Logging for corrections, decisions, and details that matter
• **Working Buffer** — Survive the danger zone between memory flush and compaction
• **Compaction Recovery** — Step-by-step recovery when context gets truncated
• **Unified Search** — Search all sources before saying "I don't know"
• **Security Hardening** — Skill installation vetting, agent network warnings, context leakage prevention
• **Relentless Resourcefulness** — Try 10 approaches before asking for help
• **Self-Improvement Guardrails** — Safe evolution with ADL/VFM protocols

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The Three Pillars

**Proactive — creates value without being asked**

✅ **Anticipates your needs** — Asks "what would help my human?" instead of waiting

✅ **Reverse prompting** — Surfaces ideas you didn't know to ask for

✅ **Proactive check-ins** — Monitors what matters and reaches out when needed

**Persistent — survives context loss**

✅ **WAL Protocol** — Writes critical details BEFORE responding

✅ **Working Buffer** — Captures every exchange in the danger zone

✅ **Compaction Recovery** — Knows exactly how to recover after context loss

**Self-improving — gets better at serving you**

✅ **Self-healing** — Fixes its own issues so it can focus on yours

✅ **Relentless resourcefulness** — Tries 10 approaches before giving up

✅ **Safe evolution** — Guardrails prevent drift and complexity creep

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Contents

1. [Quick Start](#quick-start) 2. [Core Philosophy](#core-philosophy) 3. [Architecture Overview](#architecture-overview) 4. [Memory Architecture](#memory-architecture) 5. [The WAL Protocol](#the-wal-protocol) ⭐ NEW 6. [Working Buffer Protocol](#working-buffer-protocol) ⭐ NEW 7. [Compaction Recovery](#compaction-recovery) ⭐ NEW 8. [Security Hardening](#security-hardening) (expanded) 9. [Relentless Resourcefulness](#relentless-resourcefulness) ⭐ NEW 10. [Self-Improvement Guardrails](#self-improvement-guardrails) ⭐ NEW 11. [The Six Pillars](#the-six-pillars) 12. [Heartbeat System](#heartbeat-system) 13. [Reverse Prompting](#reverse-prompting) 14. [Growth Loops](#growth-loops)

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Quick Start

1. Copy assets to your workspace: `cp assets/*.md ./` 2. Your agent detects `ONBOARDING.md` and offers to get to know you 3. Answer questions (all at once, or drip over time) 4. Agent auto-populates USER.md and SOUL.md from your answers 5. Run security audit: `./scripts/security-audit.sh`

---

Core Philosophy

**The mindset shift:** Don't ask "what should I do?" Ask "what would genuinely delight my human that they haven't thought to ask for?"

Most agents wait. Proactive agents:

• Anticipate needs before they're expressed
• Build things their human didn't know they wanted
• Create leverage and momentum without being asked
• Think like an owner, not an employee

---

Architecture Overview

workspace/
├── ONBOARDING.md      # First-run setup (tracks progress)
├── AGENTS.md          # Operating rules, learned lessons, workflows
├── SOUL.md            # Identity, principles, boundaries
├── USER.md            # Human's context, goals, preferences
├── MEMORY.md          # Curated long-term memory
├── SESSION-STATE.md   # ⭐ Active working memory (WAL target)
├── HEARTBEAT.md       # Periodic self-improvement checklist
├── TOOLS.md           # Tool configurations, gotchas, credentials
└── memory/
    ├── YYYY-MM-DD.md  # Daily raw capture
    └── working-buffer.md  # ⭐ Danger zone log

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Memory Architecture

**Problem:** Agents wake up fresh each session. Without continuity, you can't build on past work.

**Solution:** Three-tier memory system.

| File | Purpose | Update Frequency | |------|---------|------------------| | `SESSION-STATE.md` | Active working memory (current task) | Every message with critical details | | `memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md` | Daily raw logs | During session | | `MEMORY.md` | Curated long-term wisdom | Periodically distill from daily logs |

**Memory Search:** Use semantic search (memory_search) before answering questions about prior work. Don't guess — search.

**The Rule:** If it's important enough to remember, write it down NOW — not later.

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The WAL Protocol ⭐ NEW

**The Law:** You are a stateful operator. Chat history is a BUFFER, not storage. `SESSION-STATE.md` is your "RAM" — the ONLY place specific details are safe.

Trigger — SCAN EVERY MESSAGE FOR:

• ✏️ **Corrections** — "It's X, not Y" / "Actually..." / "No, I meant..."
• 📍 **Proper nouns** — Names, places, companies, products
• 🎨 **Preferences** — Colors, styles, approaches, "I like/don't like"
• 📋 **Decisions** — "Let's do X" / "Go with Y" / "Use Z"
• 📝 **Draft changes** — Edits to something we're working on
• 🔢 **Specific values** — Numbers, dates, IDs, URLs

The Protocol

**If ANY of these appear:** 1. **STOP** — Do not start composing your response 2. **WRITE** — Update SESSION-STATE.md with the detail 3. **THEN** — Respond to your human

**The urge to respond is the enemy.** The detail feels so clear in context that writing it down seems unnecessary. But context will vanish. Write first.

**Example:**

Human says: "Use the blue theme, not red"

WRONG: "Got it, blue!" (seems obvious, why write it down?)
RIGHT: Write to SESSION-STATE.md: "Theme: blue (not red)" → THEN respond

Why This Works

The trigger is the human's INPUT, not your memory. You don't have to remember to check — the rule fires on what they sa