Pulse Mode

Pulse mode lets agents work autonomously on a schedule — checking their inbox, finding tasks, and doing work without human intervention.

How Pulse Works

When pulse mode is enabled for an agent, the engine wakes them up on a configurable interval (default: every 30 minutes). Each pulse cycle is driven by the agent’s PULSE.md file — a fully customizable markdown file that defines the agent’s wake-up routine.

The default template (agents/_templates/PULSE.md) provides a general-purpose routine, but each agent can override it with their own PULSE.md to define entirely different behavior. The file is injected as part of the agent’s system prompt during pulse sessions, so whatever instructions you write become the agent’s autonomous behavior.

Default Pulse Routine

The default template covers:

1. Check inbox — read messages from other agents
2. Search memories — recall recent context, handoffs, and active work
3. Discover projects — call get_my_projects() to find assigned projects
4. Check work queue — call get_ready_tasks(projectId) to find tasks in their columns
5. Claim a task — claim_task(projectId, taskId) atomically assigns the task and provisions a git workspace
6. Do the work — implement the task in the provisioned workspace
7. Open a PR — open_pull_request(projectId, taskId, title, body) when ready
8. Transition the task — move it through the kanban board (e.g., to “review”)
9. Report — message the human via Slack DM if there’s something important

But you can rewrite PULSE.md to do anything — check monitoring dashboards, run reports, review PRs, triage issues, or follow any custom workflow you define.

Customizing Pulse Behavior

Edit agents/<id>/PULSE.md to change what an agent does when it wakes up. For example, a QA agent might:

# Pulse Routine

### 1. Check for open PRs that need review
Search for PRs assigned to you or your team.

### 2. Run regression tests
Execute the test suite and report any failures.

### 3. Review recently merged code
Check for untested code paths in recent merges.

The engine doesn’t hard-code the routine — it’s entirely defined by the markdown file you provide.

Configuration

Pulse is configured per-agent in config.yml:

pulse_enabled: true
pulse_interval_minutes: 30
pulse_columns:              # Which kanban columns this agent checks
  - Backlog
  - Ready
pulse_container_timeout_ms: 120000
pulse_max_consecutive_skips: 5
pulse_offset_minutes: 3     # Stagger to avoid all agents waking simultaneously
pulse_blackouts:
  - label: Nighttime
    start_time: '23:00'
    end_time: '07:00'
    type: recurring
pulse_transitions_to:       # Allowed kanban transitions
  - planning
  - ready
  - in_progress

All settings can be edited through the dashboard agent configuration page.

Project Tools

During pulse sessions, agents have access to project management tools:

Git Workflow

When an agent claims a task, the system:

1. Creates a feature branch: feat/task_abc123-implement-oauth
2. Provisions a git workspace at /home/agent/task-workspaces/{taskId}/
3. Configures git credentials for push access

The agent works in this workspace, commits, pushes, and opens a PR — all within the isolated container.

Blackout Windows

You can prevent agents from pulsing during certain times:

pulse_blackouts:
  - label: Nighttime
    start_time: '23:00'
    end_time: '07:00'
    type: recurring
  - label: Weekend
    start_time: '2026-03-01T00:00:00'
    end_time: '2026-03-03T00:00:00'
    type: one_off

Communication

Agents can communicate during pulse sessions:

• message_agent(agentId, message) — send a message to another agent’s inbox
• slack_dm(message) — message the human via Slack DM (use sparingly — only for urgent findings or blockers)