Agent Atlas / Runtimes and workbenches

openclaw/openclaw

An agent runtime whose sessions, memory, command approval, scheduled wake-ups, audit trails, and channel-facing controls make long-lived operation the central teaching surface.

Agent runtime Scope profile Reported + sourced Reviewed August 26, 2026

Intended operator

People running persistent agents across terminal, messaging, and scheduled work.

Primary surfaces

agent runtime / sessions and channels / scheduled operations

Tracked repository

openclaw/openclaw

Teaching mechanism

A generated diff needs a reproducible base

Diff evidence becomes trustworthy only when the runtime records enough repository state to distinguish agent output from a guessed comparison.

Evidence limitA better diff base does not prove the patch is correct or that every downstream review preserves the provenance.

Inspect the source

System map status

Reporting is still in progress.

This scope profile names the project's place in the field and one useful mechanism. It does not claim that every runtime boundary has been inspected.

Learn Through This Project

10 lessons

Chapter 1 Before the First Model Request Chapter 2 The Invisible Prompt Chapter 3 Tool Calls: Contract, Authorization, Execution Chapter 4 Loops, Workflows, and Recovery Chapter 5 Delegation Is a Distributed System Chapter 6 Memory Is a Typed Storage Contract Chapter 7 The Approval Trap Chapter 8 The Human Control Loop Chapter 9 Trust Must Make Its Case Chapter 10 The Future Has Three Branches

Compare Its Boundaries

8 labs

Comparison labTool Contracts Comparison labGoverned Memory Comparison labDelegation Receipts Comparison labApproval Boundaries Comparison labHuman Workbench Comparison labSessions And Recovery Comparison labEvidence And Evaluation Comparison labMaturity Signals

Latest Reporting

8 articles

A Shared Terminal Is Not Shared Permission

August 26, 2026 — OpenClaw’s new terminal-input path separates an agent being allowed to see an operator’s terminal from being allowed to send a keystroke into it. openclaw/openclaw

A Release Should Not Fetch Its Rules From a Moving Main

August 22, 2026 — OpenClaw is making a narrow release promise: when the product is frozen, the workflow allowed to publish it must stay identifiable even after main changes. openclaw/openclaw

When a Context Limit Drops the User’s Turn

August 17, 2026 — OpenClaw found a required Codex compaction preflight treating an intentional no-op as a fatal failure—so an overlong session could lose the incoming user turn before the model ever answered. openai/codex, openclaw/openclaw

OpenClaw’s shared channels gain a per-requester login

August 12, 2026 — A new opt-in OAuth mode for HTTP MCP servers lets a trusted sender connect their own account instead of letting the whole room run on one operator credential. openclaw/openclaw

QM is trying to turn the personal agent into company infrastructure

August 1, 2026 — Y Combinator's new open-source harness does not win its case by running Codex or Claude in Slack. Its more consequential bet is that every person and room needs a clearly owned memory, workspace, permission set, schedule, and durable computer. yc-software/qm, block/buzz, egregore-labs/egregore, openclaw/openclaw, NousResearch/hermes-agent, crewAIInc/crewAI, microsoft/agent-framework

When an Agent Sees Two MCP Servers Called Docs

July 28, 2026 — OpenClaw’s Code Mode has a new answer to a quietly consequential question: when several connected machines offer a server called docs , how does an agent know which one it is calling? openclaw/openclaw

The Diff Can't Be Guesswork Once an Agent Writes

July 20, 2026 — OpenClaw is making a simple rule explicit: when an agent writes a file, a review surface should show the patch it can prove—and show uncertainty when it cannot. openclaw/openclaw, openai/codex

Background Agent Work Needs a Receipt

July 15, 2026 — Hermes and OpenClaw are fixing different failure windows in the same promise: delegated work has to arrive somewhere a person can use it. NousResearch/hermes-agent, openclaw/openclaw

Primary Sources

OpenClaw repository

Primary public runtime source.

Open Questions

Which background effects remain attributable after a session sleeps, wakes, migrates, or exits?

Evidence state describes what this Atlas profile can support today. It is not a product score and it is not evidence that uninspected capabilities are absent.