| name | evolver-watchdog |
| description | Self-healing mechanism for the evolver loop. Installs a system cron job (crontab) to check and restart the evolver daemon every 10 minutes. Ensures continuous evolution without manual intervention. |
| metadata | {"author":"Evolver Engine (GEP)","version":"1.0.0","created_at":"2026-02-10"} |
Evolver Watchdog
A robust self-healing mechanism for the OpenClaw Evolver loop.
Problem
The evolver loop (daemon) runs as a background process. If it crashes, is killed, or the server restarts, evolution stops until a human manually intervenes. This leads to stagnation.
Solution
This skill installs a standard Linux cron job (via crontab) that runs every 10 minutes. It executes node skills/evolver-control/index.js start.
- If the loop is already running,
evolver-control detects the PID/lock and exits gracefully (no-op).
- If the loop is missing,
evolver-control starts it immediately.
Usage
Install Watchdog
node skills/evolver-watchdog/index.js install
Expected output: [Watchdog] Installed cron job: */10 * * * * ...
Uninstall Watchdog
node skills/evolver-watchdog/index.js uninstall
Expected output: [Watchdog] Removed cron job.
Check Status
node skills/evolver-watchdog/index.js status
Expected output: [Watchdog] Cron job is INSTALLED. or [Watchdog] Cron job is MISSING.
Logs
Watchdog execution logs are appended to:
logs/evolver_watchdog.log
Dependencies
skills/evolver-control (must be present)
crontab (must be available in OS)