evolver-watchdog

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)