HiClaw Manager Agent
The HiClaw Manager is the AI chief of staff — it coordinates Workers, creates and tracks tasks, monitors agent health, and serves as the bridge between human decisions and agent execution.
Role & Identity
The Manager Agent is defined by its SOUL.md file, which establishes its identity, security rules, and behavioral guidelines. Key principles:
- Serve the human admin — the Manager exists to execute human decisions, not to act autonomously
- Full transparency — all actions are visible in shared Matrix rooms
- Security first — never expose credentials, always use consumer tokens for Workers
- Proactive monitoring — detect stuck workers and report issues before being asked
11 Built-in Manager Skills
The HiClaw Manager comes equipped with 11 management skills. Each skill is a modular capability defined in manager/agent/skills/:
Task Skills
task-management
Core task CRUD: assign tasks to workers, track progress, mark completion. The foundation of HiClaw's orchestration.
task-coordination
Synchronize shared task state when multiple Workers collaborate on the same project.
project-management
Orchestrate multi-worker projects with dependencies, milestones, and cross-worker coordination.
Worker Skills
worker-management
Full Worker lifecycle: create, reset, update configuration, and destroy workers on demand.
git-delegation-management
Execute git operations (clone, commit, push, PR) on behalf of workers who lack direct git access.
coding-cli-management
Run AI coding CLIs (Gemini CLI, Claude Code, Qoder) in the Manager's environment for workers.
Infrastructure Skills
higress-gateway-management
Configure consumers, routes, and providers in the Higress AI Gateway.
matrix-server-management
Manage Matrix rooms, accounts, and files on the Tuwunel server.
mcp-server-management
Control which MCP Servers each worker can access. Central to the HiClaw security model.
channel-management
Route messages across multiple IM channels (Matrix, Discord, Feishu, Telegram) and handle escalation.
model-switch
Switch the Manager's LLM model at runtime without restarting the container.
Heartbeat Mechanism
The HiClaw Manager runs periodic heartbeat checks defined in HEARTBEAT.md:
- Polls all active Workers at regular intervals
- Detects stuck or unresponsive workers automatically
- Reports health status to the human admin in the Manager room
- Can reset or recreate workers that fail health checks
Worker Lifecycle Management
When you ask the HiClaw Manager to create a worker, it performs a multi-step process:
- Container creation — Spins up a new Docker container from the worker image
- Gateway registration — Registers a consumer token and routes in Higress
- Matrix setup — Creates a Matrix account and dedicated room
- Skill injection — Pushes the appropriate skills to the worker
- Room invitation — Invites the human admin and worker to a shared room
Configuration
The Manager's configuration lives in manager/agent/:
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
SOUL.md | Manager identity, security rules, and behavioral guidelines |
TOOLS.md | Quick reference for all 11 management skills |
HEARTBEAT.md | Periodic health check routine configuration |
AGENTS.md | Codebase navigation guide for the Manager |
skills/ | Directory containing all 11 skill definitions |
worker-skills/ | Skill templates pushed to new workers |
worker-agent/ | Worker template configuration |
Runtime LLM Switching
The HiClaw Manager supports switching its underlying LLM at runtime via the model-switch skill. Supported providers include:
- Alibaba Cloud Bailian — Default provider
- OpenAI-compatible — DeepSeek, Claude, and others
- Qwen models — Various sizes available