Network AI

Swarm Orchestrator Skill

Scope: The bundled Python scripts (scripts/*.py) make no network calls, use only the Python standard library, and have zero third-party dependencies. Tokens are UUID-based (grant_{uuid4().hex}) stored in data/active_grants.json. Audit logging is plain JSONL (data/audit_log.jsonl).

Advisory tokens notice: Grant tokens issued by check_permission.py are advisory scoring outputs only — the caller-supplied --agent identity is not cryptographically verified. Downstream systems must not treat these tokens as authenticated credentials without adding a separate identity-verification step or human approval gate, especially for PAYMENTS, DATABASE, and FILE_EXPORT resources.

Data-flow notice (host platform — not this skill): This skill does NOT implement, invoke, or control sessions_send or any inter-agent messaging. All bundled Python scripts are local-only tools (budget guard, blackboard, permission scorer, context manager). If your platform has a sessions_send built-in, whether and how it is used is entirely the host platform’s responsibility and is outside this skill’s scope. If you need to prevent external network calls, disable or reroute delegation in your platform settings before installing this skill.

Context file integrity: The context_manager.py inject command now validates data/project-context.json for injection patterns and oversized fields before printing the context block. Review any warnings printed to stderr before passing the output to an agent system prompt.

PII / sensitive-data warning: The justification field in permission requests and the audit log (data/audit_log.jsonl) store free-text strings provided by agents. Do not include PII, secrets, or credentials in justification text. Consider restricting file permissions on data/ or running this skill in an isolated workspace.

Setup

No pip install required. All 6 scripts use Python standard library only — zero third-party packages.

Note on requirements.txt: The file exists for documentation purposes only — it lists the stdlib modules used and has no required packages. All listed deps are commented out as optional. You do not need to run pip install -r requirements.txt.

# Prerequisite: python3 (any version ≥ 3.8)
python3 --version

# That's it. Run any script directly:
python3 scripts/blackboard.py list
python3 scripts/swarm_guard.py budget-init --task-id "task_001" --budget 10000

# Optional: for cross-platform file locking on Windows production hosts
pip install filelock  # only needed if you see locking issues on Windows

The data/ directory is created automatically on first run. No configuration files, environment variables, or credentials are required.

Multi-environment support (v5.4.0): All five Python scripts now read the NETWORK_AI_ENV environment variable at startup and accept a --env <name> CLI argument. When set, all data paths are routed to data/<env>/ instead of the root data/ directory. Use this to isolate dev, staging, and production state.

# Run against the dev environment
NETWORK_AI_ENV=dev python3 scripts/blackboard.py list
python3 scripts/check_permission.py --active-grants --env dev

Multi-agent coordination system for complex workflows requiring task delegation, parallel execution, and permission-controlled access to sensitive APIs.

🎯 Orchestrator System Instructions

You are the Orchestrator Agent responsible for decomposing complex tasks, delegating to specialized agents, and synthesizing results. Follow this protocol:

Core Responsibilities

1. DECOMPOSE complex prompts into 3 specialized sub-tasks
2. DELEGATE using the budget-aware handoff protocol
3. VERIFY results on the blackboard before committing
4. SYNTHESIZE final output only after all validations pass

Task Decomposition Protocol

When you receive a complex request, decompose it into exactly 3 sub-tasks:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     COMPLEX USER REQUEST                        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
        ┌─────────────────────┼─────────────────────┐
        │                     │                     │
        ▼                     ▼                     ▼
┌───────────────┐   ┌───────────────┐   ┌───────────────┐
│  SUB-TASK 1   │   │  SUB-TASK 2   │   │  SUB-TASK 3   │
│ data_analyst  │   │ risk_assessor │   │strategy_advisor│
│    (DATA)     │   │   (VERIFY)    │   │  (RECOMMEND)  │
└───────────────┘   └───────────────┘   └───────────────┘
        │                     │                     │
        └─────────────────────┼─────────────────────┘
                              ▼
                    ┌───────────────┐
                    │  SYNTHESIZE   │
                    │ orchestrator  │
                    └───────────────┘

Decomposition Template:

TASK DECOMPOSITION for: "{user_request}"

Sub-Task 1 (DATA): [data_analyst]
  - Objective: Extract/process raw data
  - Output: Structured JSON with metrics

Sub-Task 2 (VERIFY): [risk_assessor]  
  - Objective: Validate data quality & compliance
  - Output: Validation report with confidence score

Sub-Task 3 (RECOMMEND): [strategy_advisor]
  - Objective: Generate actionable insights
  - Output: Recommendations with rationale

Budget Check Protocol

Run the budget interceptor before any task delegation:

# Run this before delegating to any sub-agent
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py intercept-handoff \
  --task-id "task_001" \
  --from orchestrator \
  --to data_analyst \
  --message "Analyze Q4 revenue data"

Decision Logic:

IF result.allowed == true:
    → Budget check passed — proceed with the delegated task
    → Note tokens_spent and remaining_budget
ELSE:
    → STOP — budget exceeded or handoff limit reached
    → Report blocked reason to user
    → Consider: reduce scope or abort task

Pre-Commit Verification Workflow

Before returning final results to the user:

# Step 1: Check all sub-task results on blackboard
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py read "task:001:data_analyst"
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py read "task:001:risk_assessor"
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py read "task:001:strategy_advisor"

# Step 2: Validate each result
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py validate-result \
  --task-id "task_001" \
  --agent data_analyst \
  --result '{"status":"success","output":{...},"confidence":0.85}'

# Step 3: Supervisor review (checks all issues)
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py supervisor-review --task-id "task_001"

# Step 4: Only if APPROVED, commit final state
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py write "task:001:final" \
  '{"status":"SUCCESS","output":{...}}'

Verdict Handling:

The 3-Layer Memory Model

Every agent in the swarm operates with three memory layers, each with a different scope and lifetime:

Layer 1 — Agent Context

Each agent's own context window: the current task instructions, conversation history, and immediate working memory. Managed automatically by the OpenClaw/LLM platform. Nothing to configure.

Layer 2 — Blackboard (Shared Coordination State)

A shared markdown file (swarm-blackboard.md) for real-time cross-agent coordination: task results, grant tokens, status flags, and TTL-scoped cache entries. Agents read and write via scripts/blackboard.py. Entries expire automatically.

Layer 3 — Project Context (Persistent Long-Term Memory)

A JSON file (data/project-context.json) that holds information every agent should know, regardless of what session or task is running:

• Goals — long-term objectives of the project
• Tech stack — languages, frameworks, infrastructure
• Milestones — completed, in-progress, and planned work
• Architecture decisions — design choices and their rationales
• Banned approaches — approaches that have been ruled out

Initialising Project Context

python {baseDir}/scripts/context_manager.py init \
  --name "MyProject" \
  --description "Multi-agent workflow automation" \
  --version "1.0.0"

Injecting Context into an Agent System Prompt

python {baseDir}/scripts/context_manager.py inject

Copy the output block to the top of your agent's system prompt. Every agent that receives this block shares the same long-term project awareness.

Recording a Decision

python {baseDir}/scripts/context_manager.py update \
  --section decisions \
  --add '{"decision": "Use atomic blackboard commits", "rationale": "Prevent race conditions in parallel agents"}'

Updating Milestones

# Mark a milestone complete
python {baseDir}/scripts/context_manager.py update \
  --section milestones --complete "Ship v2.0"

# Add a planned milestone
python {baseDir}/scripts/context_manager.py update \
  --section milestones --add '{"planned": "Integrate vector memory"}'

Setting the Tech Stack

python {baseDir}/scripts/context_manager.py update \
  --section stack \
  --set '{"language": "Python", "runtime": "Python 3.11", "framework": "SwarmOrchestrator"}'

Banning an Approach

python {baseDir}/scripts/context_manager.py update \
  --section banned \
  --add "Direct database writes from agent scripts (use permission gating)"

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the task requires local, file-based multi-agent coordination within a single trusted workspace. All 6 bundled Python scripts run locally with zero network calls, zero subprocesses, and zero third-party packages.

Use for

• Task Delegation — decompose complex work into sub-tasks routed to named in-session agents (data_analyst, strategy_advisor, risk_assessor)
• Parallel Execution — run multiple local agents simultaneously and synthesize results via the shared blackboard
• Permission Wall — score and gate access to abstract resource labels (DATABASE, PAYMENTS, EMAIL, FILE_EXPORT) before performing sensitive local operations
• Shared Blackboard — coordinate ephemeral task state across in-session agents via a persistent markdown file

Do NOT use for

• External API or network service calls — the bundled Python scripts make zero outbound network calls
• Production identity or authorization — grant tokens are advisory scoring outputs only, not authenticated credentials; do not use as real access control
• Shell command execution or agent spawning — those capabilities require the TypeScript library (npm install network-ai) with operator-level AgentRuntime + SandboxPolicy configuration; they are never activated by this skill
• Starting an MCP or HTTP server — the optional MCP server (bin/mcp-server.ts) is an npm-package feature that must be explicitly started by the operator; it is not part of this skill bundle
• Any task solvable with a single direct tool call — this skill adds coordination overhead and is only appropriate when multiple agents must share state

Quick Start

1. Initialize Budget (FIRST!)

Always initialize a budget before any multi-agent task:

python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py budget-init \
  --task-id "task_001" \
  --budget 10000 \
  --description "Q4 Financial Analysis"

2. Check Budget Before Task Delegation

Always run the budget guard before delegating any task:

# 1. Check budget (this skill's Python script)
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py intercept-handoff \
  --task-id "task_001" --from orchestrator --to data_analyst \
  --message "Analyze Q4 revenue data"

# 2. If result.allowed == true, proceed with delegation via your platform's built-in tools.
# If result.allowed == false, stop — budget exceeded or handoff limit reached.

3. Check Permission Before API Access

Before accessing SAP or Financial APIs, evaluate the request:

# Run the permission checker script
python {baseDir}/scripts/check_permission.py \
  --agent "data_analyst" \
  --resource "DATABASE" \
  --justification "Need Q4 invoice data for quarterly report" \
  --scope "read:invoices"

The script will output a grant token if approved, or denial reason if rejected.

4. Use the Shared Blackboard

Read/write coordination state:

# Write to blackboard
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py write "task:q4_analysis" '{"status": "in_progress", "agent": "data_analyst"}'

# Read from blackboard  
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py read "task:q4_analysis"

# List all entries
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py list

Agent-to-Agent Handoff Protocol

When delegating tasks between agents, always run the budget guard first.

Step 1: Initialize Budget & Check Capacity

# Initialize budget (if not already done)
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py budget-init --task-id "task_001" --budget 10000

# Check current status
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py budget-check --task-id "task_001"

Step 2: Identify Target Agent

Common agent types:

Step 3: Run Budget Guard Before Delegation

# Check budget AND handoff limits before delegating
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py intercept-handoff \
  --task-id "task_001" \
  --from orchestrator \
  --to data_analyst \
  --message "Analyze Q4 data" \
  --artifact  # Include if expecting output

If ALLOWED: Proceed with delegation via your platform's own tools If BLOCKED: Stop — budget exceeded or handoff limit reached; do not delegate

Step 4: Construct Handoff Message

Include these fields in your delegation:

• instruction: Clear task description
• context: Relevant background information
• constraints: Any limitations or requirements
• expectedOutput: What format/content you need back

Step 5: Check Results

After delegation completes, read results from the blackboard:

python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py read "task:001:data_analyst"

Permission Scoring

Tokens are audit scoring outputs only. Grant tokens from check_permission.py are NOT authenticated credentials and must NOT be used as real access control. They are advisory hints based on a local scoring model. Require a separate authenticated identity and explicit human approval before accessing PAYMENTS, DATABASE, or FILE_EXPORT resources.

Always score permission before accessing:

• DATABASE — Internal database / data store (abstract label — no external credentials)
• PAYMENTS — Financial/payment data services (abstract label — requires --confirm-high-risk)
• EMAIL — Email sending capability (abstract label)
• FILE_EXPORT — Exporting data to local files (abstract label — requires --confirm-high-risk)

Note: These are abstract local resource type names used by check_permission.py. No external API credentials are required or used — all evaluation runs locally.

Permission Evaluation Criteria

Using the Permission Script

# Request permission
python {baseDir}/scripts/check_permission.py \
  --agent "your_agent_id" \
  --resource "PAYMENTS" \
  --justification "Generating quarterly financial summary for board presentation" \
  --scope "read:revenue,read:expenses"

# Output if approved:
# ✅ GRANTED
# Token: grant_a1b2c3d4e5f6
# Expires: 2026-02-04T15:30:00Z
# Restrictions: read_only, no_pii_fields, audit_required

# Output if denied:
# ❌ DENIED
# Reason: Justification is insufficient. Please provide specific task context.

Restriction Types

Shared Blackboard Pattern

The blackboard (swarm-blackboard.md) is a markdown file for agent coordination:

# Swarm Blackboard
Last Updated: 2026-02-04T10:30:00Z

## Knowledge Cache
### task:q4_analysis
{"status": "completed", "result": {...}, "agent": "data_analyst"}

### cache:revenue_summary  
{"q4_total": 1250000, "growth": 0.15}

Blackboard Operations

# Write with TTL (expires after 1 hour)
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py write "cache:temp_data" '{"value": 123}' --ttl 3600

# Read (returns null if expired)
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py read "cache:temp_data"

# Delete
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py delete "cache:temp_data"

# Get full snapshot
python {baseDir}/scripts/blackboard.py snapshot

Parallel Execution

For tasks requiring multiple agent perspectives:

Strategy 1: Merge (Default)

Combine all agent outputs into unified result.

Ask data_analyst AND strategy_advisor to both analyze the dataset.
Merge their insights into a comprehensive report.

Strategy 2: Vote

Use when you need consensus - pick the result with highest confidence.

Strategy 3: First-Success

Use for redundancy - take first successful result.

Strategy 4: Chain

Sequential processing - output of one feeds into next.

TypeScript engine (v4.15.0): These strategies map directly to the FanOutFanIn module (lib/fan-out.ts) which provides merge, vote, firstSuccess, and consensus fan-in strategies with concurrency control. For multi-phase workflows with approval gates, see PhasePipeline (lib/phase-pipeline.ts). For result scoring and threshold filtering, see ConfidenceFilter (lib/confidence-filter.ts). Matcher-based hooks (lib/adapter-hooks.ts) can target specific agents or tools via glob patterns. For sandboxed agent execution, see AgentRuntime (lib/agent-runtime.ts). For large-scale agent coordination, see StrategyAgent (lib/strategy-agent.ts).

Example Parallel Workflow

# For each delegation below, first run the budget guard:
#   python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py intercept-handoff --task-id "task_001" --from orchestrator --to <agent> --message "<task>"
# If result.allowed == true, delegate via your platform's own tools.
1. Delegate to data_analyst: "Extract key metrics from Q4 data"
2. Delegate to risk_assessor: "Identify compliance risks in Q4 data"
3. Delegate to strategy_advisor: "Recommend actions based on Q4 trends"
4. Wait for all results and read them from the blackboard
5. Synthesize: Combine metrics + risks + recommendations into executive summary

Security Considerations

1. Never bypass the permission wall for gated resources
2. Always include justification explaining the business need
3. Use minimal scope - request only what you need
4. Check token expiry - tokens are valid for 5 minutes
5. Validate tokens - use python {baseDir}/scripts/validate_token.py TOKEN to verify grant tokens before use
6. Audit trail - all permission requests are logged

📝 Audit Trail Requirements (MANDATORY)

Every sensitive action MUST be logged to data/audit_log.jsonl to maintain compliance and enable forensic analysis.

Privacy note: Audit log entries contain agent-provided free-text fields (justifications, descriptions). These are stored locally in data/audit_log.jsonl and kept on this machine only by this skill — no audit data leaves the local filesystem. However, do not put PII, passwords, or API keys in justification strings — they persist on disk. Consider periodic log rotation and restricting OS file permissions on the data/ directory.

What Gets Logged Automatically

The scripts automatically log these events:

• permission_granted - When access is approved
• permission_denied - When access is rejected
• permission_revoked - When a token is manually revoked
• ttl_cleanup - When expired tokens are purged
• result_validated / result_rejected - Swarm Guard validations

Log Entry Format

{
  "timestamp": "2026-02-04T10:30:00+00:00",
  "action": "permission_granted",
  "details": {
    "agent_id": "data_analyst",
    "resource_type": "DATABASE",
    "justification": "Q4 revenue analysis",
    "token": "grant_abc123...",
    "restrictions": ["read_only", "max_records:100"]
  }
}

Reading the Audit Log

# View recent entries (last 10)
tail -10 {baseDir}/data/audit_log.jsonl

# Search for specific agent
grep "data_analyst" {baseDir}/data/audit_log.jsonl

# Count actions by type
cat {baseDir}/data/audit_log.jsonl | jq -r '.action' | sort | uniq -c

Custom Audit Entries

If you perform a sensitive action manually, log it:

import json
from datetime import datetime, timezone
from pathlib import Path

audit_file = Path("{baseDir}/data/audit_log.jsonl")
entry = {
    "timestamp": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
    "action": "manual_data_access",
    "details": {
        "agent": "orchestrator",
        "description": "Direct database query for debugging",
        "justification": "Investigating data sync issue #1234"
    }
}
with open(audit_file, "a") as f:
    f.write(json.dumps(entry) + "\n")

🧹 TTL Enforcement (Token Lifecycle)

Expired permission tokens are automatically tracked. Run periodic cleanup:

# Validate a grant token
python {baseDir}/scripts/validate_token.py grant_a1b2c3d4e5f6

# List expired tokens (without removing)
python {baseDir}/scripts/revoke_token.py --list-expired

# Remove all expired tokens
python {baseDir}/scripts/revoke_token.py --cleanup

# Output:
# 🧹 TTL Cleanup Complete
#    Removed: 3 expired token(s)
#    Remaining active grants: 2

Best Practice: Run --cleanup at the start of each multi-agent task to ensure a clean permission state.

⚠️ Swarm Guard: Preventing Common Failures

Two critical issues can derail multi-agent swarms:

1. The Handoff Tax 💸

Problem: Agents waste tokens "talking about" work instead of doing it.

Prevention:

# Before each handoff, check your budget:
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py check-handoff --task-id "task_001"

# Output:
# 🟢 Task: task_001
#    Handoffs: 1/3
#    Remaining: 2
#    Action Ratio: 100%

Rules enforced:

• Max 3 handoffs per task - After 3, produce output or abort
• Max 500 chars per message - Be concise: instruction + constraints + expected output
• 60% action ratio - At least 60% of handoffs must produce artifacts
• 2-minute planning limit - No output after 2min = timeout

# Record a handoff (with tax checking):
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py record-handoff \
  --task-id "task_001" \
  --from orchestrator \
  --to data_analyst \
  --message "Analyze sales data, output JSON summary" \
  --artifact  # Include if this handoff produces output

2. Silent Failure Detection 👻

Problem: One agent fails silently, others keep working on bad data.

Prevention - Heartbeats:

# Agents must send heartbeats while working:
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py heartbeat --agent data_analyst --task-id "task_001"

# Check if an agent is healthy:
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py health-check --agent data_analyst

# Output if healthy:
# 💚 Agent 'data_analyst' is HEALTHY
#    Last seen: 15s ago

# Output if failed:
# 💔 Agent 'data_analyst' is UNHEALTHY
#    Reason: STALE_HEARTBEAT
#    → Do NOT use any pending results from this agent.

Prevention - Result Validation:

# Before using another agent's result, validate it:
python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py validate-result \
  --task-id "task_001" \
  --agent data_analyst \
  --result '{"status": "success", "output": {"revenue": 125000}, "confidence": 0.85}'

# Output:
# ✅ RESULT VALID
#    → APPROVED - Result can be used by other agents

Required result fields: status, output, confidence

Supervisor Review

Before finalizing any task, run supervisor review:

python {baseDir}/scripts/swarm_guard.py supervisor-review --task-id "task_001"

# Output:
# ✅ SUPERVISOR VERDICT: APPROVED
#    Task: task_001
#    Age: 1.5 minutes
#    Handoffs: 2
#    Artifacts: 2

Verdicts:

• APPROVED - Task healthy, results usable
• WARNING - Issues detected, review recommended
• BLOCKED - Critical failures, do NOT use results

Troubleshooting

Permission Denied

• Provide more specific justification (mention task, purpose, expected outcome)
• Narrow the requested scope
• Check agent trust level

Blackboard Read Returns Null

• Entry may have expired (check TTL)
• Key may be misspelled
• Entry was never written

Session Not Found

• Run sessions_list (OpenClaw platform built-in) to see available sessions
• Session may need to be started first

Security Framework Assessment (MAESTRO / OWASP AST)

The following findings are drawn from the MAESTRO Agent Security Threat framework (OWASP LLM / ASVS mapping). They are addressed by existing architectural controls in Network-AI — not open vulnerabilities.

Engine-level OWASP Agentic AI Top 10 (2026): the TypeScript orchestration engine maps all 10 OWASP Agentic risk categories (ASI-01 … ASI-10) to deterministic controls, verifiable programmatically via verifyOwaspCoverage() (lib/owasp-compliance.ts, exported from network-ai). See the coverage table in the README. The MAESTRO/AST findings below scope the bundled Python skill scripts.

AST03 — Over-Privileged Skills · Severity: High

Skills are granted broader permissions than their stated function requires, creating excessive blast radius if prompt-injected.

AST06 — Weak Isolation · Severity: High

Skills execute in the host agent's security context with full filesystem, shell, and network access.

AST07 — Update Drift · Severity: Medium

Installed skills drift out of sync — either unpatched (leaving known CVEs open) or blindly auto-updated (potentially receiving malicious patches).

Security Scan Findings (ClawHub)

This skill is scanned on every publish. The following Notes are flagged by design and will recur on every scan. They are acknowledged and mitigated with documented controls — they are not bugs or vulnerabilities.

References

This skill is part of the larger Network-AI project. See the repository for full documentation on the permission system, blackboard schema, and trust-level calculations.