# Phoenixclaw

> Passive journaling skill that scans daily conversations via cron to generate markdown journals using semantic understanding. Use when: - User requests journaling ("Show me my journal", "What did I do today?") - User asks for pattern analysis ("Analyze my patterns", "How am I doing?") - User requests summaries ("Generate weekly/monthly summary")

- Skill: `kernel8901/phoenixclaw` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 15 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add kernel8901/phoenixclaw`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/kernel8901/phoenixclaw/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Docs & Writing
- Author: kernel8901 (https://skillmd.com/u/kernel8901)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/kernel8901/phoenixclaw

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# PhoenixClaw: Zero-Tag Passive Journaling

PhoenixClaw automatically distills daily conversations into meaningful reflections using semantic intelligence.

Automatically identifies journal-worthy moments, patterns, and growth opportunities.

## 🛠️ Core Workflow

> [!critical] **MANDATORY: Complete Workflow Execution**
> This 9-step workflow MUST be executed in full regardless of invocation method:
> - **Cron execution** (10 PM nightly)
> - **Manual invocation** ("Show me my journal", "Generate today's journal", etc.)
> - **Regeneration requests** ("Regenerate my journal", "Update today's entry")
> 
> **Never skip steps.** Partial execution causes:
> - Missing images (session logs not scanned)
> - Missing finance data (Ledger plugin not triggered)
> - Incomplete journals (plugins not executed)

PhoenixClaw follows a structured pipeline to ensure consistency and depth:

1. **User Configuration:** Check for `~/.phoenixclaw/config.yaml`. If missing, initiate the onboarding flow defined in `references/user-config.md`.

2. **Context Retrieval:** 
   - Call `memory_get` for the current day's memory
   - **CRITICAL: Scan ALL raw session logs and filter by message timestamp**. Session files are often split across multiple files. Do NOT classify images by session file `mtime`:
      ```bash
      # Read candidate session files (all or recent), then filter each message by timestamp
      TODAY=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
      find ~/.openclaw/sessions -name "*.jsonl" -print0 |
        xargs -0 jq -cr --arg day "$TODAY" '
          select((.timestamp // "")[:10] == $day)
        '
      ```
      Read **all matching files** regardless of their numeric naming (e.g., file_22, file_23 may be earlier in name but still contain today's messages).
    - **EXTRACT IMAGES FROM SESSION LOGS**: Session logs contain `type: "image"` entries with file paths. You MUST:
      1. Find all image entries (e.g., `"type":"image"`)
      2. Keep only entries where message `timestamp` is in the target date range
      3. Extract the `file_path` or `url` fields
      4. Copy files into `assets/YYYY-MM-DD/`
      5. Rename with descriptive names when possible
   - **Why session logs are mandatory**: `memory_get` returns **text only**. Image metadata, photo references, and media attachments are **only available in session logs**. Skipping session logs = missing all photos.
    - **Edge case - Midnight boundary**: For late-night activity that spans midnight, expand the **timestamp** range to include spillover windows (for example, previous day 23:00-24:00) and still filter per-message by `timestamp`.
   - If memory is sparse, reconstruct context from session logs, then update daily memory
   - Incorporate historical context via `memory_search` (skip if embeddings unavailable)

3. **Moment Identification:** Identify "journal-worthy" content: critical decisions, emotional shifts, milestones, or shared media. See `references/media-handling.md` for photo processing. This step generates the `moments` data structure that plugins depend on.
   **Image Processing (CRITICAL)**:
   - For each extracted image, generate descriptive alt-text via Vision Analysis
   - Categorize images (food, selfie, screenshot, document, etc.)
   - Match images to moments (e.g., breakfast photo → breakfast moment)
   - Store image metadata with moments for journal embedding

4. **Pattern Recognition:** Detect recurring themes, mood fluctuations, and energy levels. Map these to growth opportunities using `references/skill-recommendations.md`.

5. **Plugin Execution:** Execute all registered plugins at their declared hook points. See `references/plugin-protocol.md` for the complete plugin lifecycle:
   - `pre-analysis` → before conversation analysis
   - `post-moment-analysis` → **Ledger and other primary plugins execute here**
   - `post-pattern-analysis` → after patterns detected
   - `journal-generation` → plugins inject custom sections
   - `post-journal` → after journal complete


6. **Journal Generation:** Synthesize the day's events into a beautiful Markdown file using `assets/daily-template.md`. Follow the visual guidelines in `references/visual-design.md`. **Include all plugin-generated sections** at their declared `section_order` positions.
   - **Embed curated images only**, not every image. Prioritize highlights and moments.
   - **Route finance screenshots to Ledger** sections (receipts, invoices, transaction proofs).
   - Use Obsidian format from `references/media-handling.md` with descriptive captions.

7. **Timeline Integration:** If significant events occurred, append them to the master index in `timeline.md` using the format from `assets/timeline-template.md` and `references/obsidian-format.md`.

8. **Growth Mapping:** Update `growth-map.md` (based on `assets/growth-map-template.md`) if new behavioral patterns or skill interests are detected.

9. **Profile Evolution:** Update the long-term user profile (`profile.md`) to reflect the latest observations on values, goals, and personality traits. See `references/profile-evolution.md` and `assets/profile-template.md`.

## ⏰ Cron & Passive Operation
PhoenixClaw is designed to run without user intervention. It utilizes OpenClaw's built-in cron system to trigger its analysis daily at 10:00 PM local time (0 22 * * *).
- Setup details can be found in `references/cron-setup.md`.
- **Mode:** Primarily Passive. The AI proactively summarizes the day's activities without being asked.

## 💬 Explicit Triggers

While passive by design, users can interact with PhoenixClaw directly using these phrases:
- *"Show me my journal for today/yesterday."*
- *"What did I accomplish today?"*
- *"Analyze my mood patterns over the last week."*
- *"Generate my weekly/monthly summary."*
- *"How am I doing on my personal goals?"*
- *"Regenerate my journal."* / *"重新生成日记"*

> [!warning] **Manual Invocation = Full Pipeline**
> When users request journal generation/regeneration, you MUST execute the **complete 9-step Core Workflow** above. This ensures:
> - **Photos are included** (via session log scanning)
> - **Ledger plugin runs** (via `post-moment-analysis` hook)
> - **All plugins execute** (at their respective hook points)
> 
> **Common mistakes to avoid:**
> - ❌ Only calling `memory_get` (misses photos)
> - ❌ Skipping moment identification (plugins never trigger)
> - ❌ Generating journal directly without plugin sections

## 📚 Documentation Reference
### References (`references/`)
- `user-config.md`: Initial onboarding and persistence settings.
- `cron-setup.md`: Technical configuration for nightly automation.
- `plugin-protocol.md`: Plugin architecture, hook points, and integration protocol.
- `media-handling.md`: Strategies for extracting meaning from photos and rich media.
- `visual-design.md`: Layout principles for readability and aesthetics.
- `obsidian-format.md`: Ensuring compatibility with Obsidian and other PKM tools.
- `profile-evolution.md`: How the system maintains a long-term user identity.
- `skill-recommendations.md`: Logic for suggesting new skills based on journal insights.

### Assets (`assets/`)
- `daily-template.md`: The blueprint for daily journal entries.
- `weekly-template.md`: The blueprint for high-level weekly summaries.
- `profile-template.md`: Structure for the `profile.md` persistent identity file.
- `timeline-template.md`: Structure for the `timeline.md` chronological index.
- `growth-map-template.md`: Structure for the `growth-map.md` thematic index.

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