theagentledger Habit Tracker
By The Agent Ledger — AI workflows for solopreneurs.
Goals tell you where you're going. Habits determine whether you actually get there.
This skill gives your agent a persistent, structured framework for tracking daily habits — logging completions, maintaining streaks, calculating weekly averages, and surfacing accountability nudges before behaviors erode.
What This Skill Does
- Logs daily habit completions in a structured state file
- Tracks streaks and calculates 7-day / 30-day completion rates
- Surfaces overdue habits during heartbeat checks
- Generates weekly habit reports with trend analysis
- Integrates with goal-tracker (habits → outcomes), solopreneur-assistant (weekly review), and financial-tracker (revenue-correlated habits)
Quick Setup (5 Minutes)
Step 1: Add to AGENTS.md
Paste this into your AGENTS.md standing instructions:
## Habit Tracking
- State file: `habit-state.json` (habit definitions + daily log)
- Log completions when I report them (e.g., "did my writing today", "workout done")
- During heartbeat: check for habits not yet logged today; surface any that are overdue by >2 hours past their usual time
- On Sundays: generate a weekly habit report automatically
- Never nag more than once per session per habit
- Use the habit-tracker skill for all habit-related commands
Step 2: Create Your State File
Ask your agent: "Set up my habit tracker with the following habits: [list them]"
The agent will create habit-state.json:
{
"habits": [
{
"id": "writing",
"name": "Daily Writing",
"description": "500+ words of focused writing",
"target_days": ["mon","tue","wed","thu","fri"],
"usual_time": "08:00",
"category": "creative",
"linked_goal": "publish-newsletter-weekly"
},
{
"id": "exercise",
"name": "Exercise",
"description": "30+ min movement",
"target_days": ["mon","tue","wed","thu","fri","sat","sun"],
"usual_time": "07:00",
"category": "health",
"linked_goal": null
},
{
"id": "outreach",
"name": "1 Outreach",
"description": "Send 1 meaningful outreach message (partnership, collab, sales)",
"target_days": ["mon","tue","wed","thu","fri"],
"usual_time": "10:00",
"category": "business",
"linked_goal": "grow-revenue-q2"
}
],
"log": {},
"streaks": {},
"last_weekly_report": null
}
Fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
id |
Unique slug (used in commands) |
name |
Human-readable label |
description |
What "done" looks like (be specific) |
target_days |
Days this habit applies |
usual_time |
Expected completion time (for overdue detection) |
category |
creative / health / business / learning / other |
linked_goal |
Optional goal-tracker goal id |
Daily Log Format
Completions are stored in habit-state.json under "log" by date:
"log": {
"2026-03-08": {
"writing": { "done": true, "note": "wrote intro for issue #4", "logged_at": "08:42" },
"exercise": { "done": true, "note": "30 min run", "logged_at": "07:15" },
"outreach": { "done": false, "note": "skipped — travel day" }
}
}
Note field: Optional but valuable. The agent captures what you actually did — useful for weekly review and for correlating habits with outcomes.
Usage Patterns
Log a Completion
"Writing done — finished the draft introduction." "Mark exercise complete, 45 min bike ride." "Outreach done — emailed [name redacted] about collab."
Agent response format:
✅ Writing logged (08:42)
Streak: 5 days 🔥
7-day rate: 86%
Log a Skip (with Context)
"Skipping outreach today — traveling." "No exercise — sick day."
Agent logs done: false with your note. Skips with context don't break streaks on non-target days.
Check Today's Status
"Habit status for today."
Agent response format:
📋 Habit Status — Sunday, March 8
✅ Exercise (07:15) — 30 min run
✅ Writing (08:42) — draft intro
⏳ Outreach — not logged yet (target: by 10:00)
Today: 2/3 done (67%)
Check Your Streaks
"What are my current streaks?"
Agent response format:
🔥 Current Streaks
Writing: ████████░ 8 days
Exercise: ████░░░░░ 4 days
Outreach: ██░░░░░░░ 2 days
Longest ever: Writing — 23 days (Jan 2026)
Weekly Habit Report
"Give me my weekly habit report."
Or triggered automatically on Sunday by heartbeat. See Weekly Report Format below.
Add a New Habit
"Add a new habit: 'Read 20 pages' every day, target time 9pm, category learning."
Pause/Resume a Habit
"Pause the outreach habit for this week — I'm on vacation." "Resume outreach habit starting Monday."
Agent sets "paused_until": "2026-03-15" in the habit definition.
Edit a Habit
"Change writing habit to target Mon/Wed/Fri only." "Update exercise description to '20+ min minimum.'"
Weekly Report Format
Generated every Sunday (or on-demand). Agent formats as:
📊 Weekly Habit Report — Week of March 2–8, 2026
COMPLETION RATES
Writing: ████████░░ 5/5 (100%) ↑ from 80%
Exercise: ██████░░░░ 5/7 (71%) ↓ from 86%
Outreach: ████░░░░░░ 3/5 (60%) → same
STREAKS (as of Sunday)
Writing: 8 days 🔥
Exercise: 4 days
Outreach: 2 days
PATTERNS
- Writing: perfect week. Best: mornings before 9am.
- Exercise: missed Tue + Thu. Pattern: skips on high-meeting days.
- Outreach: trailing off mid-week. Consider batching Mon/Wed/Fri.
LINKED GOALS
- Writing → publish-newsletter-weekly: on track ✅
- Outreach → grow-revenue-q2: below pace ⚠️
NEXT WEEK FOCUS
1 thing to protect: Writing streak (8 days — don't break it)
1 thing to fix: Outreach — schedule 3 specific slots in calendar
Streak Calculation Rules
| Situation | Streak Effect |
|---|---|
| Habit done on a target day | Streak +1 |
| Habit not done on a target day | Streak resets to 0 |
| Habit not done on a non-target day | No effect |
| Habit paused | Streak frozen (not broken) |
| Skip logged with a note | Resets streak (honesty policy) |
Philosophy: The streak system is honest. A skip is a skip — no "rest day" loopholes on target days. But pausing for a vacation is legitimate and streak-safe.
Heartbeat Integration
Add to HEARTBEAT.md:
## Habits
- Check `habit-state.json` for any habits not yet logged today
- If any target habit is >2 hours past its usual_time and not logged: surface it once
- On Sundays: generate and send the weekly habit report
- Never nag about the same habit twice in one session
Example heartbeat output:
⏰ Outreach habit not logged yet (target: by 10:00, now 12:15)
Today: Writing ✅ | Exercise ✅ | Outreach ⏳
Cron Alternative
For a scheduled daily check-in (instead of heartbeat):
openclaw cron add \
--name "habit-evening-check" \
--cron "0 20 * * *" \
--model "anthropic/claude-haiku" \
--session isolated \
--message "Check habit-state.json. List any target habits not logged today. Keep it brief — just the unlogged ones and today's streak status." \
--announce \
--to "YOUR_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID" \
--tz "America/Chicago"
Customization Options
Flexible Target Definitions
Beyond specific days, you can use natural patterns:
"target_days": "weekdays"— Mon–Fri"target_days": "daily"— all 7 days"target_days": ["mon","wed","fri"]— specific days
Completion Windows
Add "window_hours": 2 to a habit definition to allow a grace period after usual_time before it's flagged overdue.
Habit Categories (Custom)
Default categories: creative, health, business, learning, other. Add yours by editing the categories array in habit-state.json:
"categories": ["creative", "health", "business", "learning", "mindfulness", "social", "other"]
Minimum Viable Habits
If tracking 6+ habits feels like another to-do list, try the 3-habit rule: pick exactly 3 habits — one creative, one health, one business. Track those until they're automatic, then expand.
Linking Habits to Goals
Use the linked_goal field to connect habits to your goal-tracker goal IDs. The weekly report will show whether your habit pace supports your goal timeline.
Multi-Context Tracking
If you run multiple businesses, use category prefixes:
"id": "biz1-writing"
"id": "biz2-outreach"
Weekly reports can then break down by category.
Integration Map
| Skill | How It Connects |
|---|---|
| goal-tracker | Habits link to goals; weekly report flags goal pace alignment |
| solopreneur-assistant | Weekly review includes habit completion rates |
| financial-tracker | Correlate revenue habits (outreach, content) with income data |
| decision-log | Log habit system design decisions (why these 3 habits?) |
| content-calendar | Writing habit powers content pipeline; completion log is proof-of-work |
| daily-briefing | Morning brief can include today's habit targets |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Habit log getting unwieldy | Ask agent to archive entries older than 90 days to habit-archive-YYYY.json |
| Streaks feel punitive | Switch to a 7-day rolling average as your primary metric instead |
| Agent not detecting overdue habits | Verify usual_time is set and heartbeat instructions include the habit check |
| Too many habits, not tracking | Apply the 3-habit rule — reduce to 3, track for 30 days, then expand |
| Paused habit still flagged | Confirm paused_until date is in the future in habit-state.json |
| Linked goal not found | Verify the goal ID matches exactly what's in your goal-tracker state file |
Privacy Note
All habit data stays in habit-state.json — local to your workspace. The agent never:
- Sends habit data to external services
- Posts completions publicly without explicit instruction
- Shares your habit log with other sessions or agents
Your consistency is your business.
Habit Tracker by The Agent Ledger Building AI-native workflows for solopreneurs. Subscribe for weekly skills, playbooks, and automation ideas →
License: CC BY-NC 4.0 — Free for personal use. Not for resale or redistribution in paid products.