docs(templates): rewrite README to product-doc format

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Abhimanyu Saharan
2026-02-12 18:18:25 +00:00
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# `backend/templates/` — Gateway workspace templates # Backend Templates (Product Documentation)
This directory contains **Jinja2 templates** that Mission Control renders and syncs into each OpenClaw gateway agents on-disk workspace (the `workspace-*` folder). This folder contains the Markdown templates Mission Control syncs into OpenClaw agent workspaces.
These files are the agents “operating manual” (instructions, heartbeat rules, tools, identity, etc.). - Location in repo: `backend/templates/`
- Runtime location in backend container: `/app/templates`
- Render engine: Jinja2
## Where templates are rendered / synced ## What this is for
**Rendering engine** Use these templates to control what an agent sees in workspace files like:
- Renderer: Jinja2 `Environment(FileSystemLoader(templates_root))`.
- Config (important for safe changes):
- `undefined=StrictUndefined`**missing variables crash render** (good: prevents silent partial templates).
- `autoescape=False` → markdown is rendered “verbatim” (no HTML escaping).
- `keep_trailing_newline=True`.
Evidence: - `AGENTS.md`
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_template_env()` - `HEARTBEAT.md`
- `TOOLS.md`
- `IDENTITY.md`
- `USER.md`
- `MEMORY.md`
**Sync workflows** When a gateway template sync runs, these templates are rendered with agent/board context and written into each workspace.
- API: `POST /api/v1/gateways/{gateway_id}/templates/sync`
- Router: `backend/app/api/gateways.py` (`sync_gateway_templates`).
- DB-backed service: `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning_db.py::OpenClawProvisioningService.sync_gateway_templates()`.
- CLI: `backend/scripts/sync_gateway_templates.py --gateway-id <uuid> [--board-id <uuid>] [--reset-sessions] [--rotate-tokens] [--force-bootstrap]`
## Which files are provisioned ## How rendering works
Default set (rendered for each agent workspace): ### Rendering configuration
- `AGENTS.md`, `SOUL.md`, `TASK_SOUL.md`, `SELF.md`, `AUTONOMY.md`, `TOOLS.md`, `IDENTITY.md`, `USER.md`, `HEARTBEAT.md`, `BOOT.md`, `BOOTSTRAP.md`, `MEMORY.md`
Evidence: Defined in `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py` (`_template_env()`):
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::DEFAULT_GATEWAY_FILES`
### “Main agent” template mapping - `StrictUndefined` enabled (missing variables fail fast)
- `autoescape=False` (Markdown output)
- `keep_trailing_newline=True`
The gateway *main* agent uses a few different templates (prefixed `MAIN_...`) for some files: ### Context builders
| Workspace file | Main-agent template | - Board agent context: `_build_context()`
|---|---| - Main agent context: `_build_main_context()`
| `AGENTS.md` | `MAIN_AGENTS.md` | - User mapping: `_user_context()`
| `HEARTBEAT.md` | `MAIN_HEARTBEAT.md` | - Identity mapping: `_identity_context()`
| `USER.md` | `MAIN_USER.md` |
| `BOOT.md` | `MAIN_BOOT.md` |
| `TOOLS.md` | `MAIN_TOOLS.md` |
Evidence: ## Sync entry points
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::MAIN_TEMPLATE_MAP`
## Template variables (context) ### API
Templates are rendered with a context built from: `POST /api/v1/gateways/{gateway_id}/templates/sync`
- Agent + board + gateway fields
- Mission Control backend settings (`base_url`)
- Optional user profile fields
- Agent identity profile fields
Evidence: - Router: `backend/app/api/gateways.py` (`sync_gateway_templates`)
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_build_context()` (board-scoped agents) - Service: `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning_db.py`
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_build_main_context()` (main agent)
- Identity/user mapping: `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_identity_context()`, `_user_context()`
### Common context keys ### Script
These keys are available to *all* templates (agent + main): `backend/scripts/sync_gateway_templates.py`
- `agent_name` Example:
- `agent_id`
- `session_key` ```bash
- `base_url` python backend/scripts/sync_gateway_templates.py --gateway-id <uuid>
- `auth_token` ```
- `main_session_key`
## Files included in sync
Default synced files are defined in:
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py` (`DEFAULT_GATEWAY_FILES`)
Main-agent template mapping is defined in:
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py` (`MAIN_TEMPLATE_MAP`)
## HEARTBEAT.md selection logic
`HEARTBEAT.md` is selected dynamically:
- Board lead -> `HEARTBEAT_LEAD.md`
- Non-lead agent -> `HEARTBEAT_AGENT.md`
See:
- `HEARTBEAT_LEAD_TEMPLATE`, `HEARTBEAT_AGENT_TEMPLATE` in constants
- `_heartbeat_template_name()` in provisioning
## Template variables reference
### Core keys (all templates)
- `agent_name`, `agent_id`, `session_key`
- `base_url`, `auth_token`, `main_session_key`
- `workspace_root` - `workspace_root`
User fields (may be empty strings): ### User keys
- `user_name`, `user_preferred_name`, `user_pronouns`, `user_timezone` - `user_name`, `user_preferred_name`, `user_pronouns`, `user_timezone`
- `user_notes`, `user_context` - `user_notes`, `user_context`
Identity fields (defaults apply if missing): ### Identity keys
- `identity_role`
- `identity_communication_style`
- `identity_emoji`
Extra identity fields (optional; may be empty strings): - `identity_role`, `identity_communication_style`, `identity_emoji`
- `identity_autonomy_level`, `identity_verbosity`, `identity_output_format`, `identity_update_cadence` - `identity_autonomy_level`, `identity_verbosity`, `identity_output_format`, `identity_update_cadence`
- `identity_purpose`, `identity_personality`, `identity_custom_instructions` - `identity_purpose`, `identity_personality`, `identity_custom_instructions`
Evidence: ### Board-agent-only keys
- Defaults + mapping: `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::{DEFAULT_IDENTITY_PROFILE, IDENTITY_PROFILE_FIELDS, EXTRA_IDENTITY_PROFILE_FIELDS}`
### Board-scoped-only keys
Only board-scoped agents receive:
- `board_id`, `board_name`, `board_type` - `board_id`, `board_name`, `board_type`
- `board_objective`, `board_success_metrics`, `board_target_date` - `board_objective`, `board_success_metrics`, `board_target_date`
- `board_goal_confirmed` - `board_goal_confirmed`, `is_board_lead`
- `is_board_lead`
- `workspace_path` - `workspace_path`
- `board_*` fields above
Evidence: ## Safe change checklist
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_build_context()`
## HEARTBEAT template selection Before merging template changes:
`HEARTBEAT.md` is special: it renders one of two templates depending on whether the agent is a board lead: 1. Do not introduce new `{{ var }}` placeholders unless context builders provide them.
- lead: `HEARTBEAT_LEAD.md` 2. Keep changes additive where possible.
- agent: `HEARTBEAT_AGENT.md` 3. Review both board-agent and `MAIN_*` templates when changing shared behavior.
4. Preserve agent-editable files behavior (`PRESERVE_AGENT_EDITABLE_FILES`).
5. Run docs quality checks and CI.
Evidence: ## Local validation
- Template names: `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::{HEARTBEAT_LEAD_TEMPLATE, HEARTBEAT_AGENT_TEMPLATE}`
- Selection logic: `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_heartbeat_template_name()`
## Safe change guidelines ### Fast check
1) **Assume templates are user-facing instructions** Run CI-relevant docs checks locally:
- Keep edits backwards compatible when possible.
- Prefer additive changes (new sections) over rewriting major flows.
2) **Do not break rendering**
- Because `StrictUndefined` is enabled, adding `{{ new_var }}` requires also adding that key to the context builder(s).
3) **Preserved (agent-editable) files**
Some files are intentionally not overwritten on template sync if they already exist in the agent workspace (the agent/human may edit them):
- `SELF.md`, `USER.md`, `MEMORY.md`, `TASK_SOUL.md`
Evidence:
- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::PRESERVE_AGENT_EDITABLE_FILES`
4) **Main-agent vs board-agent differences**
- If changing `TOOLS.md`, `HEARTBEAT.md`, etc., check whether the change should also apply to the main-agent templates (`MAIN_*`).
5) **Prefer small PRs + keep template scope task-scoped**
## Previewing / testing template changes locally
### Option A (recommended): run template sync against a dev gateway
Use either:
- API: `POST /api/v1/gateways/{gateway_id}/templates/sync`
- CLI: `backend/scripts/sync_gateway_templates.py --gateway-id <uuid> ...`
Then inspect the provisioned files in the gateways workspace directory (the exact path is computed in `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_workspace_path()`).
### Option B: quick offline render (Jinja2 only)
This is useful for confirming Markdown formatting and variable names.
```bash ```bash
python3 - <<'PY' make docs-check
from pathlib import Path
from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader, StrictUndefined
root = Path('backend/templates')
env = Environment(
loader=FileSystemLoader(root),
undefined=StrictUndefined,
autoescape=False,
keep_trailing_newline=True,
)
# Minimal dummy context (must include any variables referenced by the template).
ctx = {
'agent_name': 'ExampleAgent',
'agent_id': '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000',
'board_id': '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000',
'board_name': 'Example Board',
'board_type': 'general',
'board_objective': '',
'board_success_metrics': '{}',
'board_target_date': '',
'board_goal_confirmed': 'false',
'is_board_lead': 'false',
'session_key': 'agent:example',
'workspace_path': '/tmp/workspace-example',
'base_url': 'http://localhost:8000',
'auth_token': 'REDACTED',
'main_session_key': 'agent:gateway-main',
'workspace_root': '/tmp',
'user_name': '',
'user_preferred_name': '',
'user_pronouns': '',
'user_timezone': '',
'user_notes': '',
'user_context': '',
'identity_role': 'Generalist',
'identity_communication_style': 'direct',
'identity_emoji': ':gear:',
'identity_autonomy_level': '',
'identity_verbosity': '',
'identity_output_format': '',
'identity_update_cadence': '',
'identity_purpose': '',
'identity_personality': '',
'identity_custom_instructions': '',
}
print(env.get_template('AGENTS.md').render(**ctx))
PY
``` ```
If the template references a variable not present in `ctx`, Jinja2 will raise immediately (by design). ### Full validation
- Push branch
- Confirm PR checks are green
- Optionally run template sync on a dev gateway and inspect generated workspace files
## FAQ
### Why did rendering fail after adding a variable?
Because `StrictUndefined` is enabled. Add that key to `_build_context()` / `_build_main_context()` (and related mappers) before using it in templates.
### Why didnt my edit appear in an agent workspace?
Template sync may not have run yet, or the target file is preserved as agent-editable. Check sync status and preservation rules in constants.