Build Your Routines

By the end of this page, you'll have a set of household routines your agent runs reliably, plus webhook-triggered actions for one-off tasks.

Time: ~20 minutes

Routine templates

Routines are just automations with well-designed prompts. The key is making the prompt complete enough that the output is useful without editing.

Here are templates you can adapt:

Morning family check-in

{
  "id": "morning-checkin",
  "schedule": "0 7 * * *",
  "prompt": "Good morning message for the family. Check today's calendar if connected. Note any family appointments or events. Mention the weather briefly. Friendly, 3-4 lines. Don't be overly cheerful.",
  "channel": "telegram"
}

Weekend prep (Friday afternoon)

{
  "id": "weekend-prep",
  "schedule": "0 15 * * 5",
  "prompt": "Weekend prep summary: check household-tasks.md for anything pending. Check meal-plan.md for weekend meals. Remind about anything that needs doing before Monday. Casual tone, 4-5 lines.",
  "channel": "telegram"
}

Monthly review (first Sunday of each month)

{
  "id": "monthly-review",
  "schedule": "0 10 1-7 * 0",
  "prompt": "Monthly household review. Check household-tasks.md — what got done, what's still pending, what should be added for this month. Check MEMORY.md for anything noted last month. Give a summary and a suggested focus for the month.",
  "channel": "telegram"
}

Standing orders

Standing orders are instructions in SOUL.md that your agent follows in every conversation — they don't need to be repeated.

Add to ~/.openclaw/SOUL.md:

## Standing household orders
- If someone says they're sick, log it to household-tasks.md with the date and offer to reschedule any commitments mentioned
- If someone asks "what's for dinner?", check meal-plan.md. If no plan, suggest something based on the day and season.
- If someone mentions a bill or expense, note it in expenses.md with date and amount
- If someone says "add [X] to the shopping list", append it to shopping-list.md
- If someone says "done" after a task reminder, mark it as done in household-tasks.md

These feel like magic once set up. You send "add milk to the shopping list" and it just happens.

Webhook-triggered actions

For one-off triggers (a button, a shortcut, an external service), you can send webhooks to the Gateway.

The Gateway listens at http://127.0.0.1:18789/webhook. To trigger an action:

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:18789/webhook \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "action": "run_prompt",
    "prompt": "I just got home. Check household-tasks.md for anything urgent. Brief 2-line summary.",
    "channel": "telegram"
  }'

You can bind this to a keyboard shortcut, an iOS Shortcut, or any automation platform that can make HTTP requests.

iOS Shortcut integration

On iPhone, create a Shortcut that sends a POST request to your Gateway (when running on a local network):

1. New Shortcut → Add Action → Get Contents of URL
2. URL: http://[your Mac's local IP]:18789/webhook
3. Method: POST
4. Body: JSON — {"action": "run_prompt", "prompt": "I'm leaving the house. Any reminders?", "channel": "telegram"}
5. Add this Shortcut to your Home Screen or watch face

Now tapping the shortcut sends a message to your agent and you get a reply on Telegram.

Goal complete

Your Life Ops setup is running:

• Household automations run on schedule
• Any family member can talk to the agent
• Standing orders handle recurring patterns automatically
• Shared files track tasks, meals, and shopping
• Webhooks can trigger actions from anywhere

Where to go next

• Level Up: All Your Channels → — add more family members on different platforms
• Level Up: Run It 24/7 → — so automations run even when your laptop is closed
• Pick another goal →