OpenClaw Optimization

Appearance

Fire-and-Forget Dispatch ​

The executor dispatches work items (as subagent spawns) and exits immediately. It does not wait for completions. Work status is tracked via external state (GitHub labels, PR status), not in-session acknowledgment.

When to Use ​

  • Batch dispatch of independent work items (e.g., 3–6 issues to fix in parallel)
  • The executor is a cron job with a timeout — blocking on subagent completions would hit the timeout
  • Completion tracking already exists externally (GitHub PR created = done, CI green = verified)

Architecture ​

DiagramDiagram

Key Design Points ​

  • Claim before dispatch. Update the work item's status label (e.g., status:ready → status:in-progress) before spawning the subagent, not after. This prevents a second executor run from picking up the same item.
  • Exit after dispatching. The executor's job is to select work, claim it, and spawn workers. It should not monitor worker progress — that's the job of a separate review cron or manual check.
  • Hard timeout on the executor cron. Without an explicit timeoutSeconds, the system default (often 1 hour) applies. An executor that finishes in 2 minutes but has no timeout blocks the lane unnecessarily.
  • NO_REPLY when queue is empty. If there's no work to dispatch, return NO_REPLY and stop. Don't post "no work found" messages.
  • Workers are independent. Each spawned worker operates in isolation. If one fails, the others are unaffected. Failed items stay status:in-progress until a stale-state detector resets them.

Failure Modes ​

  • Stale in-progress locks — a worker crashes or times out, leaving the item permanently in-progress. Fix: a periodic sweep that resets items stuck in-progress for longer than a threshold.
  • Duplicate dispatch — executor doesn't claim before spawning, so the next executor run picks up the same items. Fix: atomic claim (label update) before dispatch.
  • Thundering herd — executor dispatches too many workers at once, overwhelming API rate limits or concurrent session limits. Fix: cap dispatches per run (e.g., max 6) and sequence work within the same package/scope.
  • Executor blocks on workers — prompt doesn't clearly say "dispatch and exit." The agent waits for worker completions, hits the cron timeout. Fix: explicit fire-and-forget instruction in the cron prompt.

Built with OpenClaw 🤖