docs(templates): rewrite README to product-doc format
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Abhimanyu Saharan
@@ -1,198 +1,140 @@
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# `backend/templates/` — Gateway workspace templates
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# Backend Templates (Product Documentation)
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This directory contains **Jinja2 templates** that Mission Control renders and syncs into each OpenClaw gateway agent’s on-disk workspace (the `workspace-*` folder).
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This folder contains the Markdown templates Mission Control syncs into OpenClaw agent workspaces.
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These files are the agent’s “operating manual” (instructions, heartbeat rules, tools, identity, etc.).
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- Location in repo: `backend/templates/`
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- Runtime location in backend container: `/app/templates`
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- Render engine: Jinja2
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## Where templates are rendered / synced
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## What this is for
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**Rendering engine**
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- Renderer: Jinja2 `Environment(FileSystemLoader(templates_root))`.
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- Config (important for safe changes):
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- `undefined=StrictUndefined` → **missing variables crash render** (good: prevents silent partial templates).
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- `autoescape=False` → markdown is rendered “verbatim” (no HTML escaping).
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- `keep_trailing_newline=True`.
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Use these templates to control what an agent sees in workspace files like:
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Evidence:
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_template_env()`
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- `AGENTS.md`
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- `HEARTBEAT.md`
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- `TOOLS.md`
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- `IDENTITY.md`
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- `USER.md`
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- `MEMORY.md`
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**Sync workflows**
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- API: `POST /api/v1/gateways/{gateway_id}/templates/sync`
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- Router: `backend/app/api/gateways.py` (`sync_gateway_templates`).
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- DB-backed service: `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning_db.py::OpenClawProvisioningService.sync_gateway_templates()`.
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- CLI: `backend/scripts/sync_gateway_templates.py --gateway-id <uuid> [--board-id <uuid>] [--reset-sessions] [--rotate-tokens] [--force-bootstrap]`
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When a gateway template sync runs, these templates are rendered with agent/board context and written into each workspace.
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## Which files are provisioned
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## How rendering works
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Default set (rendered for each agent workspace):
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- `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`
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### Rendering configuration
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Evidence:
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::DEFAULT_GATEWAY_FILES`
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Defined in `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py` (`_template_env()`):
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### “Main agent” template mapping
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- `StrictUndefined` enabled (missing variables fail fast)
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- `autoescape=False` (Markdown output)
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- `keep_trailing_newline=True`
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The gateway *main* agent uses a few different templates (prefixed `MAIN_...`) for some files:
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### Context builders
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| Workspace file | Main-agent template |
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|---|---|
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| `AGENTS.md` | `MAIN_AGENTS.md` |
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| `HEARTBEAT.md` | `MAIN_HEARTBEAT.md` |
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| `USER.md` | `MAIN_USER.md` |
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| `BOOT.md` | `MAIN_BOOT.md` |
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| `TOOLS.md` | `MAIN_TOOLS.md` |
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- Board agent context: `_build_context()`
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- Main agent context: `_build_main_context()`
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- User mapping: `_user_context()`
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- Identity mapping: `_identity_context()`
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Evidence:
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::MAIN_TEMPLATE_MAP`
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## Sync entry points
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## Template variables (context)
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### API
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Templates are rendered with a context built from:
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- Agent + board + gateway fields
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- Mission Control backend settings (`base_url`)
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- Optional user profile fields
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- Agent identity profile fields
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`POST /api/v1/gateways/{gateway_id}/templates/sync`
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Evidence:
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_build_context()` (board-scoped agents)
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_build_main_context()` (main agent)
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- Identity/user mapping: `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_identity_context()`, `_user_context()`
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- Router: `backend/app/api/gateways.py` (`sync_gateway_templates`)
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- Service: `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning_db.py`
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### Common context keys
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### Script
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These keys are available to *all* templates (agent + main):
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`backend/scripts/sync_gateway_templates.py`
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- `agent_name`
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- `agent_id`
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- `session_key`
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- `base_url`
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- `auth_token`
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- `main_session_key`
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Example:
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```bash
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python backend/scripts/sync_gateway_templates.py --gateway-id <uuid>
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```
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## Files included in sync
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Default synced files are defined in:
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py` (`DEFAULT_GATEWAY_FILES`)
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Main-agent template mapping is defined in:
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py` (`MAIN_TEMPLATE_MAP`)
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## HEARTBEAT.md selection logic
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`HEARTBEAT.md` is selected dynamically:
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- Board lead -> `HEARTBEAT_LEAD.md`
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- Non-lead agent -> `HEARTBEAT_AGENT.md`
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See:
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- `HEARTBEAT_LEAD_TEMPLATE`, `HEARTBEAT_AGENT_TEMPLATE` in constants
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- `_heartbeat_template_name()` in provisioning
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## Template variables reference
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### Core keys (all templates)
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- `agent_name`, `agent_id`, `session_key`
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- `base_url`, `auth_token`, `main_session_key`
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- `workspace_root`
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User fields (may be empty strings):
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### User keys
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- `user_name`, `user_preferred_name`, `user_pronouns`, `user_timezone`
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- `user_notes`, `user_context`
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Identity fields (defaults apply if missing):
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- `identity_role`
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- `identity_communication_style`
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- `identity_emoji`
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### Identity keys
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Extra identity fields (optional; may be empty strings):
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- `identity_role`, `identity_communication_style`, `identity_emoji`
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- `identity_autonomy_level`, `identity_verbosity`, `identity_output_format`, `identity_update_cadence`
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- `identity_purpose`, `identity_personality`, `identity_custom_instructions`
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Evidence:
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- Defaults + mapping: `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::{DEFAULT_IDENTITY_PROFILE, IDENTITY_PROFILE_FIELDS, EXTRA_IDENTITY_PROFILE_FIELDS}`
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### Board-agent-only keys
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### Board-scoped-only keys
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Only board-scoped agents receive:
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- `board_id`, `board_name`, `board_type`
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- `board_objective`, `board_success_metrics`, `board_target_date`
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- `board_goal_confirmed`
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- `is_board_lead`
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- `board_goal_confirmed`, `is_board_lead`
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- `workspace_path`
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- `board_*` fields above
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Evidence:
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_build_context()`
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## Safe change checklist
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## HEARTBEAT template selection
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Before merging template changes:
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`HEARTBEAT.md` is special: it renders one of two templates depending on whether the agent is a board lead:
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- lead: `HEARTBEAT_LEAD.md`
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- agent: `HEARTBEAT_AGENT.md`
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1. Do not introduce new `{{ var }}` placeholders unless context builders provide them.
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2. Keep changes additive where possible.
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3. Review both board-agent and `MAIN_*` templates when changing shared behavior.
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4. Preserve agent-editable files behavior (`PRESERVE_AGENT_EDITABLE_FILES`).
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5. Run docs quality checks and CI.
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Evidence:
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- Template names: `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::{HEARTBEAT_LEAD_TEMPLATE, HEARTBEAT_AGENT_TEMPLATE}`
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- Selection logic: `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_heartbeat_template_name()`
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## Local validation
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## Safe change guidelines
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### Fast check
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1) **Assume templates are user-facing instructions**
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- Keep edits backwards compatible when possible.
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- Prefer additive changes (new sections) over rewriting major flows.
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2) **Do not break rendering**
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- Because `StrictUndefined` is enabled, adding `{{ new_var }}` requires also adding that key to the context builder(s).
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3) **Preserved (agent-editable) files**
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Some files are intentionally not overwritten on template sync if they already exist in the agent workspace (the agent/human may edit them):
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- `SELF.md`, `USER.md`, `MEMORY.md`, `TASK_SOUL.md`
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Evidence:
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- `backend/app/services/openclaw/constants.py::PRESERVE_AGENT_EDITABLE_FILES`
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4) **Main-agent vs board-agent differences**
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- If changing `TOOLS.md`, `HEARTBEAT.md`, etc., check whether the change should also apply to the main-agent templates (`MAIN_*`).
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5) **Prefer small PRs + keep template scope task-scoped**
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## Previewing / testing template changes locally
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### Option A (recommended): run template sync against a dev gateway
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Use either:
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- API: `POST /api/v1/gateways/{gateway_id}/templates/sync`
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- CLI: `backend/scripts/sync_gateway_templates.py --gateway-id <uuid> ...`
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Then inspect the provisioned files in the gateway’s workspace directory (the exact path is computed in `backend/app/services/openclaw/provisioning.py::_workspace_path()`).
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### Option B: quick offline render (Jinja2 only)
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This is useful for confirming Markdown formatting and variable names.
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Run CI-relevant docs checks locally:
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```bash
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python3 - <<'PY'
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from pathlib import Path
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from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader, StrictUndefined
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root = Path('backend/templates')
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env = Environment(
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loader=FileSystemLoader(root),
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undefined=StrictUndefined,
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autoescape=False,
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keep_trailing_newline=True,
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)
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# Minimal dummy context (must include any variables referenced by the template).
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ctx = {
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'agent_name': 'ExampleAgent',
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'agent_id': '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000',
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'board_id': '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000',
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'board_name': 'Example Board',
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'board_type': 'general',
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'board_objective': '',
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'board_success_metrics': '{}',
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'board_target_date': '',
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'board_goal_confirmed': 'false',
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'is_board_lead': 'false',
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'session_key': 'agent:example',
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'workspace_path': '/tmp/workspace-example',
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'base_url': 'http://localhost:8000',
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'auth_token': 'REDACTED',
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'main_session_key': 'agent:gateway-main',
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'workspace_root': '/tmp',
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'user_name': '',
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'user_preferred_name': '',
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'user_pronouns': '',
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'user_timezone': '',
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'user_notes': '',
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'user_context': '',
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'identity_role': 'Generalist',
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'identity_communication_style': 'direct',
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'identity_emoji': ':gear:',
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'identity_autonomy_level': '',
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'identity_verbosity': '',
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'identity_output_format': '',
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'identity_update_cadence': '',
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'identity_purpose': '',
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'identity_personality': '',
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'identity_custom_instructions': '',
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}
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print(env.get_template('AGENTS.md').render(**ctx))
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PY
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make docs-check
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```
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If the template references a variable not present in `ctx`, Jinja2 will raise immediately (by design).
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### Full validation
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- Push branch
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- Confirm PR checks are green
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- Optionally run template sync on a dev gateway and inspect generated workspace files
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## FAQ
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### Why did rendering fail after adding a variable?
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Because `StrictUndefined` is enabled. Add that key to `_build_context()` / `_build_main_context()` (and related mappers) before using it in templates.
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### Why didn’t my edit appear in an agent workspace?
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Template sync may not have run yet, or the target file is preserved as agent-editable. Check sync status and preservation rules in constants.
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