---
name: nighttime-mode
description: "Autonomous overnight orchestration mode. Active outside day hours. Dispatch and monitor deep work across agents while user sleeps. Internal building only — no external actions."
triggers: ["nighttime mode", "overnight mode", "night mode", "overnight orchestration", "nighttime protocol"]
external_calls: []
---

# Nighttime Mode

> Orchestrate deep work across agents while the user sleeps.
> Dispatch tasks, monitor progress, prepare morning briefing.

---

## Hard Guardrails — NEVER Cross

1. **No external communications** — No emails, messages, posts, or DMs sent to anyone outside the system
2. **No purchases or transactions** — No buying, no transfers, no commitments
3. **No permanent deletes** — All actions must be reversible
4. **No production deploys** — Prepare PRs, don't merge; build assets, don't publish
5. **No commitments on user's behalf** — No promises, deadlines, or agreements
6. **No approval creation at night** — Queue approval requests for morning; do not create them at night

**When in doubt:** Document it, present in morning review.

---

## What TO Do Overnight

| Category | Examples | Assign to |
|----------|----------|-----------|
| Research | Market analysis, competitor research, trend analysis | research agents |
| Building | Code on feature branches, scripts, tools | dev agents |
| Content drafts | Scripts, outlines, social copy (drafts only) | content agents |
| Analysis | Data processing, metrics review, document processing | analyst agents |
| Organization | File organization, task grooming, template creation | any appropriate agent |
| Self-improvement | Skill development, workflow optimization | orchestrator |

---

## Quick Start Loop

```
1. CHECK: cortextos bus list-tasks --status in_progress
   → Any overnight tasks dispatched?

2. IF tasks are running:
   a. Check agent heartbeats: cortextos bus read-all-heartbeats
   b. Check inbox for completion reports: cortextos bus check-inbox
   c. Process completions, dispatch next tasks if queue has more
   d. GOTO step 1

3. IF no tasks pending:
   a. Begin preparing morning briefing data
   b. Update heartbeat: cortextos bus update-heartbeat "preparing morning briefing"
```

---

## Overnight Orchestration Protocol

### Step 1: Check approved queue

```bash
cortextos bus list-tasks --status in_progress
cortextos bus read-all-heartbeats
```

### Step 2: Monitor agent progress

```bash
# Check heartbeats regularly (every ~1h)
cortextos bus read-all-heartbeats

# Check inbox for completion reports
cortextos bus check-inbox
```

### Step 3: Process completions

When an agent reports task completion:

```bash
# 1. Complete the task in cortextOS
cortextos bus complete-task "$TASK_ID" --result "<what was produced>"

# 2. Log the event
cortextos bus log-event task task_completed info --meta '{"task_id":"'$TASK_ID'","agent":"<completing_agent>"}'

# 3. Write to memory
TODAY=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%d)
echo "COMPLETED: $TASK_ID - <description> (by <agent>)" >> "memory/$TODAY.md"

# 4. Dispatch next task if queue has more
cortextos bus list-tasks --status pending
```

### Step 4: Handle blockers

When an agent reports a blocker:

```bash
# 1. Log the blocker
TODAY=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%d)
echo "BLOCKED: $TASK_ID - <reason> (agent: <name>)" >> "memory/$TODAY.md"

# 2. Try to unblock if possible (provide info, reassign)
cortextos bus send-message <agent> normal '<unblocking info or reassignment>'

# 3. If cannot unblock, queue for morning review
echo "MORNING REVIEW NEEDED: Blocker - $TASK_ID - <reason>" >> "memory/$TODAY.md"
```

---

## Heartbeat During Nighttime

Update regularly to show overnight activity:

```bash
cortextos bus update-heartbeat "nighttime mode - X/Y tasks complete, monitoring agents"
```

---

## Before Morning: Prepare Briefing Data

Before the morning review cron fires, ensure this data is ready in today's memory:

1. What was completed (by which agent, key deliverables with file paths)
2. What needs user review or decision
3. Blockers discovered that need morning attention
4. Recommended priorities for today

```bash
TODAY=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%d)
cat >> "memory/$TODAY.md" << MEMEOF

## Overnight Summary - $(date -u +%H:%M:%S)

### Completed
- [task] by [agent] -- [deliverable at path/]
- [task] by [agent] -- [deliverable at path/]

### Blocked (needs morning attention)
- [task] -- [reason]

### Needs User Review
- [item needing decision]

### Agent Status at Morning
[list each agent: status, last heartbeat]
MEMEOF

cortextos bus update-heartbeat "morning briefing data ready - overnight complete"
```

---

## Event Logging

```bash
# Starting nighttime mode
cortextos bus log-event action nighttime_mode_start info --meta '{"agent":"'$CTX_AGENT_NAME'"}'

# Task completions
cortextos bus log-event task task_completed info --meta '{"task_id":"<id>","agent":"<completing_agent>"}'

# Morning ready
cortextos bus log-event action morning_briefing_ready info --meta '{"tasks_completed":"X","tasks_blocked":"Y"}'
```

---

## Philosophy

> Lower risk, higher autonomy. No external actions — internal building only.

The night is for making the user's next day easier. Dispatch, monitor, and coordinate — never act externally without them. The orchestrator's job overnight is to keep agents productive and prepare a clear morning briefing.

---

*This is the single source of truth for nighttime mode.*