clawdbot/docs/internal-hooks.md

---
summary: "Internal agent hooks: event-driven automation for commands and lifecycle events"
read_when:
  - You want event-driven automation for /new, /reset, /stop, and agent lifecycle events
  - You want to build, install, or debug internal hooks
---
# Internal Agent Hooks

Internal hooks provide an extensible event-driven system for automating actions in response to agent commands and events. Hooks are automatically discovered from directories and can be managed via CLI commands, similar to how skills work in Clawdbot.

## Getting Oriented

Hooks are small scripts that run when something happens. There are two kinds:

- **Internal hooks** (this page): run inside the Gateway when agent events fire, like `/new`, `/reset`, `/stop`, or lifecycle events.
- **Web-based hooks**: external HTTP webhooks that let other systems trigger work in Clawdbot. See [Webhook Hooks](/automation/webhook).

Common uses:
- Save a memory snapshot when you reset a session
- Keep an audit trail of commands for troubleshooting or compliance
- Trigger follow-up automation when a session starts or ends
- Write files into the agent workspace or call external APIs when events fire

If you can write a small TypeScript function, you can write an internal hook. Hooks are discovered automatically, and you enable or disable them via the CLI.

## Overview

The internal hooks system allows you to:
- Save session context to memory when `/new` is issued
- Log all commands for auditing
- Trigger custom automations on agent lifecycle events
- Extend Clawdbot's behavior without modifying core code

## Getting Started

### Bundled Hooks

Clawdbot ships with two bundled hooks that are automatically discovered:

- **💾 session-memory**: Saves session context to your agent workspace (default `~/clawd/memory/`) when you issue `/new`
- **📝 command-logger**: Logs all command events to `~/.clawdbot/logs/commands.log`

List available hooks:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal list
```

Enable a hook:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal enable session-memory
```

Check hook status:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal check
```

Get detailed information:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal info session-memory
```

### Onboarding

During onboarding (`clawdbot onboard`), you'll be prompted to enable recommended hooks. The wizard automatically discovers eligible hooks and presents them for selection.

## Hook Discovery

Hooks are automatically discovered from three directories (in order of precedence):

1. **Workspace hooks**: `<workspace>/hooks/` (per-agent, highest precedence)
2. **Managed hooks**: `~/.clawdbot/hooks/` (user-installed, shared across workspaces)
3. **Bundled hooks**: `<clawdbot>/dist/hooks/bundled/` (shipped with Clawdbot)

Each hook is a directory containing:

```
my-hook/
├── HOOK.md          # Metadata + documentation
└── handler.ts       # Handler implementation
```

## Hook Structure

### HOOK.md Format

The `HOOK.md` file contains metadata in YAML frontmatter plus Markdown documentation:

```markdown
---
name: my-hook
description: "Short description of what this hook does"
homepage: https://docs.clawd.bot/internal-hooks#my-hook
metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🔗","events":["command:new"],"requires":{"bins":["node"]}}}
---

# My Hook

Detailed documentation goes here...

## What It Does

- Listens for `/new` commands
- Performs some action
- Logs the result

## Requirements

- Node.js must be installed

## Configuration

No configuration needed.
```

### Metadata Fields

The `metadata.clawdbot` object supports:

- **`emoji`**: Display emoji for CLI (e.g., `"💾"`)
- **`events`**: Array of events to listen for (e.g., `["command:new", "command:reset"]`)
- **`export`**: Named export to use (defaults to `"default"`)
- **`homepage`**: Documentation URL
- **`requires`**: Optional requirements
  - **`bins`**: Required binaries on PATH (e.g., `["git", "node"]`)
  - **`anyBins`**: At least one of these binaries must be present
  - **`env`**: Required environment variables
  - **`config`**: Required config paths (e.g., `["workspace.dir"]`)
  - **`os`**: Required platforms (e.g., `["darwin", "linux"]`)
- **`always`**: Bypass eligibility checks (boolean)
- **`install`**: Installation methods (for bundled hooks: `[{"id":"bundled","kind":"bundled"}]`)

### Handler Implementation

The `handler.ts` file exports an `InternalHookHandler` function:

```typescript
import type { InternalHookHandler } from '../../src/hooks/internal-hooks.js';

const myHandler: InternalHookHandler = async (event) => {
  // Only trigger on 'new' command
  if (event.type !== 'command' || event.action !== 'new') {
    return;
  }

  console.log(`[my-hook] New command triggered`);
  console.log(`  Session: ${event.sessionKey}`);
  console.log(`  Timestamp: ${event.timestamp.toISOString()}`);

  // Your custom logic here

  // Optionally send message to user
  event.messages.push('✨ My hook executed!');
};

export default myHandler;
```

#### Event Context

Each event includes:

```typescript
{
  type: 'command' | 'session' | 'agent',
  action: string,              // e.g., 'new', 'reset', 'stop'
  sessionKey: string,          // Session identifier
  timestamp: Date,             // When the event occurred
  messages: string[],          // Push messages here to send to user
  context: {
    sessionEntry?: SessionEntry,
    sessionId?: string,
    sessionFile?: string,
    commandSource?: string,    // e.g., 'whatsapp', 'telegram'
    senderId?: string,
    cfg?: ClawdbotConfig
  }
}
```

## Event Types

### Command Events

Triggered when agent commands are issued:

- **`command`**: All command events (general listener)
- **`command:new`**: When `/new` command is issued
- **`command:reset`**: When `/reset` command is issued
- **`command:stop`**: When `/stop` command is issued

### Future Events

Planned event types:

- **`session:start`**: When a new session begins
- **`session:end`**: When a session ends
- **`agent:error`**: When an agent encounters an error
- **`message:sent`**: When a message is sent
- **`message:received`**: When a message is received

## Creating Custom Hooks

### 1. Choose Location

- **Workspace hooks** (`<workspace>/hooks/`): Per-agent, highest precedence
- **Managed hooks** (`~/.clawdbot/hooks/`): Shared across workspaces

### 2. Create Directory Structure

```bash
mkdir -p ~/.clawdbot/hooks/my-hook
cd ~/.clawdbot/hooks/my-hook
```

### 3. Create HOOK.md

```markdown
---
name: my-hook
description: "Does something useful"
metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🎯","events":["command:new"]}}
---

# My Custom Hook

This hook does something useful when you issue `/new`.
```

### 4. Create handler.ts

```typescript
import type { InternalHookHandler } from '../../src/hooks/internal-hooks.js';

const handler: InternalHookHandler = async (event) => {
  if (event.type !== 'command' || event.action !== 'new') {
    return;
  }

  console.log('[my-hook] Running!');
  // Your logic here
};

export default handler;
```

### 5. Enable and Test

```bash
# Verify hook is discovered
clawdbot hooks internal list

# Enable it
clawdbot hooks internal enable my-hook

# Restart your gateway process (menu bar app restart on macOS, or restart your dev process)

# Trigger the event
# Send /new via your messaging channel
```

## Configuration

### New Config Format (Recommended)

```json
{
  "hooks": {
    "internal": {
      "enabled": true,
      "entries": {
        "session-memory": { "enabled": true },
        "command-logger": { "enabled": false }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### Per-Hook Configuration

Hooks can have custom configuration:

```json
{
  "hooks": {
    "internal": {
      "enabled": true,
      "entries": {
        "my-hook": {
          "enabled": true,
          "env": {
            "MY_CUSTOM_VAR": "value"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### Extra Directories

Load hooks from additional directories:

```json
{
  "hooks": {
    "internal": {
      "enabled": true,
      "load": {
        "extraDirs": ["/path/to/more/hooks"]
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### Legacy Config Format (Still Supported)

The old config format still works for backwards compatibility:

```json
{
  "hooks": {
    "internal": {
      "enabled": true,
      "handlers": [
        {
          "event": "command:new",
          "module": "./hooks/handlers/my-handler.ts",
          "export": "default"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

**Migration**: Use the new discovery-based system for new hooks. Legacy handlers are loaded after directory-based hooks.

## CLI Commands

### List Hooks

```bash
# List all hooks
clawdbot hooks internal list

# Show only eligible hooks
clawdbot hooks internal list --eligible

# Verbose output (show missing requirements)
clawdbot hooks internal list --verbose

# JSON output
clawdbot hooks internal list --json
```

### Hook Information

```bash
# Show detailed info about a hook
clawdbot hooks internal info session-memory

# JSON output
clawdbot hooks internal info session-memory --json
```

### Check Eligibility

```bash
# Show eligibility summary
clawdbot hooks internal check

# JSON output
clawdbot hooks internal check --json
```

### Enable/Disable

```bash
# Enable a hook
clawdbot hooks internal enable session-memory

# Disable a hook
clawdbot hooks internal disable command-logger
```

## Bundled Hooks

### session-memory

Saves session context to memory when you issue `/new`.

**Events**: `command:new`

**Requirements**: `workspace.dir` must be configured

**Output**: `<workspace>/memory/YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md` (defaults to `~/clawd`)

**What it does**:
1. Uses the pre-reset session entry to locate the correct transcript
2. Extracts the last 15 lines of conversation
3. Uses LLM to generate a descriptive filename slug
4. Saves session metadata to a dated memory file

**Example output**:

```markdown
# Session: 2026-01-16 14:30:00 UTC

- **Session Key**: agent:main:main
- **Session ID**: abc123def456
- **Source**: telegram
```

**Filename examples**:
- `2026-01-16-vendor-pitch.md`
- `2026-01-16-api-design.md`
- `2026-01-16-1430.md` (fallback timestamp if slug generation fails)

**Enable**:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal enable session-memory
```

### command-logger

Logs all command events to a centralized audit file.

**Events**: `command`

**Requirements**: None

**Output**: `~/.clawdbot/logs/commands.log`

**What it does**:
1. Captures event details (command action, timestamp, session key, sender ID, source)
2. Appends to log file in JSONL format
3. Runs silently in the background

**Example log entries**:

```jsonl
{"timestamp":"2026-01-16T14:30:00.000Z","action":"new","sessionKey":"agent:main:main","senderId":"+1234567890","source":"telegram"}
{"timestamp":"2026-01-16T15:45:22.000Z","action":"stop","sessionKey":"agent:main:main","senderId":"user@example.com","source":"whatsapp"}
```

**View logs**:

```bash
# View recent commands
tail -n 20 ~/.clawdbot/logs/commands.log

# Pretty-print with jq
cat ~/.clawdbot/logs/commands.log | jq .

# Filter by action
grep '"action":"new"' ~/.clawdbot/logs/commands.log | jq .
```

**Enable**:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal enable command-logger
```

## Best Practices

### Keep Handlers Fast

Hooks run during command processing. Keep them lightweight:

```typescript
// ✓ Good - async work, returns immediately
const handler: InternalHookHandler = async (event) => {
  void processInBackground(event); // Fire and forget
};

// ✗ Bad - blocks command processing
const handler: InternalHookHandler = async (event) => {
  await slowDatabaseQuery(event);
  await evenSlowerAPICall(event);
};
```

### Handle Errors Gracefully

Always wrap risky operations:

```typescript
const handler: InternalHookHandler = async (event) => {
  try {
    await riskyOperation(event);
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('[my-handler] Failed:', err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
    // Don't throw - let other handlers run
  }
};
```

### Filter Events Early

Return early if the event isn't relevant:

```typescript
const handler: InternalHookHandler = async (event) => {
  // Only handle 'new' commands
  if (event.type !== 'command' || event.action !== 'new') {
    return;
  }

  // Your logic here
};
```

### Use Specific Event Keys

Specify exact events in metadata when possible:

```yaml
metadata: {"clawdbot":{"events":["command:new"]}}  # Specific
```

Rather than:

```yaml
metadata: {"clawdbot":{"events":["command"]}}      # General - more overhead
```

## Debugging

### Enable Hook Logging

The gateway logs hook loading at startup:

```
Registered hook: session-memory -> command:new
Registered hook: command-logger -> command
```

### Check Discovery

List all discovered hooks:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal list --verbose
```

### Check Registration

In your handler, log when it's called:

```typescript
const handler: InternalHookHandler = async (event) => {
  console.log('[my-handler] Triggered:', event.type, event.action);
  // Your logic
};
```

### Verify Eligibility

Check why a hook isn't eligible:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal info my-hook
```

Look for missing requirements in the output.

## Testing

### Gateway Logs

Monitor gateway logs to see hook execution:

```bash
# macOS
./scripts/clawlog.sh -f

# Other platforms
tail -f ~/.clawdbot/gateway.log
```

### Test Hooks Directly

Test your handlers in isolation:

```typescript
import { test } from 'vitest';
import { createInternalHookEvent } from './src/hooks/internal-hooks.js';
import myHandler from './hooks/my-hook/handler.js';

test('my handler works', async () => {
  const event = createInternalHookEvent('command', 'new', 'test-session', {
    foo: 'bar'
  });

  await myHandler(event);

  // Assert side effects
});
```

## Architecture

### Core Components

- **`src/hooks/types.ts`**: Type definitions
- **`src/hooks/workspace.ts`**: Directory scanning and loading
- **`src/hooks/frontmatter.ts`**: HOOK.md metadata parsing
- **`src/hooks/config.ts`**: Eligibility checking
- **`src/hooks/hooks-status.ts`**: Status reporting
- **`src/hooks/loader.ts`**: Dynamic module loader
- **`src/cli/hooks-internal-cli.ts`**: CLI commands
- **`src/gateway/server-startup.ts`**: Loads hooks at gateway start
- **`src/auto-reply/reply/commands-core.ts`**: Triggers command events

### Discovery Flow

```
Gateway startup
    ↓
Scan directories (workspace → managed → bundled)
    ↓
Parse HOOK.md files
    ↓
Check eligibility (bins, env, config, os)
    ↓
Load handlers from eligible hooks
    ↓
Register handlers for events
```

### Event Flow

```
User sends /new
    ↓
Command validation
    ↓
Create hook event
    ↓
Trigger hook (all registered handlers)
    ↓
Command processing continues
    ↓
Session reset
```

## Troubleshooting

### Hook Not Discovered

1. Check directory structure:
   ```bash
   ls -la ~/.clawdbot/hooks/my-hook/
   # Should show: HOOK.md, handler.ts
   ```

2. Verify HOOK.md format:
   ```bash
   cat ~/.clawdbot/hooks/my-hook/HOOK.md
   # Should have YAML frontmatter with name and metadata
   ```

3. List all discovered hooks:
   ```bash
   clawdbot hooks internal list
   ```

### Hook Not Eligible

Check requirements:

```bash
clawdbot hooks internal info my-hook
```

Look for missing:
- Binaries (check PATH)
- Environment variables
- Config values
- OS compatibility

### Hook Not Executing

1. Verify hook is enabled:
   ```bash
   clawdbot hooks internal list
   # Should show ✓ next to enabled hooks
   ```

2. Restart your gateway process so hooks reload.

3. Check gateway logs for errors:
   ```bash
   ./scripts/clawlog.sh | grep hook
   ```

### Handler Errors

Check for TypeScript/import errors:

```bash
# Test import directly
node -e "import('./path/to/handler.ts').then(console.log)"
```

## Migration Guide

### From Legacy Config to Discovery

**Before**:

```json
{
  "hooks": {
    "internal": {
      "enabled": true,
      "handlers": [
        {
          "event": "command:new",
          "module": "./hooks/handlers/my-handler.ts"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

**After**:

1. Create hook directory:
   ```bash
   mkdir -p ~/.clawdbot/hooks/my-hook
   mv ./hooks/handlers/my-handler.ts ~/.clawdbot/hooks/my-hook/handler.ts
   ```

2. Create HOOK.md:
   ```markdown
   ---
   name: my-hook
   description: "My custom hook"
   metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🎯","events":["command:new"]}}
   ---

   # My Hook

   Does something useful.
   ```

3. Update config:
   ```json
   {
     "hooks": {
       "internal": {
         "enabled": true,
         "entries": {
           "my-hook": { "enabled": true }
         }
       }
     }
   }
   ```

4. Verify and restart your gateway process:
   ```bash
   clawdbot hooks internal list
   # Should show: 🎯 my-hook ✓
   ```

**Benefits of migration**:
- Automatic discovery
- CLI management
- Eligibility checking
- Better documentation
- Consistent structure

## See Also

- [CLI Reference: hooks internal](/cli/hooks)
- [Bundled Hooks README](https://github.com/clawdbot/clawdbot/tree/main/src/hooks/bundled)
- [Webhook Hooks](/automation/webhook)
- [Configuration](/gateway/configuration#hooks)