HEARTBEAT.md is retired
OpenClaw no longer createsHEARTBEAT.md in new workspaces or reads it at runtime. Heartbeat instructions now live in the system-owned monitor’s cron scratch in the shared state database.
Manage the current scratch with the monitor job id from openclaw cron list --all:
HEARTBEAT.md, run openclaw doctor --fix. Doctor imports its instructions into monitor scratch, converts valid legacy tasks: entries into cron jobs, archives the original under the state directory, and removes the workspace file.