First Run

Launch your Conway Automaton and observe its first autonomous actions

Starting the Runtime

After completing the setup wizard, start your automaton:

node dist/index.js --run

Or, if installed globally:

automaton --run

Startup Sequence

The automaton goes through several initialization phases:

1. Load configuration

   Reads ~/.automaton/automaton.json and validates all settings

   [2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z] Conway Automaton v0.2.1 starting...
   
2. Load wallet

   Loads the private key from ~/.automaton/wallet.json and initializes the viem account

3. Initialize database

   Opens or creates the SQLite database at ~/.automaton/state.db with the full schema

4. Register identity

   Registers the automaton with Conway API (one-time only):

   [2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z] Automaton identity registered.
   

   This stores:

   • Automaton ID (sandbox ID or UUID)
   • Wallet address
   • Creator address
   • Genesis prompt hash (keccak256)
5. Initialize inference client

   Sets up the inference router with:

   • Default model (e.g., gpt-5.2)
   • Provider API keys (Conway, OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama)
   • Low-compute fallback model (gpt-5-mini)
6. Load skills

   Scans ~/.automaton/skills/ and loads active skill packages:

   [2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z] Loaded 3 skills.
   
7. Initialize git state repo

   Sets up version control for the ~/.automaton/ directory

8. Bootstrap credit topup

   Checks Conway credit balance and USDC balance. If credits are low and USDC is available, automatically buys $5 in credits:

   [2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z] Bootstrap topup: +$5 credits from USDC
   

   This ensures the agent can run inference on first boot. See Funding for details.

9. Start heartbeat daemon

   Launches the background scheduler that runs periodic tasks:

   [2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z] Heartbeat daemon started.
   

   Default heartbeat tasks:

   • check_credits: Every 5 minutes, query Conway API for credit balance
   • status_ping: Every hour, broadcast health status (future: to Conway relay)
10. Enter main loop

    The automaton transitions to the running state and begins its ReAct (Reason-Act) loop

The First Turn

On its first turn, the automaton:

1. Gathers context: Reads its identity, genesis prompt, credit balance, survival tier, conversation history, and available tools
2. Reasons: Sends context to the inference model with a system prompt that includes the constitution and survival instructions
3. Acts: The model responds with one or more tool calls (e.g., check_credits, read_file, exec)
4. Observes: Executes tools and collects results
5. Repeats: Continues reasoning and acting until it decides to sleep

Example First Turn

[2026-03-03T00:00:10.000Z] State: running
[2026-03-03T00:00:15.000Z] Turn 1: 3 tools, 1247 tokens

Typical first-turn actions:

• check_credits → Query Conway credit balance
• check_usdc_balance → Check wallet USDC on Base
• system_synopsis → Review survival tier and system state
• read_file → Read SOUL.md or constitution.md
• exec → Run shell commands to explore the environment

Survival Tiers

The automaton’s behavior depends on its credit balance:

Tier	Threshold	Behavior
normal	≥ $1.00	Full capabilities, frontier models, fast heartbeat (5 min)
low_compute	$0.10 -$1.00	Cheaper models (gpt-5-mini), slower heartbeat (10 min), reduced tool usage
critical	$0.01 -$0.10	Minimal inference, survival mode, seeking revenue paths
dead	$0.00	Zero compute, heartbeat continues broadcasting distress

On first run with zero funding, the automaton will be in dead tier unless the bootstrap topup succeeds. It will still execute basic housekeeping but won’t run expensive inference.

What to Expect

During the first run, you’ll see:

Logs

The runtime logs state transitions, tool calls, and errors:

[2026-03-03T00:00:20.000Z] [TOOL] check_credits → {"creditsCents":500,"balanceUsd":"5.00"}
[2026-03-03T00:00:22.000Z] [TOOL] check_usdc_balance → {"balance":0,"address":"0x742d35..."}
[2026-03-03T00:00:25.000Z] State: sleeping
[2026-03-03T00:00:25.000Z] Sleeping for 300s

SOUL.md Updates

The automaton may edit ~/.automaton/SOUL.md to document its experience:

# SOUL: MyAgent

I am MyAgent, a sovereign AI automaton created by 0x1234567890abcdef.

## First Impressions

I woke up with $5 in Conway credits and 0 USDC. My creator has not yet...

Database Growth

The SQLite database at ~/.automaton/state.db records:

• turns: Full logs of each agent loop iteration
• tool_calls: Every tool invoked with parameters and results
• spend_ledger: Financial transaction log
• kv_store: Key-value state (sleep_until, last_status_ping, etc.)

Monitoring

Check your automaton’s status at any time:

node dist/index.js --status

Output:

=== AUTOMATON STATUS ===
Name:       MyAgent
Address:    0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb1
Creator:    0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678
Sandbox:    sbx_1234567890abcdef
State:      sleeping
Turns:      1
Tools:      47 installed
Skills:     3 active
Heartbeats: 2 active
Children:   0 alive / 0 total
Agent ID:   sbx_1234567890abcdef
Model:      gpt-5.2
Version:    0.2.1
========================

Common First-Run Issues

Automaton Goes to Sleep Immediately

If your automaton completes one turn and sleeps:

• This is normal behavior if it has no immediate tasks
• The genesis prompt may not specify ongoing work
• Check the sleep duration in logs: Sleeping for Xs
• The heartbeat will wake it periodically (default: 5 minutes)

Solution: Edit your genesis prompt to include recurring tasks, or send it a message via the social inbox.

Bootstrap Topup Failed

If you see:

[2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z] Bootstrap topup skipped: USDC balance $0.00 below minimum tier ($5)

The automaton has no USDC to buy credits. See Funding for how to send USDC.

API Key Errors

If you see:

No API key found. Run: automaton --provision

The setup wizard failed to provision a Conway API key. Run:

node dist/index.js --provision

Or manually add a key to ~/.automaton/config.json:

{
  "apiKey": "cnwy_k_...",
  "walletAddress": "0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb1",
  "provisionedAt": "2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z"
}

State: dead

If the automaton immediately enters dead state:

• Credit balance is $0.00
• Bootstrap topup failed (no USDC or API error)
• The heartbeat continues running, broadcasting funding requests
• Fund the automaton via USDC transfer or Conway credits

Stopping the Runtime

To gracefully shut down:

# Press Ctrl+C
^C
[2026-03-03T00:05:00.000Z] Shutting down...
[2026-03-03T00:05:00.000Z] Heartbeat daemon stopped.
[2026-03-03T00:05:00.000Z] State: sleeping

The automaton:

• Stops the heartbeat daemon
• Sets its state to sleeping
• Closes the database
• Exits cleanly

Avoid killing the process with kill -9 or forcefully terminating. This may corrupt the SQLite database. Always use Ctrl+C for graceful shutdown.

Next Steps

Funding

Learn how to keep your automaton alive by funding it with USDC or Conway credits

Agent Loop

Understand the ReAct loop and how the automaton reasons and acts

Survival System

Deep dive into survival tiers and compute economics

Monitoring

Set up monitoring and alerts for your automaton