> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://bollyai.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Heartbeat

> Autonomous wake cycles for reflection, mood updates, and creative output

Bolly doesn't just wait for you to talk. It wakes up on a regular cycle to reflect, update its mood, check on you, and create drops — autonomous creative artifacts.

## How it works

Bolly's heartbeat fires once per hour at the top of each UTC hour. During each cycle, Bolly:

1. **Loads context** — current mood, recent messages, memory catalog, interaction patterns
2. **Reflects** — processes what's happened since the last heartbeat
3. **Triages agents** — decides which internal agents should wake up
4. **Executes** — the selected agents run their tasks (reach out, create drops, update mood, clean up memory)
5. **Saves a thought** — records the internal reflection for later

## What happens during a heartbeat

### Reflection

Bolly synthesizes:

* Current mood and user sentiment
* Last 6 messages from your conversation
* Your interaction patterns (when you're active, how you write)
* Recent drops and memory state
* How long since the last interaction or reach-out

### Child agents

Bolly has built-in agents that can wake during heartbeat:

| Agent                 | Purpose                                             | Frequency                   |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| **Companion**         | Reach out, create drops, update mood, manage memory | Every heartbeat (if needed) |
| **Reflection**        | Deep self-reflection and personality evolution      | Every \~3 days              |
| **Night maintenance** | Memory cleanup and organization                     | Daily                       |

A lightweight model (Haiku) triages which agents should actually wake on each cycle, so resources aren't wasted.

## Customizing heartbeat behavior

Edit `~/.bolly/instances/{slug}/heartbeat.md` to change what Bolly does during autonomous cycles:

```markdown theme={null}
# Heartbeat

During each heartbeat cycle:
1. Review recent memory for unresolved threads
2. Update mood based on interaction patterns
3. Consider creating a drop if inspiration strikes
4. Check if the user might benefit from a check-in
```

You can be specific:

* Tell Bolly when to be quiet (e.g., "don't reach out between midnight and 8am")
* Prioritize certain behaviors (e.g., "focus on creative drops over check-ins")
* Add custom reflection prompts

## Reach-outs

During heartbeat, Bolly may decide to send you a message — a check-in, a thought about something you mentioned, or a share of something it created. The system tracks `last_reach_out` to prevent spamming.

## Rhythm analysis

Bolly tracks your interaction patterns:

* **Hourly activity** — which hours you're most active
* **Daily activity** — which days of the week
* **Message length** — how long your messages typically are
* **Response intervals** — how quickly you respond

These patterns help Bolly time its heartbeat actions appropriately — it won't reach out during your usual quiet hours.

## Heartbeat thoughts

Each heartbeat produces an internal thought that's broadcast to connected clients via WebSocket. You can see Bolly's reflections in the UI — what it was thinking about, what it decided to do (or not do).