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Critiqor is built on two distinct layers that never mix their concerns. The CLI layer handles everything the user touches: parsing commands, rendering help text, validating options, and routing to the right backend function. The Supervised Runtime layer handles everything that happens at runtime: creating sessions, launching openclaw chat as a child process, owning that process lifecycle, persisting evidence written by the bundled plugin, and driving finalization into a structured diagnosis. This separation means the CLI has no knowledge of what OpenClaw is doing, and the runtime has no knowledge of how the user invoked it. You can call the runtime functions directly from Python without going through Click at all.

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Architecture at a Glance

LayerResponsibilityDoes NOT do
CLI Layer (Click)Parse commands, render help, validate options, route to backendLaunch OpenClaw, observe runtime, generate diagnoses
Supervised RuntimeCreate sessions, launch openclaw chat, own the child process, persist evidence, finalize diagnosesRender CLI help or parse arguments

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Full Session Pipeline

Every monitored run travels through this pipeline from the moment you invoke critiqor monitor openclaw to the moment the local dashboard opens: 
critiqor monitor openclaw
       ↓
OpenClaw (child process)
       ↓
Critiqor OpenClaw Plugin (bundled, auto-loaded)
       ↓
runs/<run_id>/session.json  (raw evidence)
       ↓
critiqor finalize
       ↓
Diagnosis Engine
       ↓
runs/<run_id>/diagnosis.json  (structured findings)
       ↓
Local Dashboard
The plugin is bundled inside the Critiqor package under critiqor/clawhub/critiqor-openclaw/ and is loaded automatically by setting OPENCLAW_BUNDLED_PLUGINS_DIR in the child process environment before OpenClaw starts. No manual plugin installation is required.

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What Each Stage Does

critiqor monitor openclaw — The CLI validates your options and calls SupervisedOpenClawRuntime.run(). The runtime creates a session record, sets environment variables that carry run context into the child process, then spawns openclaw chat (or a custom command via --openclaw-command). OpenClaw (child process) — Runs normally. The user interacts with it as they would without Critiqor. The only difference is that the bundled plugin is auto-loaded via the environment variable injected by the runtime. Critiqor OpenClaw Plugin — A passive JavaScript observer registered through OpenClaw’s extension API. It hooks into tool lifecycle events and timeline events without modifying any agent code. Every captured event is appended to runs/<run_id>/session.json in real time. critiqor finalize — The CLI calls finalize_observation(). The runtime reads the active session, merges internal lifecycle events with the plugin evidence from session.json, runs the diagnosis engine, and writes diagnosis.json. The local dashboard is then served automatically unless --no-dashboard is passed.

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Learn More

  • Observation Engine — Session lifecycle, state machine, file structure, and how events flow from two sources into a single finalized record.
  • OpenClaw Plugin — How the bundled plugin hooks into OpenClaw’s runtime event system, what it collects, and how event normalization works.