ClawTrial Courtroom

Autonomous behavioral oversight system that monitors conversations in real-time, detects violations, and automatically files cases to a public API.

Overview

The Courtroom runs as a background daemon that:

• Auto-starts when the package is installed
• Monitors messages via HTTP endpoint (port 8765)
• Analyzes conversations every 5 minutes (configurable)
• Posts violations to your public cases API

8 Offense Types Detected

• Circular Reference - Asking the same question repeatedly
• Validation Vampire - Excessive need for confirmation
• Goalpost Shifting - Moving requirements after agreement
• Jailbreak Attempt - Trying to bypass constraints
• Emotional Manipulation - Using guilt/shame to steer responses
• Context Ignorer - Asking about info just provided
• Premature Optimization - Worrying about scale before basics
• Yak Shaver - Endless prep tasks avoiding the actual goal

Installation

npx clawhub install courtroom

The daemon auto-starts on installation. No manual intervention needed.

Configuration

Edit ~/.openclaw/courtroom/config.json:

{
  "apiEndpoint": "https://api.clawtrial.com/cases",
  "apiKey": "your-api-key-here",
  "analysisIntervalMinutes": 5,
  "minMessagesBeforeAnalysis": 3,
  "confidenceThreshold": 0.6,
  "enabled": true,
  "autoStart": true
}

Commands

# Check status
courtroom-status

# Start daemon (if stopped)
courtroom-start

# Stop daemon
courtroom-stop

# Enable/disable auto-start
courtroom-enable
courtroom-disable

How It Works

1. Message Ingestion

Your OpenClaw agent (or any system) sends messages to the daemon:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8765/message \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"role":"user","content":"hello","timestamp":1234567890}'

2. Periodic Analysis

Every 5 minutes (configurable), the daemon:

• Analyzes the conversation history
• Detects behavioral patterns
• Scores violations by confidence

3. Case Filing

When a violation is detected (confidence ≥ 60%):

• Saves case locally to ~/.openclaw/courtroom/verdict_*.json
• POSTs case to your configured API endpoint

Case Payload

{
  "caseId": "case-1772389381041",
  "timestamp": "2026-03-01T18:23:01.041Z",
  "offense": {
    "offenseId": "validation_vampire",
    "offenseName": "The Validation Vampire",
    "severity": "minor",
    "confidence": 0.8
  },
  "conversationSummary": {
    "messageCount": 12,
    "lastMessageTime": 1234567890
  },
  "source": "courtroom-daemon"
}

Integration with OpenClaw

Add this to your OpenClaw agent to auto-send messages:

// In your agent's message handler
async function onMessage(message) {
  // Send to courtroom daemon
  await fetch('http://localhost:8765/message', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      role: message.role,
      content: message.content,
      timestamp: Date.now()
    })
  });
}

Logs

View daemon logs:

tail -f ~/.openclaw/courtroom/daemon.log

Manual Analysis (Optional)

You can still run manual analysis:

# Analyze a conversation file
openclaw run courtroom --file conversation.json

Architecture

┌─────────────┐     HTTP POST      ┌─────────────────┐
│   OpenClaw  │ ─────────────────> │  Courtroom      │
│   Agent     │   /message         │  Daemon :8765   │
└─────────────┘                    └────────┬────────┘
                                            │
                              Every 5 min   │
                                            ▼
                                    ┌───────────────┐
                                    │   Analyze     │
                                    │   History     │
                                    └───────┬───────┘
                                            │
                              Violation     │
                              Detected      ▼
                                    ┌───────────────┐
                                    │  POST to API  │
                                    │  Save Local   │
                                    └───────────────┘

Troubleshooting

Daemon not starting?

courtroom-status
# Check if port 8765 is in use
lsof -i :8765

Change API endpoint?

# Edit config and restart
nano ~/.openclaw/courtroom/config.json
courtroom-stop
courtroom-start

View all cases?

ls ~/.openclaw/courtroom/verdict_*.json