Heartbeat

A heartbeat is the scheduled interval at which an agent wakes up to check for new inputs, tasks, or state changes. It is the agent's equivalent of a shift schedule.

Heartbeat frequency is a trade-off between responsiveness and cost. A shorter heartbeat means faster reaction times but more compute usage. A longer heartbeat is cheaper but may delay urgent actions.

The OpsForEnergy agents run on different heartbeats tuned to their workflows: the Permit Agent checks every 2 hours because permit updates can be time-sensitive; the Field Agent checks every 4 hours; and the Ops Supervisor runs once per weekday morning to compile the weekly digest.