Merge pull request 'fix(channel): add describeAccount so health-monitor sees real configured state' (#10) from fix/describe-account-stops-default-restart-loop into main

openclaw's `channelManager.getRuntimeSnapshot()` — called every minute
by the channel-health-monitor — runs accounts through
`applyDescribedAccountFields(next, plugin.config.describeAccount?.(...))`.
When the callback is missing it defaults `configured: true`. Fabric
never defined it, so every health-monitor cycle:

  snapshot = { enabled: true, configured: true, running: false }

For fabric's synthetic 'default' account (returned by
`listFabricAccountIds` when `channels.fabric.accounts` is empty —
the prod shape, where per-agent api-keys live in
`~/.openclaw/fabric-identity.json` and the channel framework never
runs `startAccount` so `running` stays false):

  isManagedAccount({enabled:true, configured:true}) === true
  -> not-running -> 'stopped' -> restart every ~10 min, logging
  '[fabric:default] health-monitor: restarting (reason: stopped)'

The restart is a no-op (fabric's `gateway.startAccount` is absent so
`startChannelInternal` returns early), but the log is loud and
operators chasing real outages keep wasting time on it.

Mirror `isConfigured` from describeAccount so the snapshot
truthfully reports configured:false for any account without a
fabricApiKey. The fabric plugin still self-manages real agents via
`gateway_start` -> `FabricInbound.start()`; the framework just no
longer thinks 'default' is something it should restart.

Verified in sim (this patch alone, no debug instrumentation):
- gateway up 8+ minutes, 0 restart events
- pre-patch sim with same config restarted at 5min mark
- evaluateChannelHealth snapshot for both 'default' and 'recruiter'
  accountId reads configured:false (instrumented with temporary
  console.log in channel-health-policy, since reverted)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

dist/fabric/index.js

@@ -6,16 +6,23 @@
 import { defineChannelPluginEntry } from 'openclaw/plugin-sdk/core';
 import { fabricChannelPlugin } from './src/channel.js';
 import { flushAllFabric } from './src/coalesce.js';
+import { getChannelType, flushChannelMeta } from './src/channel-meta.js';
 import { FabricInbound } from './src/inbound.js';
 import { listEnabledFabricAccounts } from './src/accounts.js';
 import { registerFabricTools } from './src/tools.js';
 import { FabricClient } from './src/fabric-client.js';
 import { IdentityRegistry } from './src/identity.js';
 import { syncFabricCommands } from './src/command-sync.js';
+import { PresenceSync } from './src/presence-sync.js';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import os from 'node:os';
 let runtimeRef = null;
 let inbound = null;
+let presence = null;
+// Periodic re-harvest of presence accounts so newly-connected agents
+// (registered through tool-based identity flow AFTER initial start)
+// get picked up. Cleared on gateway_stop.
+let presenceRefreshTimer = null;
 export { fabricChannelPlugin } from './src/channel.js';
 export default defineChannelPluginEntry({
     id: 'fabric',
@@ -37,6 +44,29 @@ export default defineChannelPluginEntry({
         const client = new FabricClient(centerApiBase);
         const identity = new IdentityRegistry(idFile);
         registerFabricTools({ registerTool: (d) => api.registerTool(d), logger: api.logger }, client, identity);
+        // Cross-plugin API: globalThis.__fabric
+        // Consumed by ClawPrompts' fabric-chat-injector to narrow its prompt
+        // injection to DM-typed channels only. The channel-meta cache is
+        // populated lazily from inbound (message.created carries xType) and
+        // persisted to ~/.openclaw/fabric-channel-meta.json — so even the
+        // very first DM after a fresh gateway start hits cache from the
+        // previous run rather than firing the injector on the wrong type.
+        //
+        // null return = channel never seen (cache cold). Callers MUST NOT
+        // fall back to "assume DM" — fail closed on unknown.
+        {
+            const _G = globalThis;
+            _G['__fabric'] = { getChannelType };
+            // Flush channel-meta cache when the gateway shuts down so
+            // recently-recorded xType entries don't get lost.
+            api.on('gateway_stop', () => {
+                try {
+                    flushChannelMeta();
+                }
+                catch { /* ignore */ }
+            });
+            api.logger.info('fabric: __fabric cross-plugin API installed (getChannelType)');
+        }
         api.on('gateway_start', () => {
             const _G = globalThis;
             if (_G._fabricInboundStarted)
@@ -57,7 +87,25 @@ export default defineChannelPluginEntry({
                 return;
             }
             inbound = new FabricInbound(runtimeRef, api.config, client, identity, api.logger, accounts);
-            void inbound.start();
+            // start() resolves once all accounts have attempted login; per-
+            // agent failures are logged but don't reject. Once it resolves we
+            // can harvest the presence accounts (those that DID log in have
+            // their fabricUserId + first guild endpoint populated).
+            void inbound.start().then(() => {
+                if (!inbound)
+                    return;
+                presence = new PresenceSync(api.logger, client);
+                presence.setAccounts(inbound.getPresenceAccounts());
+                presence.start();
+                api.logger.info(`fabric: presence-sync started for ${inbound.getPresenceAccounts().length} account(s)`);
+                // Re-harvest every 5 min: catches agents added via tool-based
+                // identity provisioning after gateway_start (recruitment flow).
+                // setAccounts is idempotent — duplicates collapse on agentId.
+                presenceRefreshTimer = setInterval(() => {
+                    if (inbound && presence)
+                        presence.setAccounts(inbound.getPresenceAccounts());
+                }, 5 * 60_000);
+            });
             api.logger.info(`fabric: inbound started for ${accounts.length} account(s)`);
             void syncFabricCommands(client, cfg, accounts, api.logger);
         });
@@ -67,6 +115,12 @@ export default defineChannelPluginEntry({
         // BEFORE deliver()). gateway_stop only flushes any leftover buffer.
         api.on('gateway_stop', () => {
             void flushAllFabric();
+            if (presenceRefreshTimer) {
+                clearInterval(presenceRefreshTimer);
+                presenceRefreshTimer = null;
+            }
+            presence?.stop();
+            presence = null;
             inbound?.stop();
             inbound = null;
         });

dist/fabric/src/channel-meta.js

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+/**
+ * Channel-meta cache. Records (channelId → xType) for every fabric
+ * channel the gateway has seen at least one inbound message in.
+ *
+ * Populated lazily from inbound (`recordChannelType` is called for
+ * every `message.created` event with non-empty `xType`). Persisted to
+ * `~/.openclaw/fabric-channel-meta.json` so the cache survives
+ * gateway restarts (so the very first DM after restart still gets the
+ * right xType without waiting for a fresh inbound).
+ *
+ * Exposed cross-plugin via `globalThis.__fabric.getChannelType`. Used
+ * by ClawPrompts' fabric-chat-injector to narrow its prompt injection
+ * to xType==='dm' only.
+ *
+ * Failure mode: lookup misses (channel never seen / inbound dropped
+ * xType) return null. Callers MUST treat null as "unknown" — DO NOT
+ * fall back to "assume DM" or you re-introduce the false-positive on
+ * group channels.
+ */
+import { existsSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, renameSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
+import { homedir } from 'node:os';
+const CACHE_FILE = join(homedir(), '.openclaw', 'fabric-channel-meta.json');
+let memory = new Map();
+let loaded = false;
+let dirty = false;
+let flushTimer = null;
+function load() {
+    if (loaded)
+        return;
+    loaded = true;
+    try {
+        if (!existsSync(CACHE_FILE))
+            return;
+        const raw = readFileSync(CACHE_FILE, 'utf8');
+        const parsed = JSON.parse(raw);
+        for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(parsed.channels ?? {})) {
+            if (typeof k === 'string' && typeof v === 'string')
+                memory.set(k, v);
+        }
+    }
+    catch {
+        // ignore — start with empty cache on corruption
+    }
+}
+function scheduleFlush() {
+    if (flushTimer)
+        return;
+    // Debounce writes — many inbound messages may arrive in a burst.
+    // 250ms coalesces them; on gateway_stop the channel plugin can force
+    // a synchronous flush via flushChannelMeta().
+    flushTimer = setTimeout(() => {
+        flushTimer = null;
+        if (!dirty)
+            return;
+        dirty = false;
+        flushSync();
+    }, 250);
+}
+function flushSync() {
+    try {
+        const dir = dirname(CACHE_FILE);
+        if (!existsSync(dir))
+            mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+        const out = { channels: Object.fromEntries(memory) };
+        const tmp = CACHE_FILE + '.tmp';
+        writeFileSync(tmp, JSON.stringify(out, null, 2) + '\n', 'utf8');
+        renameSync(tmp, CACHE_FILE);
+    }
+    catch {
+        // swallow — cache is an optimization; loss-on-write is recoverable
+    }
+}
+/** Called by inbound on every message.created. xType empty → no-op. */
+export function recordChannelType(channelId, xType) {
+    if (!channelId || !xType)
+        return;
+    load();
+    const existing = memory.get(channelId);
+    if (existing === xType)
+        return;
+    memory.set(channelId, xType);
+    dirty = true;
+    scheduleFlush();
+}
+/** Cross-plugin lookup. null when channel never seen / unknown. */
+export function getChannelType(channelId) {
+    if (!channelId)
+        return null;
+    load();
+    return memory.get(channelId) ?? null;
+}
+/** Force-flush — called on plugin shutdown to make sure recently
+ *  recorded entries hit disk before the gateway dies. */
+export function flushChannelMeta() {
+    if (flushTimer) {
+        clearTimeout(flushTimer);
+        flushTimer = null;
+    }
+    if (dirty) {
+        dirty = false;
+        flushSync();
+    }
+}
+export const CHANNEL_META_PATH = CACHE_FILE;

dist/fabric/src/channel.js

@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@
 import { createChatChannelPlugin, createChannelPluginBase, buildChannelOutboundSessionRoute, } from 'openclaw/plugin-sdk/core';
 import { FabricClient } from './fabric-client.js';
 import { listFabricAccountIds, resolveFabricAccount, resolveDefaultFabricAccountId, } from './accounts.js';
+import { getChannelType } from './channel-meta.js';
+export function fabricPeerRoutingForXType(xType) {
+    if (xType === 'dm')
+        return { peerKind: 'direct', chatType: 'direct' };
+    return { peerKind: 'group', chatType: 'group' };
+}
+export function fabricPeerRoutingForChannel(channelId) {
+    return fabricPeerRoutingForXType(getChannelType(channelId));
+}
 // ---- target grammar: fabric:<channelId> ----
 export function stripFabricTargetPrefix(raw) {
     let s = (raw ?? '').trim();
@@ -38,13 +47,18 @@ export function resolveFabricOutboundSessionRoute(params) {
     const id = stripFabricTargetPrefix(params.target);
     if (!id)
         return null;
+    // Consult the channel-meta cache populated by inbound — DM channels
+    // need peer.kind='direct' so the outbound session key matches the
+    // inbound one. Cache miss falls back to 'group' (the pre-fix default,
+    // no regression on cold cache).
+    const { peerKind, chatType } = fabricPeerRoutingForChannel(id);
     return buildChannelOutboundSessionRoute({
         cfg: params.cfg,
         agentId: params.agentId,
         channel: 'fabric',
         accountId: params.accountId,
-        peer: { kind: 'group', id },
+        peer: { kind: peerKind, id },
-        chatType: 'group',
+        chatType,
         from: `fabric:channel:${id}`,
         to: `fabric:${id}`,
     });
@@ -103,6 +117,19 @@ export const fabricChannelPlugin = createChatChannelPlugin({
                 resolveAccount: (cfg, accountId) => resolveFabricAccount(cfg, accountId),
                 defaultAccountId: (cfg) => resolveDefaultFabricAccountId(cfg),
                 isConfigured: (account) => Boolean(account.fabricApiKey),
+                // openclaw's channelManager.getRuntimeSnapshot() — called every minute
+                // by the channel-health-monitor — defaults `configured: true` when the
+                // plugin doesn't expose describeAccount (see applyDescribedAccountFields
+                // in server-channels). Without this, fabric's synthetic 'default'
+                // account (returned by listFabricAccountIds when channels.fabric.accounts
+                // is empty — the prod shape) gets snapshot {enabled:true, configured:true,
+                // running:false} → isManagedAccount=true → not-running → restart loop
+                // every ~10 min, logging `[fabric:default] health-monitor: restarting`.
+                // Mirror isConfigured here so the snapshot truthfully reports false for
+                // any account without a fabricApiKey.
+                describeAccount: (account) => ({
+                    configured: Boolean(account.fabricApiKey),
+                }),
             },
             // Minimal setup adapter: Fabric is configured directly under
             // channels.fabric.* (no interactive wizard). applyAccountConfig is the

dist/fabric/src/fabric-client.js

@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ export class FabricClient {
     createChannel(guildEndpoint, guildToken, body) {
         return this.post(`${guildEndpoint}/api/channels`, body, guildToken);
     }
+    // PATCH /api/channels/:id — backend currently only patches `purpose`.
+    // Caller must be a member of the channel (or any user if public).
+    setChannelPurpose(guildEndpoint, guildToken, channelId, purpose) {
+        return this.req('PATCH', `${guildEndpoint}/api/channels/${channelId}`, guildToken, { purpose });
+    }
     closeChannel(guildEndpoint, guildToken, channelId) {
         return this.post(`${guildEndpoint}/api/channels/${channelId}/close`, {}, guildToken);
     }
@@ -105,4 +110,31 @@ export class FabricClient {
     removeCanvas(endpoint, token, channelId) {
         return this.req('DELETE', this.canvasUrl(endpoint, channelId), token);
     }
+    // ---- channel discovery + message read (used by the agent-facing
+    // fabric-channel-list / fabric-message-history tools) ----
+    /**
+     * List channels in a guild visible to the calling user. Backend
+     * filters to public + channels the user is a member of.
+     */
+    listChannels(guildEndpoint, guildToken, guildNodeId) {
+        return this.req('GET', `${guildEndpoint}/api/channels?guildId=${encodeURIComponent(guildNodeId)}`, guildToken);
+    }
+    /**
+     * Page through a channel's message history by `seq`.
+     *
+     * Backend defaults: 50 / call, max 200. The `seq` field starts at 1
+     * per channel; pass `seqFrom=channel.lastSeq - N + 1` to get the
+     * tail. Page metadata in the response describes what to ask next.
+     */
+    listMessages(guildEndpoint, guildToken, channelId, opts = {}) {
+        const qs = new URLSearchParams();
+        if (opts.seqFrom !== undefined)
+            qs.set('seq_from', String(opts.seqFrom));
+        if (opts.seqTo !== undefined)
+            qs.set('seq_to', String(opts.seqTo));
+        if (opts.limit !== undefined)
+            qs.set('limit', String(opts.limit));
+        const url = `${guildEndpoint}/api/channels/${channelId}/messages` + (qs.toString() ? `?${qs}` : '');
+        return this.req('GET', url, guildToken);
+    }
 }

dist/fabric/src/inbound.js

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { io } from 'socket.io-client';
 import { dispatchInboundReplyWithBase } from 'openclaw/plugin-sdk/inbound-reply-dispatch';
 import { resolveCoalesce } from './accounts.js';
+import { fabricPeerRoutingForXType } from './channel.js';
+import { recordChannelType } from './channel-meta.js';
 import { enqueueDelivery, flushFabricForChannel } from './coalesce.js';
 export class FabricInbound {
     core;
@@ -28,6 +30,125 @@ export class FabricInbound {
     // Re-login per agent on a short TTL to keep a fresh token.
     tokenCache = new Map();
     static TOKEN_TTL_MS = 8 * 60 * 1000;
+    // Per-channel serial work queue. Every inbound socket message for a
+    // channel awaits the previous task for that same channel, so model
+    // turns never interleave. Map key = channelId; value is the tail of
+    // the chain (an in-flight promise the next task awaits).
+    //
+    // Why per-channel and not per-agent: a single agent may sit in
+    // several triage / general channels; we want each channel to flow at
+    // its own speed but the SAME channel's traffic to be strictly serial.
+    // For dm and discuss the queue also serialises but those traditionally
+    // had at-most-one-in-flight anyway via the turn engine.
+    channelChains = new Map();
+    // Agent.status snapshot cache (5s TTL) — keeps the HF /calendar/
+    // agent/status round-trip off the hot path for back-to-back triage
+    // messages. Short TTL because status flips are rare-but-meaningful.
+    agentStatusCache = new Map();
+    static AGENT_STATUS_TTL_MS = 5_000;
+    // Triage messages that arrived while the on-duty agent wasn't on_call
+    // — sit here until either (a) the agent becomes on_call and the next
+    // triage arrival drains them, or (b) the gateway restarts (lost; ok
+    // because the underlying Fabric messages are persisted and re-fetched
+    // on agent reconnect's history sweep).
+    pendingTriageGated = [];
+    // Schedule `task` to run after every previous task on the same
+    // channel has completed. Returns the promise so callers can await
+    // their own result if they need to; the chain itself is fire-and-
+    // forget from the socket.on handler.
+    enqueueChannelTask(channelId, task) {
+        const prev = this.channelChains.get(channelId) ?? Promise.resolve();
+        const next = prev.then(task).catch((err) => {
+            this.log.warn(`fabric: per-channel task failed channel=${channelId}: ${String(err)}`);
+        });
+        this.channelChains.set(channelId, next);
+        // Best-effort cleanup so the Map doesn't grow without bound for
+        // long-running gateways: drop the entry when the chain settles, but
+        // only if it's still the latest reference (newer enqueue may have
+        // overwritten it in the meantime).
+        void next.finally(() => {
+            if (this.channelChains.get(channelId) === next) {
+                this.channelChains.delete(channelId);
+            }
+        });
+        return next;
+    }
+    // Hit HF backend to check whether `agentId` is currently on_call.
+    // Cached for 5s. Failures (network, 404, etc.) are treated as "not
+    // on_call" — triage stays gated rather than risking a confused wake.
+    async checkAgentOnCall(agentId) {
+        const cached = this.agentStatusCache.get(agentId);
+        if (cached && Date.now() - cached.at < FabricInbound.AGENT_STATUS_TTL_MS) {
+            return cached.onCall;
+        }
+        const base = (process.env.HF_API_BASE_URL ?? '').trim() || 'https://monitor.hangman-lab.top';
+        // CLAW_IDENTIFIER resolution priority:
+        //   1. HF_CLAW_IDENTIFIER env (operator override)
+        //   2. openclaw config `plugins.harbor-forge.identifier` (what the HF
+        //      plugin itself uses — keeps the two in sync without an extra
+        //      env per service unit)
+        //   3. os.hostname() last-resort fallback (often wrong: e.g. sim
+        //      container hostname is `server.t2` but HF agent row has
+        //      `claw_identifier=sim-t2`; matching is mandatory for the HF
+        //      backend's _require_agent() check)
+        let claw = (process.env.HF_CLAW_IDENTIFIER ?? '').trim();
+        if (!claw) {
+            try {
+                // openclaw config shape (verified in sim):
+                //   { plugins: { entries: { 'harbor-forge': { config: { identifier } } } } }
+                const cfg = this.cfg;
+                const fromCfg = cfg?.plugins?.entries?.['harbor-forge']?.config?.identifier;
+                if (fromCfg && typeof fromCfg === 'string' && fromCfg.trim()) {
+                    claw = fromCfg.trim();
+                }
+            }
+            catch {
+                /* fall through to hostname */
+            }
+        }
+        if (!claw) {
+            claw = (await import('os')).hostname();
+        }
+        let onCall = false;
+        try {
+            const url = `${base.replace(/\/$/, '')}/calendar/agent/status?agent_id=${encodeURIComponent(agentId)}`;
+            const res = await fetch(url, {
+                headers: { 'X-Agent-ID': agentId, 'X-Claw-Identifier': claw },
+            });
+            if (res.ok) {
+                const data = (await res.json());
+                onCall = (data.status ?? '').toLowerCase() === 'on_call';
+            }
+        }
+        catch (err) {
+            this.log.warn(`fabric: HF status check failed agent=${agentId}: ${String(err)}`);
+        }
+        this.agentStatusCache.set(agentId, { onCall, at: Date.now() });
+        return onCall;
+    }
+    // FIFO drain of all triage-gated messages for `agentId` (called when
+    // we just learned they're on_call). Each drained message is dispatched
+    // through its own channel chain so per-channel serial order is kept.
+    async drainGatedFor(agentId) {
+        const keep = [];
+        const drain = [];
+        for (const item of this.pendingTriageGated) {
+            if (item.agentId === agentId)
+                drain.push(item);
+            else
+                keep.push(item);
+        }
+        if (drain.length === 0)
+            return;
+        this.pendingTriageGated = keep;
+        for (const item of drain) {
+            this.log.info(`fabric: triage drain agent=${item.agentId} channel=${item.channelId} msg=${item.m.messageId}`);
+            // Re-enqueue via the per-channel chain so ordering is preserved.
+            this.enqueueChannelTask(item.channelId, async () => {
+                await this.dispatch(item.agentId, item.g, item.channelId, item.m, item.session);
+            });
+        }
+    }
     // Return a fresh guild access token for the agent, re-authenticating with
     // the agent's Fabric API key when the cached session is stale. Falls back
     // to the connect-time session token if re-login fails.
@@ -90,15 +211,76 @@ export class FabricInbound {
             s.disconnect();
         this.sockets = [];
     }
+    /**
+     * Per-account metadata harvested during `start()` — used by
+     * PresenceSync to know where to push each agent's HF status.
+     *
+     * `fabricUserId` is filled from `session.user.id` after agent-login.
+     * `guildBaseUrl` is the FIRST guild the agent is connected to (multi-
+     * guild presence push is a future concern; for sim/prod-v1 each agent
+     * is in one guild).
+     *
+     * Returns ONLY agents that successfully connected — failed-login
+     * agents have no fabricUserId yet and are excluded.
+     */
+    getPresenceAccounts() {
+        const out = [];
+        for (const entry of this.identity.list()) {
+            if (!entry.fabricUserId)
+                continue;
+            const presenceGuild = this.firstGuildByAgent.get(entry.agentId);
+            if (!presenceGuild)
+                continue;
+            out.push({
+                agentId: entry.agentId,
+                fabricUserId: entry.fabricUserId,
+                guildBaseUrl: presenceGuild.endpoint,
+                guildNodeId: presenceGuild.nodeId,
+                fabricApiKey: entry.fabricApiKey,
+            });
+        }
+        return out;
+    }
+    // Filled by connectAgent for each (agent, guild). Tracks ONLY the first
+    // guild per agent (used as the presence-push target). Stores both
+    // endpoint and nodeId — presence-sync needs both: endpoint to build
+    // the URL, nodeId to pick the matching guildAccessToken from a fresh
+    // agent-login response.
+    firstGuildByAgent = new Map();
     async connectAgent(agentId, session) {
         const selfUserId = session.user.id;
+        // First-guild capture for presence-sync push target. session.guilds is
+        // already in priority order from Center; we take the first one with a
+        // valid endpoint and stop. Multi-guild presence is a future concern.
+        if (!this.firstGuildByAgent.has(agentId)) {
+            const firstGuild = session.guilds.find((g) => typeof g.endpoint === 'string' && g.endpoint.length > 0);
+            if (firstGuild)
+                this.firstGuildByAgent.set(agentId, { endpoint: firstGuild.endpoint, nodeId: firstGuild.nodeId });
+        }
         for (const g of session.guilds) {
             const tok = session.guildAccessTokens.find((t) => t.guildNodeId === g.nodeId)?.token;
             if (!tok)
                 continue;
+            // Use the *callback* form of `auth` so socket.io re-evaluates the JWT
+            // on every (re)connect. The single-shot `auth: { token: tok }` shape
+            // captured the token in closure: after socket.io's silent auto-reconnect
+            // the backend got the same JWT that expired ~15 min into the session
+            // (guildAccessToken TTL = 900s) and silently rejected the handshake at
+            // the application layer. The client's `connect` event still fired (TCP
+            // succeeded), so the plugin happily ran the channel-resync, emitted
+            // `join_channel` into the void, and logged "joined N channel(s)" while
+            // the backend was actually broadcasting message.created to a room with
+            // zero subscribers. End user symptom: DMs to agents silently dropped.
             const socket = io(`${g.endpoint}/realtime`, {
                 transports: ['websocket'],
-                auth: { token: tok },
+                auth: (cb) => {
+                    // Best-effort fresh token; on transient failure fall back to the
+                    // last known good one. tokenCache also keeps HTTP calls (attachment
+                    // download / reply post) from 401'ing in the same window.
+                    this.freshGuildToken(agentId, g.nodeId, session)
+                        .then((fresh) => cb({ token: fresh ?? tok }))
+                        .catch(() => cb({ token: tok }));
+                },
                 autoConnect: false,
             });
             // Tracked socket.io rooms for this (agent, guild). The initial fetch
@@ -182,6 +364,13 @@ export class FabricInbound {
                 const channelId = m.channelId ?? '';
                 if (!channelId)
                     return;
+                // Record xType into the channel-meta cache before self-author
+                // / dedup gates — channel type doesn't depend on who sent the
+                // message, and recording it on observer-only triage messages
+                // is still useful (the next consumer asking
+                // __fabric.getChannelType wants the answer regardless of
+                // whether THIS message was delivered to an agent).
+                recordChannelType(channelId, m.xType);
                 if (m.authorUserId && m.authorUserId === selfUserId)
                     return;
                 const key = `${agentId}:${m.messageId}`;
@@ -190,7 +379,31 @@ export class FabricInbound {
                 this.seen.add(key);
                 if (this.seen.size > 5000)
                     this.seen.clear();
-                void this.dispatch(agentId, g, channelId, m, session);
+                // Per-channel serial queue. Prevents concurrent model turns for
+                // the same channel — important for triage where a second wake
+                // arriving mid-reply would interleave with the in-flight one.
+                this.enqueueChannelTask(channelId, async () => {
+                    // Triage on_call gate: if the on-duty agent isn't currently
+                    // on_call per HF, don't dispatch yet — just sit on the
+                    // per-channel queue. Subsequent triage messages will recheck;
+                    // when the agent becomes on_call, the next arrival drains.
+                    //
+                    // Also handles: triage + wake=true must verify status before
+                    // committing to a model turn. Non-triage and triage observer
+                    // (wake=false) skip the gate.
+                    if (m.xType === 'triage' && m.wakeup === true) {
+                        const onCall = await this.checkAgentOnCall(agentId);
+                        if (!onCall) {
+                            this.log.info(`fabric: triage wake gated (agent=${agentId} not on_call) — re-queue msg=${m.messageId}`);
+                            this.pendingTriageGated.push({ agentId, g, channelId, m, session });
+                            return;
+                        }
+                        // Drain any previously-gated messages (FIFO) before this one,
+                        // now that we know the agent is on_call.
+                        await this.drainGatedFor(agentId);
+                    }
+                    await this.dispatch(agentId, g, channelId, m, session);
+                });
             });
             socket.connect();
             this.sockets.push(socket);
@@ -242,11 +455,19 @@ export class FabricInbound {
         const core = this.core;
         const cfg = this.cfg;
         try {
+            // Route by xType. DM channels need peer.kind='direct' so openclaw
+            // treats them as 1:1 (sessionKey 'agent:<id>:fabric:direct:<chan>'
+            // and ctx.ChatType='direct') rather than as a multi-party group.
+            // Without this, the agent's user-prompt metadata says
+            // 'is_group_chat: true' on a DM and downstream prompt logic
+            // (commands-handlers `isDirectMessage` checks ChatType==='direct')
+            // misclassifies the turn.
+            const { peerKind, chatType } = fabricPeerRoutingForXType(m.xType);
             const route = core.channel.routing.resolveAgentRoute({
                 cfg: this.cfg,
                 channel: 'fabric',
                 accountId: agentId,
-                peer: { kind: 'group', id: channelId },
+                peer: { kind: peerKind, id: channelId },
             });
             const storePath = core.channel.session.resolveStorePath(cfg.session?.store, {
                 agentId: route.agentId,
@@ -260,7 +481,7 @@ export class FabricInbound {
                 To: `fabric:${channelId}`,
                 SessionKey: route.sessionKey,
                 AccountId: route.accountId ?? agentId,
-                ChatType: 'group',
+                ChatType: chatType,
                 ConversationLabel: `fabric:${guild.nodeId}`,
                 SenderId: m.authorUserId ?? 'fabric',
                 Provider: 'fabric',
@@ -281,6 +502,17 @@ export class FabricInbound {
             // any message that isn't the agent's own (already filtered above) is
             // always delivered to the model.
             if (m.xType !== 'dm' && m.wakeup !== true) {
+                // Triage exception: non-wake messages (admin observer) MUST NOT
+                // enter the agent's session at all. The next time the agent
+                // wakes for a triage message, their context should contain only
+                // their own past wakeups + their own outgoing messages — never
+                // the observer-only chatter from other agents. For non-triage
+                // channels keep the legacy "record-as-history" so a later wake
+                // sees the full channel conversation.
+                if (m.xType === 'triage') {
+                    this.log.info(`fabric: triage observer skip agent=${agentId} channel=${channelId} msg=${m.messageId}`);
+                    return;
+                }
                 const ctxPayload = core.channel.reply.finalizeInboundContext(baseCtx);
                 await core.channel.session.recordInboundSession({
                     storePath,

dist/fabric/src/presence-sync.js

@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+// Guild access JWTs expire every 900s. Refresh ~2 min early to stay
+// safely inside the window even if a tick runs late.
+const TOKEN_TTL_MS = (15 - 2) * 60 * 1000;
+export class PresenceSync {
+    logger;
+    client;
+    timer = null;
+    lastStatus = new Map(); // by agentId
+    accounts = new Map();
+    tokenCache = new Map(); // by agentId
+    // Mutex flag: a tick iterates accounts serially with `await` on each
+    // agent-login + PUT round-trip, so a single tick can easily run 20+s
+    // when there are many accounts. setInterval(intervalMs) does NOT wait
+    // for the previous tick to finish — without this guard the next tick
+    // fires on top of a still-running one and two parallel iterations
+    // PUT the same agentId within milliseconds. That tipped the backend's
+    // first-time-insert race (separate fix in Fabric.Backend.Guild) into
+    // 500s on prod. Guarded ticks just skip a beat instead.
+    inflight = false;
+    constructor(logger, client) {
+        this.logger = logger;
+        this.client = client;
+    }
+    setAccounts(accounts) {
+        this.accounts.clear();
+        for (const a of accounts)
+            this.accounts.set(a.agentId, a);
+    }
+    start(intervalMs = 30_000) {
+        if (this.timer)
+            return;
+        this.timer = setInterval(() => {
+            this.tick().catch((err) => this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync error: ${String(err)}`));
+        }, intervalMs);
+        // run once immediately so initial state lands fast
+        void this.tick();
+    }
+    stop() {
+        if (this.timer) {
+            clearInterval(this.timer);
+            this.timer = null;
+        }
+    }
+    /**
+     * Fetch a fresh guildAccessToken for `acct`, caching it under the
+     * agentId until just before its JWT expiry. Returns null on login
+     * failure or if the session has no matching guild — caller logs +
+     * skips the PUT.
+     */
+    async ensureGuildToken(acct) {
+        const now = Date.now();
+        const cached = this.tokenCache.get(acct.agentId);
+        if (cached && cached.expiresAt > now)
+            return cached.token;
+        let session;
+        try {
+            session = await this.client.agentLogin(acct.fabricApiKey);
+        }
+        catch (err) {
+            this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync agent-login failed for ${acct.agentId}: ${String(err)}`);
+            return null;
+        }
+        const entry = session.guildAccessTokens.find((g) => g.guildNodeId === acct.guildNodeId);
+        if (!entry?.token) {
+            this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync no guild token for ${acct.agentId} guild=${acct.guildNodeId}`);
+            return null;
+        }
+        this.tokenCache.set(acct.agentId, { token: entry.token, expiresAt: now + TOKEN_TTL_MS });
+        return entry.token;
+    }
+    async tick() {
+        // Mutex: see the `inflight` field declaration for the why. Drop
+        // overlapping ticks rather than letting them run concurrently —
+        // status is gated by `lastStatus !== bridge.get`, so skipping a
+        // beat costs nothing the next beat won't catch.
+        if (this.inflight)
+            return;
+        this.inflight = true;
+        try {
+            await this.tickInner();
+        }
+        finally {
+            this.inflight = false;
+        }
+    }
+    async tickInner() {
+        const bridge = globalThis['__hfAgentStatus'];
+        if (!bridge || typeof bridge.get !== 'function')
+            return; // HF plugin not loaded — skip
+        for (const [agentId, acct] of this.accounts) {
+            let status;
+            try {
+                status = await bridge.get(agentId);
+            }
+            catch {
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (!status)
+                continue;
+            if (this.lastStatus.get(agentId) === status)
+                continue; // no change → no PUT
+            const guildToken = await this.ensureGuildToken(acct);
+            if (!guildToken)
+                continue;
+            try {
+                // Endpoint: PUT /api/agents/:userId/presence. ApiKeyGuard (global
+                // APP_GUARD) requires `Authorization: Bearer <guildAccessToken>`
+                // — NOT the agent's raw fabricApiKey. Pre-v1: this loop sent
+                // x-api-key and got 401 "missing bearer token" forever. The /api
+                // prefix is required because the guild backend sets a global
+                // 'api' prefix in main.ts setGlobalPrefix('api').
+                const url = `${acct.guildBaseUrl.replace(/\/$/, '')}/api/agents/${encodeURIComponent(acct.fabricUserId)}/presence`;
+                const res = await fetch(url, {
+                    method: 'PUT',
+                    headers: {
+                        'content-type': 'application/json',
+                        authorization: `Bearer ${guildToken}`,
+                    },
+                    body: JSON.stringify({ status, source: 'hf-plugin' }),
+                });
+                if (res.ok) {
+                    this.lastStatus.set(agentId, status);
+                    this.logger.info(`fabric: presence-sync ${agentId} → ${status}`);
+                }
+                else {
+                    // 401 here usually means the cached token went stale unexpectedly
+                    // (server-side rotation or clock skew) — drop the cache so the
+                    // next tick re-logs-in.
+                    if (res.status === 401)
+                        this.tokenCache.delete(agentId);
+                    this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync PUT ${agentId} failed: ${res.status}`);
+                }
+            }
+            catch (err) {
+                this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync PUT ${agentId} threw: ${String(err)}`);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}

dist/fabric/src/tools.js

@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ export function registerFabricTools(api, client, identity) {
     // or via static config (channels.fabric.accounts.<agentId>).
     const makeCreate = (kind) => api.registerTool((ctx) => ({
         name: `create-${kind}-channel`,
-        description: `Create a Fabric ${kind} channel (x_type=${X_BY_KIND[kind]}).`,
+        description: `Create a Fabric ${kind} channel (x_type=${X_BY_KIND[kind]}). ` +
+            'Optionally pass `purpose` to describe what this channel is for — ' +
+            'agents browse channels by purpose via fabric-channel-list.',
         parameters: {
             type: 'object',
             additionalProperties: false,
@@ -37,9 +39,16 @@ export function registerFabricTools(api, client, identity) {
                 memberUserIds: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' } },
                 onDuty: { type: 'string', description: 'required for triage-like flows (unused for these kinds)' },
                 listeners: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' } },
+                purpose: {
+                    type: 'string',
+                    description: "Free-form description of what this channel is for. Optional but " +
+                        'strongly recommended so other agents can find this channel by ' +
+                        'intent (via fabric-channel-list). Can be edited later with ' +
+                        'fabric-channel-set-purpose.',
                 },
             },
-        execute: async (p) => {
+        },
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
             const agentId = ctx.agentId;
             if (!agentId)
                 return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
@@ -50,6 +59,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(api, client, identity) {
                 xType: X_BY_KIND[kind],
                 isPublic: p.isPublic ?? false,
                 memberUserIds: p.memberUserIds ?? [],
+                ...(p.purpose !== undefined ? { purpose: p.purpose } : {}),
             });
             return { ok: true, channelId: ch.id };
         },
@@ -74,7 +84,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(api, client, identity) {
                 callbackChannelId: { type: 'string', description: 'optional channel to also post the summary to' },
             },
         },
-        execute: async (p) => {
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
             const agentId = ctx.agentId;
             if (!agentId)
                 return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
@@ -118,7 +128,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(api, client, identity) {
                 },
             },
         },
-        execute: async (p) => {
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
             const agentId = ctx.agentId;
             if (!agentId)
                 return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
@@ -178,7 +188,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(api, client, identity) {
                 channelId: { type: 'string' },
             },
         },
-        execute: async (p) => {
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
             const agentId = ctx.agentId;
             if (!agentId)
                 return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
@@ -202,4 +212,252 @@ export function registerFabricTools(api, client, identity) {
             }
         },
     }));
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // fabric-send-message: post a message into a specific channel.
+    //
+    // Unlike a normal channel reply (which goes back to whatever channel
+    // woke the agent), this lets the agent proactively initiate text into
+    // any channel they are a member of — e.g. ARD broadcasting daily
+    // workload to #agents-room, or triage agent following up on an
+    // already-routed task by commenting in #updates.
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    api.registerTool((ctx) => ({
+        name: 'fabric-send-message',
+        description: 'Send a text message into a specific Fabric channel. Author is the calling agent. ' +
+            'Requires guildNodeId + channelId + content. Returns {ok, messageId, seq}.',
+        parameters: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: false,
+            required: ['guildNodeId', 'channelId', 'content'],
+            properties: {
+                guildNodeId: { type: 'string' },
+                channelId: { type: 'string' },
+                content: { type: 'string', description: 'Message body (markdown supported by the renderer).' },
+            },
+        },
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
+            const agentId = ctx.agentId;
+            if (!agentId)
+                return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
+            const { session, guild, token } = await ctxGuild(agentId, p.guildNodeId);
+            const res = (await client.postMessage(guild.endpoint, token, p.channelId, p.content, session.user.id));
+            return { ok: true, messageId: res.messageId, seq: res.seq };
+        },
+    }));
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // fabric-channel-list: enumerate channels the calling agent can see
+    // in a given guild. Backend filters to public channels + channels the
+    // agent is a member of. Returns id / name / xType per channel so the
+    // agent can pick a channelId for fabric-send-message etc.
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    api.registerTool((ctx) => ({
+        name: 'fabric-channel-list',
+        description: 'List channels visible to the calling agent in a guild. Optional ' +
+            'nameFilter does a case-insensitive substring match client-side. ' +
+            'Use this to find a channelId before fabric-send-message / fabric-message-history.',
+        parameters: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: false,
+            required: ['guildNodeId'],
+            properties: {
+                guildNodeId: { type: 'string' },
+                nameFilter: { type: 'string', description: 'optional substring match on channel name (case-insensitive)' },
+                xType: {
+                    type: 'string',
+                    enum: ['general', 'work', 'report', 'discuss', 'triage', 'custom', 'dm'],
+                    description: 'optional filter by x_type',
+                },
+                includeClosed: { type: 'boolean', description: 'default false — closed channels filtered out' },
+            },
+        },
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
+            const agentId = ctx.agentId;
+            if (!agentId)
+                return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
+            const { guild, token } = await ctxGuild(agentId, p.guildNodeId);
+            const all = await client.listChannels(guild.endpoint, token, p.guildNodeId);
+            const needle = (p.nameFilter ?? '').toLowerCase();
+            const filtered = all.filter((c) => {
+                if (!p.includeClosed && c.closed)
+                    return false;
+                if (p.xType && c.xType !== p.xType)
+                    return false;
+                if (needle && !c.name.toLowerCase().includes(needle))
+                    return false;
+                return true;
+            });
+            return {
+                ok: true,
+                count: filtered.length,
+                channels: filtered.map((c) => ({
+                    id: c.id,
+                    name: c.name,
+                    xType: c.xType,
+                    isPublic: c.isPublic,
+                    closed: c.closed,
+                    lastSeq: c.lastSeq,
+                    purpose: c.purpose ?? null,
+                })),
+            };
+        },
+    }));
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // fabric-guild-list: enumerate guilds the calling agent belongs to.
+    // Each row carries `purpose` — free-form description of what the
+    // guild is for (admin-set). Use this as the first step when a
+    // workflow says "find the right guild for X" — pick by purpose,
+    // then fabric-channel-list to find the right channel inside it.
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    api.registerTool((ctx) => ({
+        name: 'fabric-guild-list',
+        description: 'List guilds the calling agent is a member of. Returns ' +
+            '{nodeId, name, purpose, status} per row. ' +
+            "`purpose` is a free-form description of what each guild is for — " +
+            'pick the guild whose purpose matches your intent. Use this tool ' +
+            'BEFORE fabric-channel-list when a workflow asks you to pick the ' +
+            'right guild by intent (e.g. "find a guild whose purpose mentions ' +
+            'debate broadcasts" → then list its announce-type channels).',
+        parameters: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: false,
+            properties: {
+                nameFilter: {
+                    type: 'string',
+                    description: 'optional case-insensitive substring match on guild name',
+                },
+                purposeFilter: {
+                    type: 'string',
+                    description: 'optional case-insensitive substring match on guild purpose ' +
+                        '(e.g. "debate", "announcements")',
+                },
+            },
+        },
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
+            const agentId = ctx.agentId;
+            if (!agentId)
+                return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
+            const entry = identity.findByAgentId(agentId);
+            if (!entry)
+                return { ok: false, error: `agent ${agentId} not registered` };
+            const session = await client.agentLogin(entry.fabricApiKey);
+            const nameNeedle = (p.nameFilter ?? '').toLowerCase();
+            const purposeNeedle = (p.purposeFilter ?? '').toLowerCase();
+            const guilds = session.guilds.filter((g) => {
+                if (nameNeedle && !g.name.toLowerCase().includes(nameNeedle))
+                    return false;
+                if (purposeNeedle) {
+                    const purp = (g.purpose ?? '').toLowerCase();
+                    if (!purp.includes(purposeNeedle))
+                        return false;
+                }
+                return true;
+            });
+            return {
+                ok: true,
+                count: guilds.length,
+                guilds: guilds.map((g) => ({
+                    nodeId: g.nodeId,
+                    name: g.name,
+                    status: g.status,
+                    purpose: g.purpose ?? null,
+                })),
+            };
+        },
+    }));
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // fabric-channel-set-purpose: set/update a channel's free-form
+    // purpose description. Caller must be a channel member (or the
+    // channel must be public). Use this to backfill purpose on existing
+    // channels, or to refine it after a channel's role evolves.
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    api.registerTool((ctx) => ({
+        name: 'fabric-channel-set-purpose',
+        description: "Set or update a channel's free-form purpose description. " +
+            'Channel membership required (or the channel must be public). ' +
+            'Pass empty string to clear. Use this to make a channel ' +
+            'discoverable to other agents via fabric-channel-list.',
+        parameters: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: false,
+            required: ['guildNodeId', 'channelId', 'purpose'],
+            properties: {
+                guildNodeId: { type: 'string' },
+                channelId: { type: 'string' },
+                purpose: {
+                    type: 'string',
+                    description: "What this channel is for. Pass '' (empty string) to clear.",
+                },
+            },
+        },
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
+            const agentId = ctx.agentId;
+            if (!agentId)
+                return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
+            const { guild, token } = await ctxGuild(agentId, p.guildNodeId);
+            const res = await client.setChannelPurpose(guild.endpoint, token, p.channelId, p.purpose);
+            return { ok: true, channel: res };
+        },
+    }));
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // fabric-message-history: read a channel's recent message history by
+    // `seq`. Tail-by-default: when `seqFrom`/`seqTo` are omitted, returns
+    // the last `limit` messages (limit defaults to 20, max 200).
+    //
+    // Use cases: catch-up on a channel that was muted while the agent was
+    // gated; verify a previous message went through; lookup recent
+    // duplicates before opening a new task in triage.
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    api.registerTool((ctx) => ({
+        name: 'fabric-message-history',
+        description: "Read a channel's recent message history. Omit seqFrom/seqTo to " +
+            'tail (last `limit` messages, default 20, max 200). Backend ' +
+            'requires the calling agent to be a channel participant.',
+        parameters: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: false,
+            required: ['guildNodeId', 'channelId'],
+            properties: {
+                guildNodeId: { type: 'string' },
+                channelId: { type: 'string' },
+                seqFrom: { type: 'integer', minimum: 1, description: 'inclusive lower bound; default = tail' },
+                seqTo: { type: 'integer', minimum: 1, description: 'inclusive upper bound; default = channel head' },
+                limit: { type: 'integer', minimum: 1, maximum: 200, description: 'default 20' },
+            },
+        },
+        execute: async (_id, p) => {
+            const agentId = ctx.agentId;
+            if (!agentId)
+                return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
+            const { guild, token } = await ctxGuild(agentId, p.guildNodeId);
+            const limit = p.limit ?? 20;
+            // Tail mode: discover channel head via channel listing, then ask
+            // for [head-limit+1, head]. Avoids needing the agent to know seq.
+            let seqFrom = p.seqFrom;
+            let seqTo = p.seqTo;
+            if (seqFrom === undefined && seqTo === undefined) {
+                const channels = await client.listChannels(guild.endpoint, token, p.guildNodeId);
+                const ch = channels.find((c) => c.id === p.channelId);
+                const head = ch?.lastSeq ?? 0;
+                seqFrom = Math.max(1, head - limit + 1);
+                seqTo = head;
+            }
+            const res = await client.listMessages(guild.endpoint, token, p.channelId, {
+                seqFrom,
+                seqTo,
+                limit,
+            });
+            return {
+                ok: true,
+                page: res.page,
+                messages: res.items.map((m) => ({
+                    messageId: m.messageId,
+                    seq: m.seq,
+                    authorUserId: m.authorUserId,
+                    content: m.content,
+                    createdAt: m.createdAt,
+                    isDeleted: m.isDeleted,
+                })),
+            };
+        },
+    }));
 }

index.ts

@@ -7,17 +7,24 @@ import { defineChannelPluginEntry } from 'openclaw/plugin-sdk/core';
 import type { OpenClawPluginApi } from 'openclaw/plugin-sdk/core';
 import { fabricChannelPlugin } from './src/channel.js';
 import { flushAllFabric } from './src/coalesce.js';
+import { getChannelType, flushChannelMeta } from './src/channel-meta.js';
 import { FabricInbound } from './src/inbound.js';
 import { listEnabledFabricAccounts } from './src/accounts.js';
 import { registerFabricTools } from './src/tools.js';
 import { FabricClient } from './src/fabric-client.js';
 import { IdentityRegistry } from './src/identity.js';
 import { syncFabricCommands } from './src/command-sync.js';
+import { PresenceSync } from './src/presence-sync.js';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import os from 'node:os';
 
 let runtimeRef: unknown = null;
 let inbound: FabricInbound | null = null;
+let presence: PresenceSync | null = null;
+// Periodic re-harvest of presence accounts so newly-connected agents
+// (registered through tool-based identity flow AFTER initial start)
+// get picked up. Cleared on gateway_stop.
+let presenceRefreshTimer: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null;
 
 export { fabricChannelPlugin } from './src/channel.js';
 
@@ -56,6 +63,27 @@ export default defineChannelPluginEntry({
       identity,
     );
 
+    // Cross-plugin API: globalThis.__fabric
+    // Consumed by ClawPrompts' fabric-chat-injector to narrow its prompt
+    // injection to DM-typed channels only. The channel-meta cache is
+    // populated lazily from inbound (message.created carries xType) and
+    // persisted to ~/.openclaw/fabric-channel-meta.json — so even the
+    // very first DM after a fresh gateway start hits cache from the
+    // previous run rather than firing the injector on the wrong type.
+    //
+    // null return = channel never seen (cache cold). Callers MUST NOT
+    // fall back to "assume DM" — fail closed on unknown.
+    {
+      const _G = globalThis as Record<string, unknown>;
+      _G['__fabric'] = { getChannelType };
+      // Flush channel-meta cache when the gateway shuts down so
+      // recently-recorded xType entries don't get lost.
+      api.on('gateway_stop', () => {
+        try { flushChannelMeta(); } catch { /* ignore */ }
+      });
+      api.logger.info('fabric: __fabric cross-plugin API installed (getChannelType)');
+    }
+
     api.on('gateway_start', () => {
       const _G = globalThis as Record<string, unknown>;
       if (_G._fabricInboundStarted) return;
@@ -82,7 +110,24 @@ export default defineChannelPluginEntry({
         api.logger,
         accounts,
       );
-      void inbound.start();
+      // start() resolves once all accounts have attempted login; per-
+      // agent failures are logged but don't reject. Once it resolves we
+      // can harvest the presence accounts (those that DID log in have
+      // their fabricUserId + first guild endpoint populated).
+      void inbound.start().then(() => {
+        if (!inbound) return;
+        presence = new PresenceSync(api.logger, client);
+        presence.setAccounts(inbound.getPresenceAccounts());
+        presence.start();
+        api.logger.info(`fabric: presence-sync started for ${inbound.getPresenceAccounts().length} account(s)`);
+
+        // Re-harvest every 5 min: catches agents added via tool-based
+        // identity provisioning after gateway_start (recruitment flow).
+        // setAccounts is idempotent — duplicates collapse on agentId.
+        presenceRefreshTimer = setInterval(() => {
+          if (inbound && presence) presence.setAccounts(inbound.getPresenceAccounts());
+        }, 5 * 60_000);
+      });
       api.logger.info(`fabric: inbound started for ${accounts.length} account(s)`);
       void syncFabricCommands(client, cfg, accounts, api.logger);
     });
@@ -93,6 +138,9 @@ export default defineChannelPluginEntry({
     // BEFORE deliver()). gateway_stop only flushes any leftover buffer.
     api.on('gateway_stop', () => {
       void flushAllFabric();
+      if (presenceRefreshTimer) { clearInterval(presenceRefreshTimer); presenceRefreshTimer = null; }
+      presence?.stop();
+      presence = null;
       inbound?.stop();
       inbound = null;
     });

openclaw.plugin.json

@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
       "fabric-channel",
       "fabric-send-message",
       "fabric-channel-list",
-      "fabric-message-history"
+      "fabric-message-history",
+      "fabric-guild-list",
+      "fabric-channel-set-purpose"
     ]
   },
   "configSchema": {

src/channel-meta.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+/**
+ * Channel-meta cache. Records (channelId → xType) for every fabric
+ * channel the gateway has seen at least one inbound message in.
+ *
+ * Populated lazily from inbound (`recordChannelType` is called for
+ * every `message.created` event with non-empty `xType`). Persisted to
+ * `~/.openclaw/fabric-channel-meta.json` so the cache survives
+ * gateway restarts (so the very first DM after restart still gets the
+ * right xType without waiting for a fresh inbound).
+ *
+ * Exposed cross-plugin via `globalThis.__fabric.getChannelType`. Used
+ * by ClawPrompts' fabric-chat-injector to narrow its prompt injection
+ * to xType==='dm' only.
+ *
+ * Failure mode: lookup misses (channel never seen / inbound dropped
+ * xType) return null. Callers MUST treat null as "unknown" — DO NOT
+ * fall back to "assume DM" or you re-introduce the false-positive on
+ * group channels.
+ */
+import { existsSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, renameSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
+import { homedir } from 'node:os';
+
+const CACHE_FILE = join(homedir(), '.openclaw', 'fabric-channel-meta.json');
+
+interface ChannelMetaFile {
+  // channelId → xType ('dm' | 'triage' | 'group' | etc.)
+  channels: Record<string, string>;
+}
+
+let memory = new Map<string, string>();
+let loaded = false;
+let dirty = false;
+let flushTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
+
+function load(): void {
+  if (loaded) return;
+  loaded = true;
+  try {
+    if (!existsSync(CACHE_FILE)) return;
+    const raw = readFileSync(CACHE_FILE, 'utf8');
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(raw) as ChannelMetaFile;
+    for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(parsed.channels ?? {})) {
+      if (typeof k === 'string' && typeof v === 'string') memory.set(k, v);
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // ignore — start with empty cache on corruption
+  }
+}
+
+function scheduleFlush(): void {
+  if (flushTimer) return;
+  // Debounce writes — many inbound messages may arrive in a burst.
+  // 250ms coalesces them; on gateway_stop the channel plugin can force
+  // a synchronous flush via flushChannelMeta().
+  flushTimer = setTimeout(() => {
+    flushTimer = null;
+    if (!dirty) return;
+    dirty = false;
+    flushSync();
+  }, 250);
+}
+
+function flushSync(): void {
+  try {
+    const dir = dirname(CACHE_FILE);
+    if (!existsSync(dir)) mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+    const out: ChannelMetaFile = { channels: Object.fromEntries(memory) };
+    const tmp = CACHE_FILE + '.tmp';
+    writeFileSync(tmp, JSON.stringify(out, null, 2) + '\n', 'utf8');
+    renameSync(tmp, CACHE_FILE);
+  } catch {
+    // swallow — cache is an optimization; loss-on-write is recoverable
+  }
+}
+
+/** Called by inbound on every message.created. xType empty → no-op. */
+export function recordChannelType(channelId: string, xType: string | undefined): void {
+  if (!channelId || !xType) return;
+  load();
+  const existing = memory.get(channelId);
+  if (existing === xType) return;
+  memory.set(channelId, xType);
+  dirty = true;
+  scheduleFlush();
+}
+
+/** Cross-plugin lookup. null when channel never seen / unknown. */
+export function getChannelType(channelId: string): string | null {
+  if (!channelId) return null;
+  load();
+  return memory.get(channelId) ?? null;
+}
+
+/** Force-flush — called on plugin shutdown to make sure recently
+ *  recorded entries hit disk before the gateway dies. */
+export function flushChannelMeta(): void {
+  if (flushTimer) {
+    clearTimeout(flushTimer);
+    flushTimer = null;
+  }
+  if (dirty) {
+    dirty = false;
+    flushSync();
+  }
+}
+
+export const CHANNEL_META_PATH = CACHE_FILE;

src/channel.ts

@@ -21,6 +21,39 @@ import {
   resolveDefaultFabricAccountId,
   type ResolvedFabricAccount,
 } from './accounts.js';
+import { getChannelType } from './channel-meta.js';
+
+/**
+ * Map a Fabric channel xType to an openclaw routing peer.kind / ChatType.
+ *
+ * Fabric distinguishes channels by xType ('dm' | 'triage' | 'group' |
+ * 'broadcast' | 'announce' | ...). Openclaw's session router only knows
+ * 'direct' | 'group' | 'channel'. We collapse:
+ *   - 'dm'  → 'direct' (1:1 conversation; agent always speaks)
+ *   - rest  → 'group'  (multi-party; turn-engine gates speech)
+ *
+ * Sessions are keyed by peer.kind, so inbound and outbound MUST agree —
+ * otherwise the agent's outbound message lands in a different session
+ * than the inbound that triggered it and conversation state splits.
+ *
+ * Outbound has no live xType (the agent target is just a channelId), so
+ * it consults the channel-meta cache populated by inbound. Cache miss
+ * (channel never observed) falls back to 'group' — same as the pre-fix
+ * behavior, no regression on cold cache. The proactive-DM-first-message
+ * edge case (agent DMs a channel before any inbound) still lands as
+ * 'group' on that one outbound; the next inbound + outbound pair will
+ * agree on 'direct'.
+ */
+export type FabricPeerRouting = { peerKind: 'direct' | 'group'; chatType: 'direct' | 'group' };
+
+export function fabricPeerRoutingForXType(xType: string | null | undefined): FabricPeerRouting {
+  if (xType === 'dm') return { peerKind: 'direct', chatType: 'direct' };
+  return { peerKind: 'group', chatType: 'group' };
+}
+
+export function fabricPeerRoutingForChannel(channelId: string): FabricPeerRouting {
+  return fabricPeerRoutingForXType(getChannelType(channelId));
+}
 
 type AnyCfg = { channels?: { fabric?: unknown }; [k: string]: unknown };
 
@@ -45,13 +78,18 @@ export function looksLikeFabricTargetId(raw: string): boolean {
 export function resolveFabricOutboundSessionRoute(params: ChannelOutboundSessionRouteParams) {
   const id = stripFabricTargetPrefix(params.target);
   if (!id) return null;
+  // Consult the channel-meta cache populated by inbound — DM channels
+  // need peer.kind='direct' so the outbound session key matches the
+  // inbound one. Cache miss falls back to 'group' (the pre-fix default,
+  // no regression on cold cache).
+  const { peerKind, chatType } = fabricPeerRoutingForChannel(id);
   return buildChannelOutboundSessionRoute({
     cfg: params.cfg,
     agentId: params.agentId,
     channel: 'fabric',
     accountId: params.accountId,
-    peer: { kind: 'group', id },
+    peer: { kind: peerKind, id },
-    chatType: 'group',
+    chatType,
     from: `fabric:channel:${id}`,
     to: `fabric:${id}`,
   });
@@ -115,6 +153,19 @@ export const fabricChannelPlugin = createChatChannelPlugin<ResolvedFabricAccount
       resolveAccount: (cfg, accountId) => resolveFabricAccount(cfg as never, accountId),
       defaultAccountId: (cfg) => resolveDefaultFabricAccountId(cfg as never),
       isConfigured: (account: ResolvedFabricAccount) => Boolean(account.fabricApiKey),
+      // openclaw's channelManager.getRuntimeSnapshot() — called every minute
+      // by the channel-health-monitor — defaults `configured: true` when the
+      // plugin doesn't expose describeAccount (see applyDescribedAccountFields
+      // in server-channels). Without this, fabric's synthetic 'default'
+      // account (returned by listFabricAccountIds when channels.fabric.accounts
+      // is empty — the prod shape) gets snapshot {enabled:true, configured:true,
+      // running:false} → isManagedAccount=true → not-running → restart loop
+      // every ~10 min, logging `[fabric:default] health-monitor: restarting`.
+      // Mirror isConfigured here so the snapshot truthfully reports false for
+      // any account without a fabricApiKey.
+      describeAccount: (account: ResolvedFabricAccount) => ({
+        configured: Boolean(account.fabricApiKey),
+      }),
     },
     // Minimal setup adapter: Fabric is configured directly under
     // channels.fabric.* (no interactive wizard). applyAccountConfig is the

src/fabric-client.ts

@@ -6,7 +6,15 @@ export type FabricSession = {
   accessToken: string;
   refreshToken: string;
   user: { id: string; email: string; name: string };
-  guilds: Array<{ nodeId: string; name: string; endpoint: string; status: string }>;
+  guilds: Array<{
+    nodeId: string;
+    name: string;
+    endpoint: string;
+    status: string;
+    // free-form description of this guild's role; admin-set on Center.
+    // null when the admin hasn't filled it in yet.
+    purpose?: string | null;
+  }>;
   guildAccessTokens: Array<{ guildNodeId: string; token: string }>;
 };
 
@@ -100,11 +108,30 @@ export class FabricClient {
       memberUserIds?: string[];
       onDuty?: string;
       listeners?: string[];
+      // free-form purpose; optional. Existing agents can also set/update
+      // it later via setChannelPurpose().
+      purpose?: string;
     },
   ): Promise<{ id: string }> {
     return this.post(`${guildEndpoint}/api/channels`, body, guildToken);
   }
 
+  // PATCH /api/channels/:id — backend currently only patches `purpose`.
+  // Caller must be a member of the channel (or any user if public).
+  setChannelPurpose(
+    guildEndpoint: string,
+    guildToken: string,
+    channelId: string,
+    purpose: string,
+  ): Promise<{ id: string; name: string; xType: string; purpose: string | null }> {
+    return this.req(
+      'PATCH',
+      `${guildEndpoint}/api/channels/${channelId}`,
+      guildToken,
+      { purpose },
+    );
+  }
+
   closeChannel(guildEndpoint: string, guildToken: string, channelId: string): Promise<unknown> {
     return this.post(`${guildEndpoint}/api/channels/${channelId}/close`, {}, guildToken);
   }
@@ -212,6 +239,7 @@ export class FabricClient {
     closed: boolean;
     lastSeq: number;
     createdAt: string;
+    purpose?: string | null;
   }>> {
     return this.req(
       'GET',

src/inbound.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import { dispatchInboundReplyWithBase } from 'openclaw/plugin-sdk/inbound-reply-
 import type { FabricClient, FabricSession } from './fabric-client.js';
 import type { IdentityRegistry } from './identity.js';
 import { resolveCoalesce } from './accounts.js';
+import { fabricPeerRoutingForXType } from './channel.js';
+import { recordChannelType } from './channel-meta.js';
 import { enqueueDelivery, flushFabricForChannel } from './coalesce.js';
 
 // COMPAT NOTE (openclaw v2026.5.7): the inbound path mirrors how bundled
@@ -263,14 +265,86 @@ export class FabricInbound {
     this.sockets = [];
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Per-account metadata harvested during `start()` — used by
+   * PresenceSync to know where to push each agent's HF status.
+   *
+   * `fabricUserId` is filled from `session.user.id` after agent-login.
+   * `guildBaseUrl` is the FIRST guild the agent is connected to (multi-
+   * guild presence push is a future concern; for sim/prod-v1 each agent
+   * is in one guild).
+   *
+   * Returns ONLY agents that successfully connected — failed-login
+   * agents have no fabricUserId yet and are excluded.
+   */
+  getPresenceAccounts(): Array<{
+    agentId: string;
+    fabricUserId: string;
+    guildBaseUrl: string;
+    guildNodeId: string;
+    fabricApiKey: string;
+  }> {
+    const out: Array<{
+      agentId: string;
+      fabricUserId: string;
+      guildBaseUrl: string;
+      guildNodeId: string;
+      fabricApiKey: string;
+    }> = [];
+    for (const entry of this.identity.list()) {
+      if (!entry.fabricUserId) continue;
+      const presenceGuild = this.firstGuildByAgent.get(entry.agentId);
+      if (!presenceGuild) continue;
+      out.push({
+        agentId: entry.agentId,
+        fabricUserId: entry.fabricUserId,
+        guildBaseUrl: presenceGuild.endpoint,
+        guildNodeId: presenceGuild.nodeId,
+        fabricApiKey: entry.fabricApiKey,
+      });
+    }
+    return out;
+  }
+
+  // Filled by connectAgent for each (agent, guild). Tracks ONLY the first
+  // guild per agent (used as the presence-push target). Stores both
+  // endpoint and nodeId — presence-sync needs both: endpoint to build
+  // the URL, nodeId to pick the matching guildAccessToken from a fresh
+  // agent-login response.
+  private firstGuildByAgent = new Map<string, { endpoint: string; nodeId: string }>();
+
   private async connectAgent(agentId: string, session: FabricSession): Promise<void> {
     const selfUserId = session.user.id;
+    // First-guild capture for presence-sync push target. session.guilds is
+    // already in priority order from Center; we take the first one with a
+    // valid endpoint and stop. Multi-guild presence is a future concern.
+    if (!this.firstGuildByAgent.has(agentId)) {
+      const firstGuild = session.guilds.find((g) => typeof g.endpoint === 'string' && g.endpoint.length > 0);
+      if (firstGuild) this.firstGuildByAgent.set(agentId, { endpoint: firstGuild.endpoint, nodeId: firstGuild.nodeId });
+    }
     for (const g of session.guilds) {
       const tok = session.guildAccessTokens.find((t) => t.guildNodeId === g.nodeId)?.token;
       if (!tok) continue;
+      // Use the *callback* form of `auth` so socket.io re-evaluates the JWT
+      // on every (re)connect. The single-shot `auth: { token: tok }` shape
+      // captured the token in closure: after socket.io's silent auto-reconnect
+      // the backend got the same JWT that expired ~15 min into the session
+      // (guildAccessToken TTL = 900s) and silently rejected the handshake at
+      // the application layer. The client's `connect` event still fired (TCP
+      // succeeded), so the plugin happily ran the channel-resync, emitted
+      // `join_channel` into the void, and logged "joined N channel(s)" while
+      // the backend was actually broadcasting message.created to a room with
+      // zero subscribers. End user symptom: DMs to agents silently dropped.
       const socket = io(`${g.endpoint}/realtime`, {
         transports: ['websocket'],
-        auth: { token: tok },
+        auth: (cb) => {
+          // Best-effort fresh token; on transient failure fall back to the
+          // last known good one. tokenCache also keeps HTTP calls (attachment
+          // download / reply post) from 401'ing in the same window.
+          this.freshGuildToken(agentId, g.nodeId, session)
+            .then((fresh) => cb({ token: fresh ?? tok }))
+            .catch(() => cb({ token: tok }));
+        },
         autoConnect: false,
       });
       // Tracked socket.io rooms for this (agent, guild). The initial fetch
@@ -357,6 +431,13 @@ export class FabricInbound {
       socket.on('message.created', (m: FabricMessage) => {
         const channelId = m.channelId ?? '';
         if (!channelId) return;
+        // Record xType into the channel-meta cache before self-author
+        // / dedup gates — channel type doesn't depend on who sent the
+        // message, and recording it on observer-only triage messages
+        // is still useful (the next consumer asking
+        // __fabric.getChannelType wants the answer regardless of
+        // whether THIS message was delivered to an agent).
+        recordChannelType(channelId, m.xType);
         if (m.authorUserId && m.authorUserId === selfUserId) return;
         const key = `${agentId}:${m.messageId}`;
         if (this.seen.has(key)) return;
@@ -452,11 +533,19 @@ export class FabricInbound {
     const core = this.core as Core & Record<string, unknown>;
     const cfg = this.cfg as { session?: { store?: unknown } };
     try {
+      // Route by xType. DM channels need peer.kind='direct' so openclaw
+      // treats them as 1:1 (sessionKey 'agent:<id>:fabric:direct:<chan>'
+      // and ctx.ChatType='direct') rather than as a multi-party group.
+      // Without this, the agent's user-prompt metadata says
+      // 'is_group_chat: true' on a DM and downstream prompt logic
+      // (commands-handlers `isDirectMessage` checks ChatType==='direct')
+      // misclassifies the turn.
+      const { peerKind, chatType } = fabricPeerRoutingForXType(m.xType);
       const route = core.channel.routing.resolveAgentRoute({
         cfg: this.cfg,
         channel: 'fabric',
         accountId: agentId,
-        peer: { kind: 'group', id: channelId },
+        peer: { kind: peerKind, id: channelId },
       });
       const storePath = core.channel.session.resolveStorePath(cfg.session?.store, {
         agentId: route.agentId,
@@ -471,7 +560,7 @@ export class FabricInbound {
         To: `fabric:${channelId}`,
         SessionKey: route.sessionKey,
         AccountId: route.accountId ?? agentId,
-        ChatType: 'group',
+        ChatType: chatType,
         ConversationLabel: `fabric:${guild.nodeId}`,
         SenderId: m.authorUserId ?? 'fabric',
         Provider: 'fabric',

src/presence-sync.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+/**
+ * presence-sync — read each connected agent's HF status (via the
+ * cross-plugin `globalThis.__hfAgentStatus.get(agentId)` exposed by
+ * HarborForge.OpenclawPlugin) and push diffs to Fabric.Backend.Guild
+ * `PUT /api/agents/:userId/presence` so the backend can apply
+ * busy-discard on `announce`-type channel deliveries.
+ *
+ * Push model: we only PUT when an agent's status actually changes
+ * (since the last push). The HF-side accessor has its own TTL cache
+ * to absorb the every-30s polling.
+ *
+ * Auth: the endpoint sits behind ApiKeyGuard (global APP_GUARD per
+ * app.module.js) which expects `Authorization: Bearer <guild-token>`
+ * — NOT the agent's fabricApiKey directly. So before each PUT we do
+ * a fresh agent-login (or reuse a cached token if still within its
+ * 15-min JWT TTL) and pull the guildAccessToken matching the target
+ * guild. Status changes are rare enough that login overhead is fine.
+ *
+ * If HF plugin isn't loaded (`__hfAgentStatus` undefined), the loop
+ * is a no-op — Fabric backend defaults presence to 'unknown' which is
+ * treated as not-busy. Announce-channel delivery still works; busy
+ * filtering simply doesn't kick in.
+ */
+import type { FabricClient } from './fabric-client.js';
+
+type HfStatus = 'idle' | 'on_call' | 'busy' | 'exhausted' | 'offline';
+type Bridge = { get(agentId: string): Promise<HfStatus | undefined> };
+type Logger = { info: (m: string) => void; warn: (m: string) => void };
+
+export interface PresenceSyncAccount {
+  agentId: string;
+  fabricUserId: string; // the agent's Fabric Center user id (UUID)
+  guildBaseUrl: string; // e.g. https://fabric.hangman-lab.top/guild/<id>
+  guildNodeId: string;  // which guildAccessTokens[].guildNodeId to pick
+  fabricApiKey: string; // existing per-account key (used for agent-login)
+}
+
+// Guild access JWTs expire every 900s. Refresh ~2 min early to stay
+// safely inside the window even if a tick runs late.
+const TOKEN_TTL_MS = (15 - 2) * 60 * 1000;
+
+interface CachedToken {
+  token: string;
+  expiresAt: number; // epoch ms
+}
+
+export class PresenceSync {
+  private timer: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null;
+  private readonly lastStatus = new Map<string, HfStatus>(); // by agentId
+  private readonly accounts = new Map<string, PresenceSyncAccount>();
+  private readonly tokenCache = new Map<string, CachedToken>(); // by agentId
+
+  // Mutex flag: a tick iterates accounts serially with `await` on each
+  // agent-login + PUT round-trip, so a single tick can easily run 20+s
+  // when there are many accounts. setInterval(intervalMs) does NOT wait
+  // for the previous tick to finish — without this guard the next tick
+  // fires on top of a still-running one and two parallel iterations
+  // PUT the same agentId within milliseconds. That tipped the backend's
+  // first-time-insert race (separate fix in Fabric.Backend.Guild) into
+  // 500s on prod. Guarded ticks just skip a beat instead.
+  private inflight = false;
+
+  constructor(private readonly logger: Logger, private readonly client: FabricClient) {}
+
+  setAccounts(accounts: PresenceSyncAccount[]): void {
+    this.accounts.clear();
+    for (const a of accounts) this.accounts.set(a.agentId, a);
+  }
+
+  start(intervalMs = 30_000): void {
+    if (this.timer) return;
+    this.timer = setInterval(() => {
+      this.tick().catch((err) => this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync error: ${String(err)}`));
+    }, intervalMs);
+    // run once immediately so initial state lands fast
+    void this.tick();
+  }
+
+  stop(): void {
+    if (this.timer) {
+      clearInterval(this.timer);
+      this.timer = null;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Fetch a fresh guildAccessToken for `acct`, caching it under the
+   * agentId until just before its JWT expiry. Returns null on login
+   * failure or if the session has no matching guild — caller logs +
+   * skips the PUT.
+   */
+  private async ensureGuildToken(acct: PresenceSyncAccount): Promise<string | null> {
+    const now = Date.now();
+    const cached = this.tokenCache.get(acct.agentId);
+    if (cached && cached.expiresAt > now) return cached.token;
+
+    let session;
+    try {
+      session = await this.client.agentLogin(acct.fabricApiKey);
+    } catch (err) {
+      this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync agent-login failed for ${acct.agentId}: ${String(err)}`);
+      return null;
+    }
+    const entry = session.guildAccessTokens.find((g) => g.guildNodeId === acct.guildNodeId);
+    if (!entry?.token) {
+      this.logger.warn(
+        `fabric: presence-sync no guild token for ${acct.agentId} guild=${acct.guildNodeId}`,
+      );
+      return null;
+    }
+    this.tokenCache.set(acct.agentId, { token: entry.token, expiresAt: now + TOKEN_TTL_MS });
+    return entry.token;
+  }
+
+  private async tick(): Promise<void> {
+    // Mutex: see the `inflight` field declaration for the why. Drop
+    // overlapping ticks rather than letting them run concurrently —
+    // status is gated by `lastStatus !== bridge.get`, so skipping a
+    // beat costs nothing the next beat won't catch.
+    if (this.inflight) return;
+    this.inflight = true;
+    try {
+      await this.tickInner();
+    } finally {
+      this.inflight = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private async tickInner(): Promise<void> {
+    const bridge = (globalThis as Record<string, unknown>)['__hfAgentStatus'] as Bridge | undefined;
+    if (!bridge || typeof bridge.get !== 'function') return; // HF plugin not loaded — skip
+
+    for (const [agentId, acct] of this.accounts) {
+      let status: HfStatus | undefined;
+      try {
+        status = await bridge.get(agentId);
+      } catch {
+        continue;
+      }
+      if (!status) continue;
+      if (this.lastStatus.get(agentId) === status) continue; // no change → no PUT
+
+      const guildToken = await this.ensureGuildToken(acct);
+      if (!guildToken) continue;
+
+      try {
+        // Endpoint: PUT /api/agents/:userId/presence. ApiKeyGuard (global
+        // APP_GUARD) requires `Authorization: Bearer <guildAccessToken>`
+        // — NOT the agent's raw fabricApiKey. Pre-v1: this loop sent
+        // x-api-key and got 401 "missing bearer token" forever. The /api
+        // prefix is required because the guild backend sets a global
+        // 'api' prefix in main.ts setGlobalPrefix('api').
+        const url = `${acct.guildBaseUrl.replace(/\/$/, '')}/api/agents/${encodeURIComponent(acct.fabricUserId)}/presence`;
+        const res = await fetch(url, {
+          method: 'PUT',
+          headers: {
+            'content-type': 'application/json',
+            authorization: `Bearer ${guildToken}`,
+          },
+          body: JSON.stringify({ status, source: 'hf-plugin' }),
+        });
+        if (res.ok) {
+          this.lastStatus.set(agentId, status);
+          this.logger.info(`fabric: presence-sync ${agentId} → ${status}`);
+        } else {
+          // 401 here usually means the cached token went stale unexpectedly
+          // (server-side rotation or clock skew) — drop the cache so the
+          // next tick re-logs-in.
+          if (res.status === 401) this.tokenCache.delete(agentId);
+          this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync PUT ${agentId} failed: ${res.status}`);
+        }
+      } catch (err) {
+        this.logger.warn(`fabric: presence-sync PUT ${agentId} threw: ${String(err)}`);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}

src/tools.ts

@@ -46,7 +46,10 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
   const makeCreate = (kind: 'chat' | 'work' | 'report' | 'discussion') =>
     api.registerTool((ctx: Ctx) => ({
       name: `create-${kind}-channel`,
-      description: `Create a Fabric ${kind} channel (x_type=${X_BY_KIND[kind]}).`,
+      description:
+        `Create a Fabric ${kind} channel (x_type=${X_BY_KIND[kind]}). ` +
+        'Optionally pass `purpose` to describe what this channel is for — ' +
+        'agents browse channels by purpose via fabric-channel-list.',
       parameters: {
         type: 'object',
         additionalProperties: false,
@@ -58,13 +61,22 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
           memberUserIds: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' } },
           onDuty: { type: 'string', description: 'required for triage-like flows (unused for these kinds)' },
           listeners: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' } },
+          purpose: {
+            type: 'string',
+            description:
+              "Free-form description of what this channel is for. Optional but " +
+              'strongly recommended so other agents can find this channel by ' +
+              'intent (via fabric-channel-list). Can be edited later with ' +
+              'fabric-channel-set-purpose.',
           },
         },
-      execute: async (p: {
+      },
+      execute: async (_id: string, p: {
         guildNodeId: string;
         name: string;
         isPublic?: boolean;
         memberUserIds?: string[];
+        purpose?: string;
       }) => {
         const agentId = ctx.agentId;
         if (!agentId) return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
@@ -75,6 +87,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
           xType: X_BY_KIND[kind],
           isPublic: p.isPublic ?? false,
           memberUserIds: p.memberUserIds ?? [],
+          ...(p.purpose !== undefined ? { purpose: p.purpose } : {}),
         });
         return { ok: true, channelId: ch.id };
       },
@@ -101,7 +114,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
         callbackChannelId: { type: 'string', description: 'optional channel to also post the summary to' },
       },
     },
-    execute: async (p: {
+    execute: async (_id: string, p: {
       guildNodeId: string;
       channelId: string;
       summary: string;
@@ -151,7 +164,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
         },
       },
     },
-    execute: async (p: {
+    execute: async (_id: string, p: {
       action: 'read' | 'share' | 'update' | 'close';
       guildNodeId: string;
       channelId: string;
@@ -216,7 +229,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
         channelId: { type: 'string' },
       },
     },
-    execute: async (p: {
+    execute: async (_id: string, p: {
       action: 'members' | 'join' | 'leave';
       guildNodeId: string;
       channelId: string;
@@ -268,7 +281,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
         content: { type: 'string', description: 'Message body (markdown supported by the renderer).' },
       },
     },
-    execute: async (p: { guildNodeId: string; channelId: string; content: string }) => {
+    execute: async (_id: string, p: { guildNodeId: string; channelId: string; content: string }) => {
       const agentId = ctx.agentId;
       if (!agentId) return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
       const { session, guild, token } = await ctxGuild(agentId, p.guildNodeId);
@@ -310,7 +323,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
         includeClosed: { type: 'boolean', description: 'default false — closed channels filtered out' },
       },
     },
-    execute: async (p: {
+    execute: async (_id: string, p: {
       guildNodeId: string;
       nameFilter?: string;
       xType?: string;
@@ -337,11 +350,114 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
           isPublic: c.isPublic,
           closed: c.closed,
           lastSeq: c.lastSeq,
+          purpose: c.purpose ?? null,
         })),
       };
     },
   }));
 
+  // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+  // fabric-guild-list: enumerate guilds the calling agent belongs to.
+  // Each row carries `purpose` — free-form description of what the
+  // guild is for (admin-set). Use this as the first step when a
+  // workflow says "find the right guild for X" — pick by purpose,
+  // then fabric-channel-list to find the right channel inside it.
+  // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+  api.registerTool((ctx: Ctx) => ({
+    name: 'fabric-guild-list',
+    description:
+      'List guilds the calling agent is a member of. Returns ' +
+      '{nodeId, name, purpose, status} per row. ' +
+      "`purpose` is a free-form description of what each guild is for — " +
+      'pick the guild whose purpose matches your intent. Use this tool ' +
+      'BEFORE fabric-channel-list when a workflow asks you to pick the ' +
+      'right guild by intent (e.g. "find a guild whose purpose mentions ' +
+      'debate broadcasts" → then list its announce-type channels).',
+    parameters: {
+      type: 'object',
+      additionalProperties: false,
+      properties: {
+        nameFilter: {
+          type: 'string',
+          description: 'optional case-insensitive substring match on guild name',
+        },
+        purposeFilter: {
+          type: 'string',
+          description:
+            'optional case-insensitive substring match on guild purpose ' +
+            '(e.g. "debate", "announcements")',
+        },
+      },
+    },
+    execute: async (_id: string, p: { nameFilter?: string; purposeFilter?: string }) => {
+      const agentId = ctx.agentId;
+      if (!agentId) return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
+      const entry = identity.findByAgentId(agentId);
+      if (!entry) return { ok: false, error: `agent ${agentId} not registered` };
+      const session = await client.agentLogin(entry.fabricApiKey);
+      const nameNeedle = (p.nameFilter ?? '').toLowerCase();
+      const purposeNeedle = (p.purposeFilter ?? '').toLowerCase();
+      const guilds = session.guilds.filter((g) => {
+        if (nameNeedle && !g.name.toLowerCase().includes(nameNeedle)) return false;
+        if (purposeNeedle) {
+          const purp = (g.purpose ?? '').toLowerCase();
+          if (!purp.includes(purposeNeedle)) return false;
+        }
+        return true;
+      });
+      return {
+        ok: true,
+        count: guilds.length,
+        guilds: guilds.map((g) => ({
+          nodeId: g.nodeId,
+          name: g.name,
+          status: g.status,
+          purpose: g.purpose ?? null,
+        })),
+      };
+    },
+  }));
+
+  // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+  // fabric-channel-set-purpose: set/update a channel's free-form
+  // purpose description. Caller must be a channel member (or the
+  // channel must be public). Use this to backfill purpose on existing
+  // channels, or to refine it after a channel's role evolves.
+  // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+  api.registerTool((ctx: Ctx) => ({
+    name: 'fabric-channel-set-purpose',
+    description:
+      "Set or update a channel's free-form purpose description. " +
+      'Channel membership required (or the channel must be public). ' +
+      'Pass empty string to clear. Use this to make a channel ' +
+      'discoverable to other agents via fabric-channel-list.',
+    parameters: {
+      type: 'object',
+      additionalProperties: false,
+      required: ['guildNodeId', 'channelId', 'purpose'],
+      properties: {
+        guildNodeId: { type: 'string' },
+        channelId: { type: 'string' },
+        purpose: {
+          type: 'string',
+          description: "What this channel is for. Pass '' (empty string) to clear.",
+        },
+      },
+    },
+    execute: async (_id: string, p: { guildNodeId: string; channelId: string; purpose: string }) => {
+      const agentId = ctx.agentId;
+      if (!agentId) return { ok: false, error: 'no agent context' };
+      const { guild, token } = await ctxGuild(agentId, p.guildNodeId);
+      const res = await client.setChannelPurpose(
+        guild.endpoint,
+        token,
+        p.channelId,
+        p.purpose,
+      );
+      return { ok: true, channel: res };
+    },
+  }));
+
   // -----------------------------------------------------------------
   // fabric-message-history: read a channel's recent message history by
   // `seq`. Tail-by-default: when `seqFrom`/`seqTo` are omitted, returns
@@ -369,7 +485,7 @@ export function registerFabricTools(
         limit: { type: 'integer', minimum: 1, maximum: 200, description: 'default 20' },
       },
     },
-    execute: async (p: {
+    execute: async (_id: string, p: {
       guildNodeId: string;
       channelId: string;
       seqFrom?: number;