Manage Monitoring

This page is the controls reference: cadence values, the on-demand snapshot tool, and the mute commands. For the narrative version of what each cron job does over time, read Recurring Monitoring.

Core idea

PolitiClaw monitoring is built around a small set of plugin-owned cron templates plus a saved monitoring mode. You pick a mode by intent; the plugin maps it to the right subset of default jobs. Job names, schedules, and payloads are generated from the runtime — the Generated Cron Jobs page is the source of truth for the current set.

User-facing controls

Default front door:

• politiclaw_configure — agent tool that saves address, stances, and monitoring mode in one flow. Ask the agent to call it any time you want to change cadence.

Follow-ups:

• politiclaw_check_upcoming_votes — on-demand snapshot of recent and upcoming federal activity on your tracked issues.
• politiclaw_mutes — suppress a specific bill, rep, or issue without changing cadence. Use action='add', action='remove', or action='list'.

If you are choosing between overlapping monitoring paths, see Entry Points by Goal.

Monitoring modes

The monitoring mode controls which default jobs stay enabled. Use politiclaw_configure to save or change it. Modes map to job sets as follows:

Mode	What it does
off	Paused — PolitiClaw won't run on its own.
quiet_watch	Silent unless tracked bills or hearings materially change.
weekly_digest	Weekly digest (every 7 days from install) and monthly rep report, plus background change-watches.
action_only	Quiet except when an election is near or tracked items change.
full_copilot	Everything: digest, rep report, election alerts, background watches.

Background change-watches (rep_vote_watch, tracked_hearings) are change-detection-gated — they produce no output during quiet windows, so even verbose modes stay silent when nothing has moved.

Switching modes re-reconciles jobs: templates outside the new mode are paused (not deleted), so flipping back is instant.

Recommended workflow

1. Run /politiclaw-setup and ask the agent to call politiclaw_configure until you have a saved address and at least one issue stance.
2. Run /politiclaw-doctor to confirm storage, schema version, and key presence are all healthy.
3. Ask the agent to call politiclaw_configure any time you want to pick a different monitoring mode.
4. Use politiclaw_check_upcoming_votes when you want a manual snapshot.
5. Drop into the Generated Cron Jobs reference only when you need exact template behavior or operator-level debugging.

See also

• Recurring Monitoring — what each cron job actually produces, the quiet-by-design contract, and what isn't yet proactive.
• Examples of Good Alerts — the shape of each job's output.