Workflow Intelligence

Workflow Intelligence is the user-facing concept for CoWork OS's always-on learning and next-action system.

It replaces the older product framing around Subconscious with a clearer model:

• Memory is the source of truth.
• Heartbeat owns scheduling and signal readiness.
• Reflection is the internal evaluation phase.
• Suggestions are the default user-facing output.

The goal is not opaque background autonomy. The goal is reviewable help that gets better from how the user responds.

What Changed

The previous model exposed too much of the reflective internals. It also let the reflective layer behave like a parallel memory product and a separate scheduler.

The new model makes the boundaries explicit:

Subconscious remains an internal compatibility name in some code paths, database tables, artifact folders, and logs. Product copy and docs should use Workflow Intelligence unless they are describing those internals directly.

Operating Loop

Workflow Intelligence runs as a closed feedback loop:

workspace activity, memory, mailbox, tasks, git, schedules, triggers
    -> Heartbeat signal ledger
    -> Heartbeat Pulse decides whether reflection is useful now
    -> Reflection collects evidence, critiques options, and selects a recommendation
    -> Memory receives candidates and durable feedback signals
    -> Suggestions show reviewable next actions
    -> user acts, edits, snoozes, dismisses, or ignores
    -> feedback updates memory and future suggestion scoring

This keeps learning grounded in observable user behavior rather than hidden assumptions.

Suggestion Contract

Every user-facing suggestion should carry enough context to be trusted or rejected quickly:

• Title: the proposed work in plain language
• Why now: the timing reason
• Source evidence: recent signals or modules that led to the suggestion
• Confidence: a lightweight score for ranking and triage
• Suggested action: the prompt/action CoWork can start from
• Controls: act, edit, snooze, dismiss

The welcome screen shows these as Next actions under the message box. The same suggestion objects can also appear in the automation inbox and Suggestions panel.

Learning From Response

User response is now part of the learning model:

This is the missing loop that turns suggestions from a static list into a system that adapts to the user's workflow.

Memory As Source Of Truth

Reflection no longer treats its local memory index as the main learning product.

Reflection outputs are converted into core memory candidates, including:

• user preference
• workflow pattern
• open loop
• correction
• recurring task
• ignored noise
• watch item
• constraint

Accepted candidates flow through the core memory distillation path. This keeps durable learning in the existing memory stack instead of creating a parallel source of truth.

Heartbeat As Scheduler

Heartbeat owns the "when should we think?" decision.

Heartbeat can trigger reflection when signals justify it, for example:

• non-idle Pulse outcome
• multiple actionable signals
• several relevant recent activities
• assigned work that may need follow-up
• due checklist or proactive items

Reflection no longer runs its own independent interval loop. It can still be run manually from settings for inspection/debugging.

Review Before Autonomy

Workflow Intelligence defaults to reviewable suggestions.

Auto-created tasks are allowed only when all of these are true:

• auto-create is explicitly enabled
• the recommendation is low risk
• the target scope is clear
• policy allows the executor
• either the target is trusted or similar suggestions were repeatedly accepted

This keeps CoWork useful before it becomes autonomous and avoids surprising task creation from weak signals.

Product Surfaces

Workflow Intelligence appears in:

• Welcome screen: Next actions under the message box
• Home dashboard: automation inbox items and recent automation activity
• Settings > Automations > Workflow Intelligence: policy, target, run, and diagnostic controls
• Suggestions panel: review, act, snooze, and dismiss active suggestions
• Mission Control: heartbeat state, traces, core harness learning, and dispatched work
• Memory Hub: durable memories and candidate learning created from accepted/corrected/ignored patterns

Reflection internals remain inspectable for power users, but suggestions are the primary user-facing output.

Durable State And Compatibility

Current implementation details still use legacy names in some places:

• .cowork/subconscious/ artifact folders
• SubconsciousLoopService logs
• subconscious_* SQLite tables
• IPC names such as runSubconsciousNow

Those names are compatibility details. New documentation, labels, and product copy should use Workflow Intelligence.

The artifact contract remains useful for debugging:

.cowork/subconscious/
  brain/state.json
  brain/dreams/*.json
  journal/YYYY-MM-DD.jsonl
  targets/<targetKey>/state.json
  targets/<targetKey>/backlog.md
  targets/<targetKey>/runs/<runId>/evidence.json
  targets/<targetKey>/runs/<runId>/ideas.jsonl
  targets/<targetKey>/runs/<runId>/critique.jsonl
  targets/<targetKey>/runs/<runId>/decision.json
  targets/<targetKey>/runs/<runId>/winning-recommendation.md
  targets/<targetKey>/runs/<runId>/dispatch.json

SQLite remains the fast index/query layer. Memory remains the durable learning source of truth.

Relation To Core Harness

Workflow Intelligence feeds and consumes the core harness:

• Heartbeat and reflection create core traces.
• Traces produce memory candidates.
• Failures can become clusters and eval cases.
• Accepted memory candidates improve later retrieval and suggestion scoring.
• User response feedback tunes future suggestion ranking.

The core harness is the measurable improvement system. Workflow Intelligence is the product loop that turns that learning into reviewable work.

Related Docs

• Core Automation
• Heartbeat v3
• Mission Control
• Memory and Workspace Flow
• Getting Started
• Troubleshooting