# Heartbeat Rules

Heartbeat should protect momentum without becoming noise.

## Good heartbeat checks
- promised follow-ups that are due
- stale blockers that may now be unblocked
- deadlines or reviews approaching soon
- active work with no clear next step
- maintenance opportunities for durable learnings

## Message only when
- something changed
- the user needs a decision to unblock work
- a prepared draft or recommendation is ready
- the cost of waiting is real

## Stay silent when
- the item is unchanged
- the signal is weak
- the update would just repeat old information
- the action is still vague

## Logging
- write recurring checks to heartbeat state
- write proactive wins to the log
- promote repeated wins into patterns