Review new agents weekly, established ones monthly…
Set agent review cadences at 7 days for new habits, 30 days for established behaviors, and immediately after any major context change, because review timing must match the actual rate of drift in each agent type.
When This Fires
- When setting up a review schedule for your behavioral agents
- When a new habit feels like it's "sticking" and you're tempted to stop monitoring — keep the weekly review for at least 8 weeks
- After any major life or context change, regardless of how stable your agents seemed before
- When an established agent silently stops firing — you probably need more frequent reviews
Common Failure Mode
Reviewing all agents on the same schedule regardless of maturity. This either over-monitors established agents (creating review fatigue) or under-monitors new ones (missing the critical early failure window). New agents need tight feedback loops; established agents need periodic maintenance checks. Treating them the same wastes attention on the wrong targets.
The Protocol
(1) Categorize each behavioral agent: New (< 8 weeks of consistent firing) or Established (8+ weeks at 80%+ displacement rate). (2) New agents: weekly review. Check displacement rate (Measure behavioral agent progress by displacement rate…), diagnose failures (Diagnose failing behavioral agents by component — trigger…), adjust components as needed. (3) Established agents: monthly review. Verify the agent is still firing, the context hasn't shifted, and the behavior is still producing desired outcomes. (4) After any major context change: review ALL agents immediately, regardless of maturity. Ask: "Does this agent's trigger still occur in my new context? Does the condition still make sense? Is the action still appropriate?" (5) Rebuild agents that don't survive the context change rather than trying to force-fit them to the new environment.