Edict (三省六部) Multi-Agent Orchestration

Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.

Edict implements a 1400-year-old Tang Dynasty governance model as an AI multi-agent architecture. Twelve specialized agents form a checks-and-balances pipeline: Crown Prince (triage) → Zhongshu (planning) → Menxia (review/veto) → Shangshu (dispatch) → Six Ministries (parallel execution). Built on OpenClaw, it provides a real-time React kanban dashboard, full audit trails, and per-agent LLM configuration.

Architecture Overview

You (Emperor) → taizi (triage) → zhongshu (plan) → menxia (review/veto)
             → shangshu (dispatch) → [hubu|libu|bingbu|xingbu|gongbu|libu2] (execute)
             → memorial (result archived)

Key differentiator vs CrewAI/AutoGen: Menxia (门下省) is a mandatory quality gate — it can veto and force rework before tasks reach executors.

Prerequisites

• OpenClaw installed and running
• Python 3.9+
• Node.js 18+ (for React dashboard build)
• macOS or Linux

Installation

Quick Demo (Docker — no OpenClaw needed)

# x86/amd64 (Ubuntu, WSL2)
docker run --platform linux/amd64 -p 7891:7891 cft0808/sansheng-demo

# Apple Silicon / ARM
docker run -p 7891:7891 cft0808/sansheng-demo

# Or with docker-compose (platform already set)
docker compose up

Open http://localhost:7891

Full Installation

git clone https://github.com/cft0808/edict.git
cd edict
chmod +x install.sh && ./install.sh

The install script automatically:

• Creates all 12 agent workspaces (taizi, zhongshu, menxia, shangshu, hubu, libu, bingbu, xingbu, gongbu, libu2, zaochao, legacy-compat)
• Writes SOUL.md role definitions to each agent workspace
• Registers agents and permission matrix in openclaw.json
• Symlinks shared data directories across all agent workspaces
• Sets sessions.visibility all for inter-agent message routing
• Syncs API keys across all agents
• Builds React frontend
• Initializes data directory and syncs official stats

First-time API Key Setup

# Configure API key on first agent
openclaw agents add taizi
# Then re-run install to propagate to all agents
./install.sh

Running the System

# Terminal 1: Data refresh loop (keeps kanban data current)
bash scripts/run_loop.sh

# Terminal 2: Dashboard server
python3 dashboard/server.py

# Open dashboard
open http://127.0.0.1:7891

Key Commands

OpenClaw Agent Management

# List all registered agents
openclaw agents list

# Add/configure an agent
openclaw agents add <agent-name>

# Check agent status
openclaw agents status

# Restart gateway (required after config changes)
openclaw gateway restart

# Send a message/edict to the system
openclaw send taizi "帮我分析一下竞争对手的产品策略"

Dashboard Server

# dashboard/server.py — serves on port 7891
# Built-in: React frontend + REST API + WebSocket updates
python3 dashboard/server.py

# Custom port
PORT=8080 python3 dashboard/server.py

Data Scripts

# Sync official (agent) statistics
python3 scripts/sync_officials.py

# Update kanban task states
python3 scripts/kanban_update.py

# Run news aggregation
python3 scripts/fetch_news.py

# Full refresh loop (runs all scripts in sequence)
bash scripts/run_loop.sh

Configuration

Agent Model Configuration (openclaw.json)

{
  "agents": {
    "taizi": {
      "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
      "workspace": "~/.openclaw/workspaces/taizi"
    },
    "zhongshu": {
      "model": "gpt-4o",
      "workspace": "~/.openclaw/workspaces/zhongshu"
    },
    "menxia": {
      "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
      "workspace": "~/.openclaw/workspaces/menxia"
    },
    "shangshu": {
      "model": "gpt-4o-mini",
      "workspace": "~/.openclaw/workspaces/shangshu"
    }
  },
  "gateway": {
    "port": 7891,
    "sessions": {
      "visibility": "all"
    }
  }
}

Per-Agent Model Hot-Switching (via Dashboard)

Navigate to ⚙️ Models panel → select agent → choose LLM → Apply. Gateway restarts automatically (~5 seconds).

Environment Variables

# API keys (set before running install.sh or openclaw)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# Optional: Feishu/Lark webhook for notifications
export FEISHU_WEBHOOK_URL="https://open.feishu.cn/open-apis/bot/v2/hook/..."

# Optional: news aggregation
export NEWS_API_KEY="..."

# Dashboard port override
export DASHBOARD_PORT=7891

Agent Roles Reference

Permission Matrix (who can message whom)

# Defined in openclaw.json — enforced by gateway
PERMISSIONS = {
    "taizi":    ["zhongshu"],
    "zhongshu": ["menxia"],
    "menxia":   ["zhongshu", "shangshu"],  # can veto back to zhongshu
    "shangshu": ["hubu", "libu", "bingbu", "xingbu", "gongbu", "libu2"],
    # ministries report back up the chain
    "hubu":     ["shangshu"],
    "libu":     ["shangshu"],
    "bingbu":   ["shangshu"],
    "xingbu":   ["shangshu"],
    "gongbu":   ["shangshu"],
    "libu2":    ["shangshu"],
}

Task State Machine

# scripts/kanban_update.py enforces valid transitions
VALID_TRANSITIONS = {
    "pending":     ["planning"],
    "planning":    ["reviewing", "pending"],      # zhongshu → menxia
    "reviewing":   ["dispatching", "planning"],   # menxia approve or veto
    "dispatching": ["executing"],
    "executing":   ["completed", "failed"],
    "completed":   [],
    "failed":      ["pending"],  # retry
}

# Invalid transitions are rejected — no silent state corruption

Real Code Examples

Send an Edict Programmatically

import subprocess
import json

def send_edict(message: str, agent: str = "taizi") -> dict:
    """Send an edict to the Crown Prince for triage."""
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["openclaw", "send", agent, message],
        capture_output