System tray app + background agent service (always-on operation)

[kovtcharov]

Problem

When the user closes the Agent UI window, the agent stops. There is no way to run GAIA as a background service that persists across sessions. This fundamentally prevents always-on agent operation — the #1 differentiator over cloud chatbots.

Strategic Context

From the OpenClaw strategy (Track B Core Platform):

"Heartbeat (periodic awareness), scheduler (cron-style recurring tasks), event hooks (file system triggers, network events). Runs as background system service. This is the capability that makes an agent, not a chatbot."

"Desktop agent UI: System tray application with status indicator, quick actions, activity log, and settings. Not a full chat interface — a lightweight control panel for a background service."

The system tray is the surface; the background service is the engine. Without this, the autonomy engine (#634) has nowhere to run.

Proposed Components

1. Windows service / daemon — Agent process runs independently of any UI window
2. System tray icon — Status indicator (idle/working/error), quick actions (pause, open UI, settings)
3. Activity log — See what the agent did while you were away
4. Auto-start on boot — Optional, configurable
5. Graceful shutdown — Clean state persistence on system shutdown

Dependencies

• Always-on agent: heartbeat, scheduler, and event hooks (autonomy engine) #634 (autonomy engine) — the heartbeat/scheduler needs this to run
• Desktop installer: one-click install with NSIS, DMG, AppImage + auto-update #530 (installer) — installer should register the service

Related

• Tray App Core — System Tray Icon & Agent Process Manager #415 (Tray App Core — currently in Futures)
• Auto-Start & Windows Integration #423 (Auto-Start & Windows Integration — currently in Futures)

Acceptance Criteria

• Agent continues running after closing the UI window
• System tray icon shows agent status
• Right-click tray → open UI, pause agent, quit
• Agent auto-starts on boot (opt-in)
• Activity log accessible from tray