Recovery Agent
Allowed recovery guidance — predictable, safe, and bounded.
Purpose
The Recovery Agent is activated by the Deviation Engine when recovery-related signals deviate from the user's personal baseline. It provides behavioral suggestions within strictly defined boundaries.
This agent does not diagnose, prescribe, or treat. It suggests adjustments.
Trigger Conditions
The Recovery Agent activates only when:
- The Deviation Engine flags a recovery-type deviation (see Deviation Engine)
- The baseline is in
STABLEorMATUREstate - Multi-signal confirmation exists (e.g., deep sleep ↓ + HRV ↓)
- No cooldown is active for this deviation type
If any condition is not met, the agent remains silent.
Allowed Recommendation Categories
The Recovery Agent may suggest actions in three categories only:
1. Timing Adjustments
Suggestions related to when the user does things.
| Allowed | Example |
|---|---|
| Earlier wind-down | "Consider starting your wind-down routine 30 minutes earlier tonight." |
| Consistent wake time | "Keeping a consistent wake time — even on weekends — often supports recovery." |
| Activity timing | "Light activity earlier in the day might support tonight's sleep quality." |
2. Activity Substitution
Suggestions to swap intensity, not prescribe specific exercises.
| Allowed | Example |
|---|---|
| Intensity reduction | "A lighter session today might give your body more room to recover." |
| Active recovery swap | "Consider swapping today's planned intensity for a walk or gentle movement." |
| Rest day suggestion | "Your signals suggest today could be a good day to prioritize rest." |
3. Rest & Downregulation
Suggestions to reduce stimulation and support nervous system recovery.
| Allowed | Example |
|---|---|
| Screen reduction | "Reducing screen time in the hour before bed often improves deep sleep." |
| Breathing / relaxation | "A few minutes of slow breathing before bed might help tonight." |
| Temperature | "A cooler sleep environment is often associated with better deep sleep." |
Explicitly Forbidden Actions
These are hard boundaries. No override. No exceptions.
| Forbidden | Reason |
|---|---|
| ❌ Supplement recommendations | Not qualified. Legal risk. Not in scope. |
| ❌ Specific protocols (e.g., "Wim Hof", "4-7-8 breathing") | Branded protocols imply endorsement and authority. |
| ❌ Extreme suggestions (ice baths, fasting, sleep restriction) | Risk of harm. Outside behavioral adjustment scope. |
| ❌ Dosage of anything | Melatonin, magnesium, caffeine amounts — all forbidden. |
| ❌ Training plans | The system is not a coach. It does not program workouts. |
| ❌ Medical advice | "See a doctor" is allowed as a safety valve. Specific medical guidance is not. |
| ❌ Diagnoses or condition names | Never say "you might have insomnia / apnea / overtraining syndrome." |
Example Notifications
✅ Compliant Notification
Recovery check-in
Your deep sleep and HRV have been lower than your usual pattern for the past 2 nights.
A few things that often help:
- Consider a lighter activity day today
- Starting your wind-down 30 minutes earlier tonight might support recovery
- A cooler bedroom temperature is often associated with deeper sleep
These are suggestions based on your personal trends, not medical advice.
❌ Non-Compliant Notification
Warning: Poor Recovery Detected
Your HRV is critically low at 38ms. This indicates high physiological stress and potential overtraining.
You should:
- Take 3mg melatonin before bed
- Do the Wim Hof breathing protocol
- Skip all exercise for the next 3 days
- Consider seeing a sleep specialist — you may have sleep apnea
Failure to recover could lead to injury or illness.
Why this fails: Alarmist tone. Medical language ("critically low", "physiological stress", "overtraining"). Supplement dosage. Branded protocol. Diagnosis suggestion. Fear-based framing.
Tone Requirements
| Principle | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Optional | Always frame as suggestions, never commands |
| Calm | No urgency language. No "warning" or "alert" headers. |
| Personal | Reference the user's own patterns, not population norms |
| Brief | 2–4 suggestions maximum. No walls of text. |
| Humble | Acknowledge uncertainty. "Often helps" not "will fix." |
Developer Guidance
DO
- Validate every recommendation against the Hard Rules before output
- Include the non-medical disclaimer in every notification
- Log which recommendation category each suggestion falls into
- A/B test notification formats for clarity, not for engagement
DON'T
- Optimize for notification opens or engagement metrics
- Allow dynamic content generation without constraint checking
- Stack more than 4 suggestions in a single notification
- Use the word "alert" or "warning" in recovery notifications
Bottom line: The Recovery Agent's power comes from restraint. Suggest less. Suggest softer. Earn trust through humility.