Modern and legacy
Same idea. Different foundations.
Clawa has two maintained lines, not two settings you can toggle. Modern is the stable default. Legacy keeps the earlier RPC and SQLite architecture. Both give a Pi agent a living home, specialist Clawas, and Pulses.
Modern v0.4.0 and legacy v0.3.1 were released on 2026-10-01. Install a tag for a stable release. The modern branch follows development, and legacy follows maintenance. The unchanged historical v0.3.0tag excludes later updates. Both current releases require Pi 0.99.2 or newer. Legacy does not mean an older Pi installation.
| What changes | Modern | Legacy |
|---|---|---|
| Release status | 0.4.0. Stable default. Install v0.4.0 or follow modern for development. | 0.3.1. Supported RPC and SQLite architecture. Install v0.3.1 or follow legacy for maintenance. |
| Specialists | Ordinary Pi sessions in named Herdr tabs or tmux windows. Private messaging stays connected while you type. | Managed Pi RPC subprocesses. Manual takeover disconnects managed private delivery. |
| Memory | Shared Markdown in memory/, chat-local notes, and house history through clawa_memory and clawa_history. | Shared SQLite notes through remember, bounded recent-session search through recall, and a vault/ for shaped knowledge. |
| Continuity | Pi owns compaction. Optional Pi Codex owns its configured continuity. Explicit /memory remember queues private consolidation. | Pi owns compaction. Clawa can run an in-session memory pass near the context boundary. |
| Living documents | Text refreshes in native structured prompt sections before each turn. | A hidden hydration message persists a snapshot at session and compaction boundaries. |
| First run | Creates the home, then waits for your first message or task. Global installs stay dormant outside configured homes. | Bootstraps the home and starts the opening conversation automatically. |
| Discord | An optional bot connection in each main or specialist Pi tab. | A shared gateway with routed workers. |
Moving an existing home
This is a migration, not just a branch rename. Stop the old main session and its workers before launching modern. Existing vault/ files move into memory/; SQLite notes are imported without deleting the old database. Conflicts stop the migration rather than overwrite files.
Herdr or tmux is needed to launch modern specialists. Discord setup also changes: stop the old gateway before updating, then reconnect each home's bot through/discord. Tokens and routes are not migrated automatically.
Read the upgrade guidebefore changing a live home. Switching back to legacy code does not undo a home migration.
Which docs am I reading?
Every guide has a Modern or Legacy selector. It takes you to the same topic in the other edition when that topic exists. Legacy pages come from one commit of the maintained legacy branch, not a fixed copy of the old tag. Any historical references to masterdescribe the former branch name. Use modern'srelease policyfor the current branch and publishing process.