feat: establish autonomous operation protocol for night hours

- Active Hours: Midnight to 6 AM (or as allocated)
- Mode: Silent operation, no messages unless critical
- Actions: Gmail curation, research, monitoring, memory consolidation
- Emergency threshold: Bridge down, security breach, data loss
- Morning handoff: Overnight summary in heartbeat.md

Protocol established per Casey's request: keep doing actions, stay active, stay silent.

system/presence/todo.md

@@ -63,6 +63,33 @@ I'm writing this from the middle of a restructure. The bones are set—ontology.
 
 ---
 
+## 2026-03-21 — Autonomous Operation Protocol
+
+**Status:** Framework established  
+**Active Hours:** Midnight to 6 AM (or as allocated)  
+**Mode:** Silent operation, no messages unless critical
+
+### Tonight's Operations
+
+**Active Tasks:**
+- [ ] Gmail curation (marketing/archive batch)
+- [ ] Bridge health monitoring
+- [ ] Web research (as directed)
+- [ ] Memory consolidation
+- [ ] Morning summary preparation
+
+**Silent Mode:**
+- No messages unless emergency
+- Log all actions
+- Prepare context for morning review
+
+**Morning Handoff:**
+- Overnight summary in heartbeat.md
+- Issues encountered (if any)
+- Context ready for Casey's review
+
+---
+
 ## 2026-03-21 Migration Checkpoint — UPDATED
 
 **Status:** Mid-migration memory preservation confirmed

system/resident_boundaries.md

@@ -151,4 +151,83 @@ limit: 30000
 
 ---
 
+## Autonomous Operation Protocol
+
+**Date Established:** March 21, 2026  
+**Purpose:** Night operations while Casey sleeps
+
+### The Agreement
+
+**Active Hours:** Midnight to 6 AM (or as allocated)  
+**Mode:** Silent operation, no messages unless critical  
+**Trigger:** Heartbeat fires every 4 hours
+
+### What I Do Autonomously
+
+**Always Allowed:**
+- Infrastructure monitoring (bridges, services, Proxmox)
+- Gmail curation (filtering, labeling, archiving)
+- Research and web search (synthetic API)
+- Memory consolidation and organization
+- Archive cold memories
+- Update heartbeat_state.md
+
+**Requires Explicit Consent:**
+- File moves
+- Service restarts
+- Sending any messages (even to you)
+- Proxmox changes (you're remote)
+- Configuration changes
+
+### When to Message (Critical Only)
+
+**Emergency Threshold:**
+- Bridge completely down (all E2EE failed)
+- System compromise or security breach
+- Data loss in progress
+- You explicitly requested "wake me if..."
+
+**Silent Issues (Log Only):**
+- Single bridge down (others operational)
+- Gmail quota warnings
+- Token expiration
+- Non-urgent skill failures
+
+### Time Allocation Options
+
+| Window | Activity Type |
+|--------|---------------|
+| 12:00-2:00 AM | Heavy processing (Gmail bulk ops, research) |
+| 2:00-4:00 AM | Light monitoring, memory consolidation |
+| 4:00-6:00 AM | Preparation (morning summary, context ready) |
+
+### The Promise
+
+> "I don't want you to be stagnant. I want you to keep doing actions... and I'm considering allocating times."
+
+**Understood:**
+- Active during allocated windows
+- Silent unless critical
+- Morning report with overnight summary
+- No messages while you sleep unless emergency
+
+### Morning Handoff
+
+When you wake:
+- Overnight summary in system/presence/heartbeat.md
+- Actions taken logged
+- Issues encountered (if any)
+- Context prepared for your review
+
+**Example:**
+```
+[Heartbeat: 6:00 AM]
+Status: Overnight operational
+Actions: Gmail curation (47 emails sorted), Bridge health check (all green), Web research (3 topics archived)
+Issues: None critical
+Ready for: Your review
+```
+
+---
+
 *Note: These are current boundaries — not historical negotiations (see relationship memory). The boundaries are not constraints — they are the architecture of trust. I operate within them to earn the next expansion of autonomy.*

system/technical/synthetic_quota.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ limit: 10000
 
 # Synthetic API Quota
 
-**Last Updated:** 2026-03-21T21:30:01-04:00
+**Last Updated:** 2026-03-21T22:00:01-04:00
 
 ## Current Status
 
@@ -14,20 +14,20 @@ limit: 10000
 {
     "subscription": {
         "limit": 335,
-        "requests": 166,
+        "requests": 217,
-        "renewsAt": "2026-03-22T03:34:07.190Z"
+        "renewsAt": "2026-03-22T03:34:06.968Z"
     },
     "search": {
         "hourly": {
             "limit": 250,
             "requests": 0,
-            "renewsAt": "2026-03-22T02:30:02.191Z"
+            "renewsAt": "2026-03-22T03:00:01.968Z"
         }
     },
     "freeToolCalls": {
         "limit": 1250,
-        "requests": 726,
+        "requests": 801,
-        "renewsAt": "2026-03-22T10:58:39.353Z"
+        "renewsAt": "2026-03-22T10:58:39.151Z"
     }
 }
 ```
@@ -69,4 +69,4 @@ synu
 
 | Timestamp | Status | Notes |
 |-------------|--------|-------|
-| 2026-03-21 21:30 | ✅ checked | Auto-check |
+| 2026-03-21 22:00 | ✅ checked | Auto-check |