diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a6d3545..b033a3b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ It tracks and visualizes:
 - direct SSH dispatch for `pve`, `truenas`, and `panda`
 - task callback API for remote completion/result sync
 - OpenClaw registry sync API for swarm task state reconciliation
+- heartbeat pickup API at `/api/heartbeat/{agent}` for queue inspection and self-dispatch
 - failure queue and dispatch history views
 - family-specific runtime views for OpenClaw and ZeroClaw plus unified direct-host visibility
 - architecture documentation rendered directly from tracked config
@@ -99,6 +100,24 @@ It tracks and visualizes:
 - `DIRECT_SSH_KEY_PATH`
 - `DIRECT_SSH_TIMEOUT_MS`
 
+## Heartbeat Pickup
+
+Configured OpenClaw and ZeroClaw runtimes can hit:
+
+```bash
+curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8395/api/heartbeat/<agent>
+```
+
+The heartbeat endpoint will:
+
+- sync OpenClaw swarm state before scheduling
+- inspect the agent's assigned tasks
+- skip tasks blocked by `depends-on:<task-id>` or `dependency:<task-id>` tags
+- auto-dispatch the next runnable task when the agent does not already have an active unblocked task
+- return queue state, blocked items, and any task that was dispatched during the heartbeat
+
+This is the canonical path for agent-driven task pickup. Assignment alone does not start work; heartbeat pickup or an explicit dispatch does.
+
 ## Development
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/app/api/heartbeat/[agent]/route.ts b/app/api/heartbeat/[agent]/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67022ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/api/heartbeat/[agent]/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
+
+import { processAgentHeartbeat } from "@/lib/heartbeat";
+
+export async function GET(
+  _request: Request,
+  { params }: { params: Promise<{ agent: string }> },
+) {
+  const { agent } = await params;
+
+  try {
+    const result = await processAgentHeartbeat(agent);
+    return NextResponse.json(result);
+  } catch (error) {
+    const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
+    const status = message === "agent_not_found" ? 404 : 500;
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: message }, { status });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/lib/agents.ts b/lib/agents.ts
index 34eb1f7..be7880c 100644
--- a/lib/agents.ts
+++ b/lib/agents.ts
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ function readWorkspaceAgent(agentRoot: string, fallbackName: string) {
   const heartbeatAt = deriveHeartbeatTimestamp(heartbeatPath, heartbeatMd);
 
   return {
-    files: ["AGENTS.md", "TOOLS.md", "IDENTITY.md"].filter((fileName) =>
+    files: ["AGENTS.md", "TOOLS.md", "IDENTITY.md", "HEARTBEAT.md"].filter((fileName) =>
       fs.existsSync(path.join(workspaceRoot, fileName)),
     ),
     tools,
diff --git a/lib/heartbeat.ts b/lib/heartbeat.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bab4ff3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/heartbeat.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+import { dispatchTask } from "@/lib/dispatch";
+import { findAgentByAssignmentKey } from "@/lib/agents";
+import { syncOpenClawTasks } from "@/lib/openclaw-sync";
+import { appendTaskEvent, findTask, listTasksForAssignee } from "@/lib/tasks";
+import type { FleetAgent, TaskRecord } from "@/lib/types";
+
+type HeartbeatTaskSummary = Pick<
+  TaskRecord,
+  "id" | "title" | "status" | "dispatch_state" | "priority" | "assignee" | "target_host"
+> & {
+  blocked: boolean;
+  blockedBy: number[];
+};
+
+type AgentHeartbeatResult = {
+  agent: {
+    slug: string;
+    assignmentKey: string;
+    family: FleetAgent["family"];
+    host: string;
+    heartbeatAt: string | null;
+    currentTask: string | null;
+  };
+  pending_tasks: number;
+  active_tasks: number;
+  blocked_tasks: number;
+  dispatched_task: HeartbeatTaskSummary | null;
+  tasks: HeartbeatTaskSummary[];
+  notes: string[];
+};
+
+function extractDependencyIds(task: TaskRecord) {
+  const values = task.tags
+    .filter((tag) => tag.startsWith("depends-on:") || tag.startsWith("dependency:"))
+    .flatMap((tag) => tag.split(":").slice(1))
+    .flatMap((value) => value.split(/[|,]/))
+    .map((value) => Number(value.trim()))
+    .filter((value) => Number.isInteger(value) && value > 0);
+
+  return [...new Set(values)];
+}
+
+function getTaskPriorityWeight(priority: TaskRecord["priority"]) {
+  switch (priority) {
+    case "Critical":
+      return 0;
+    case "High":
+      return 1;
+    case "Medium":
+      return 2;
+    default:
+      return 3;
+  }
+}
+
+function isActiveTask(task: Pick<TaskRecord, "dispatch_state" | "status">) {
+  return ["dispatched", "acknowledged"].includes(task.dispatch_state) || ["In Progress", "Review"].includes(task.status);
+}
+
+function isTaskRunnable(task: Pick<TaskRecord, "status" | "dispatch_state">) {
+  return ["Backlog", "Todo"].includes(task.status) && ["planned", "assigned", "failed"].includes(task.dispatch_state);
+}
+
+function sortTasks(tasks: TaskRecord[]) {
+  return [...tasks].sort((left, right) => {
+    const priorityDelta = getTaskPriorityWeight(left.priority) - getTaskPriorityWeight(right.priority);
+    if (priorityDelta !== 0) {
+      return priorityDelta;
+    }
+    return left.id - right.id;
+  });
+}
+
+export async function processAgentHeartbeat(assignmentKey: string): Promise<AgentHeartbeatResult> {
+  const agent = await findAgentByAssignmentKey(assignmentKey);
+  if (!agent) {
+    throw new Error("agent_not_found");
+  }
+
+  if (agent.family === "openclaw") {
+    await syncOpenClawTasks();
+  }
+
+  const assignedTasks = sortTasks(await listTasksForAssignee(agent.aliases, { includeDone: false }));
+  const taskSummaries = await Promise.all(
+    assignedTasks.map(async (task) => {
+      const blockedBy = (
+        await Promise.all(
+          extractDependencyIds(task).map(async (dependencyId) => {
+            const dependency = await findTask(dependencyId);
+            return dependency?.status === "Done" ? null : dependencyId;
+          }),
+        )
+      ).filter((dependencyId): dependencyId is number => dependencyId !== null);
+
+      return {
+        id: task.id,
+        title: task.title,
+        status: task.status,
+        dispatch_state: task.dispatch_state,
+        priority: task.priority,
+        assignee: task.assignee,
+        target_host: task.target_host,
+        blocked: blockedBy.length > 0,
+        blockedBy,
+      } satisfies HeartbeatTaskSummary;
+    }),
+  );
+
+  const activeTasks = taskSummaries.filter((task) => isActiveTask(task) && !task.blocked);
+  const runnableTask = taskSummaries.find((task) => isTaskRunnable(task) && !task.blocked) || null;
+  const blockedTasks = taskSummaries.filter((task) => task.blocked);
+  const notes: string[] = [];
+  let dispatchedTask: HeartbeatTaskSummary | null = null;
+
+  if (blockedTasks.length > 0) {
+    notes.push(`${blockedTasks.length} blocked task(s) waiting on dependencies`);
+  }
+
+  if (activeTasks.length === 0 && runnableTask) {
+    const updatedTask = await dispatchTask(runnableTask.id);
+    dispatchedTask = {
+      id: updatedTask.id,
+      title: updatedTask.title,
+      status: updatedTask.status,
+      dispatch_state: updatedTask.dispatch_state,
+      priority: updatedTask.priority,
+      assignee: updatedTask.assignee,
+      target_host: updatedTask.target_host,
+      blocked: false,
+      blockedBy: [],
+    };
+    notes.push(`Auto-dispatched task #${updatedTask.id}`);
+    await appendTaskEvent({
+      taskId: updatedTask.id,
+      assignee: updatedTask.assignee,
+      family: updatedTask.family,
+      host: updatedTask.target_host,
+      eventType: "updated",
+      state: updatedTask.dispatch_state,
+      summary: `Heartbeat auto-dispatched ${agent.name}`,
+      detail: `Triggered from /api/heartbeat/${assignmentKey}`,
+    });
+  } else if (activeTasks.length > 0) {
+    notes.push(`${activeTasks.length} active task(s) already in progress`);
+  } else if (!runnableTask && assignedTasks.length > 0) {
+    notes.push("No runnable tasks available for dispatch");
+  }
+
+  return {
+    agent: {
+      slug: agent.slug,
+      assignmentKey: agent.assignmentKey,
+      family: agent.family,
+      host: agent.host,
+      heartbeatAt: agent.heartbeatAt,
+      currentTask: agent.currentTask,
+    },
+    pending_tasks: taskSummaries.filter((task) => !["Done"].includes(task.status)).length,
+    active_tasks: activeTasks.length,
+    blocked_tasks: blockedTasks.length,
+    dispatched_task: dispatchedTask,
+    tasks: taskSummaries,
+    notes,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/lib/tasks.ts b/lib/tasks.ts
index f165208..366b046 100644
--- a/lib/tasks.ts
+++ b/lib/tasks.ts
@@ -243,6 +243,45 @@ export async function listTaskEvents(taskId?: number, limit = 50) {
   return rows;
 }
 
+export async function listTasksForAssignee(assigneeAliases: string[], options?: {
+  includeDone?: boolean;
+}) {
+  if (assigneeAliases.length === 0) {
+    return [] as TaskRecord[];
+  }
+
+  const placeholders = assigneeAliases.map(() => "?").join(", ");
+  const params: unknown[] = [...assigneeAliases];
+  const clauses = [`assignee IN (${placeholders})`];
+  if (!options?.includeDone) {
+    clauses.push("status != 'Done'");
+  }
+
+  const rows = await all<DatabaseTaskRow>(
+    `SELECT * FROM tasks
+     WHERE ${clauses.join(" AND ")}
+     ORDER BY
+       CASE status
+         WHEN 'In Progress' THEN 0
+         WHEN 'Review' THEN 1
+         WHEN 'Todo' THEN 2
+         WHEN 'Backlog' THEN 3
+         ELSE 4
+       END,
+       CASE priority
+         WHEN 'Critical' THEN 0
+         WHEN 'High' THEN 1
+         WHEN 'Medium' THEN 2
+         ELSE 3
+       END,
+       created_at ASC,
+       id ASC`,
+    params,
+  );
+
+  return rows.map(normalizeTask);
+}
+
 export async function listTaskTemplates(): Promise<TaskTemplate[]> {
   return TASK_TEMPLATES;
 }