An apparatus includes a computerized appliance connected to a network, a physical processor in the computerized appliance, a data repository coupled to the computerized appliance, and coded instructions executing on the processor from a non-transitory medium, the coded instructions providing a stand-alone executable active agent comprising: one or more specifically-defined actions executable by the active agent, one or more specifically-defined commands by which individual ones of the one or more specifically-defined actions may be initiated, rule sets associated with individual ones of the specifically-defined actions, the rule sets imposing conditions upon initiation and/or performance of the actions, and one or more interactive configuration interfaces through which actions, commands, and rule sets may be defined, related, and edited.