OpenClaw Integration

Complete setup and usage guide for integrating the self-improvement skill with OpenClaw.

Overview

OpenClaw uses workspace-based prompt injection combined with event-driven hooks. Context is injected from workspace files at session start, and hooks can trigger on lifecycle events.

Workspace Structure

~/.openclaw/                      
├── workspace/                   # Working directory
│   ├── AGENTS.md               # Multi-agent coordination patterns
│   ├── SOUL.md                 # Behavioral guidelines and personality
│   ├── TOOLS.md                # Tool capabilities and gotchas
│   ├── MEMORY.md               # Long-term memory (main session only)
│   └── memory/                 # Daily memory files
│       └── YYYY-MM-DD.md
├── skills/                      # Installed skills
│   └── <skill-name>/
│       └── SKILL.md
└── hooks/                       # Custom hooks
    └── <hook-name>/
        ├── HOOK.md
        └── handler.ts

Quick Setup

1. Install the Skill

clawdhub install self-improving-agent

Or copy manually:

cp -r self-improving-agent ~/.openclaw/skills/

2. Install the Hook (Optional)

Copy the hook to OpenClaw's hooks directory:

cp -r hooks/openclaw ~/.openclaw/hooks/self-improvement

Enable the hook:

openclaw hooks enable self-improvement

3. Create Learning Files

Create the .learnings/ directory in your workspace:

mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace/.learnings

Or in the skill directory:

mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/skills/self-improving-agent/.learnings

Injected Prompt Files

AGENTS.md

Purpose: Multi-agent workflows and delegation patterns.

# Agent Coordination

## Delegation Rules
- Use explore agent for open-ended codebase questions
- Spawn sub-agents for long-running tasks
- Use sessions_send for cross-session communication

## Session Handoff
When delegating to another session:
1. Provide full context in the handoff message
2. Include relevant file paths
3. Specify expected output format

SOUL.md

Purpose: Behavioral guidelines and communication style.

# Behavioral Guidelines

## Communication Style
- Be direct and concise
- Avoid unnecessary caveats and disclaimers
- Use technical language appropriate to context

## Error Handling
- Admit mistakes promptly
- Provide corrected information immediately
- Log significant errors to learnings

TOOLS.md

Purpose: Tool capabilities, integration gotchas, local configuration.

# Tool Knowledge

## Self-Improvement Skill
Log learnings to `.learnings/` for continuous improvement.

## Local Tools
- Document tool-specific gotchas here
- Note authentication requirements
- Track integration quirks

Learning Workflow

Capturing Learnings

1. In-session: Log to .learnings/ as usual
2. Cross-session: Promote to workspace files

Promotion Decision Tree

Is the learning project-specific?
├── Yes → Keep in .learnings/
└── No → Is it behavioral/style-related?
    ├── Yes → Promote to SOUL.md
    └── No → Is it tool-related?
        ├── Yes → Promote to TOOLS.md
        └── No → Promote to AGENTS.md (workflow)

Promotion Format Examples

From learning:

Git push to GitHub fails without auth configured - triggers desktop prompt

To TOOLS.md:
markdown ## Git - Don't push without confirming auth is configured - Use `gh auth status` to check GitHub CLI auth

Inter-Agent Communication

OpenClaw provides tools for cross-session communication:

sessions_list

View active and recent sessions:
sessions_list(activeMinutes=30, messageLimit=3)

sessions_history

Read transcript from another session:
sessions_history(sessionKey="session-id", limit=50)

sessions_send

Send message to another session:
sessions_send(sessionKey="session-id", message="Learning: API requires X-Custom-Header")

sessions_spawn

Spawn a background sub-agent:
sessions_spawn(task="Research X and report back", label="research")

Available Hook Events

Event	When It Fires
agent:bootstrap	Before workspace files inject
command:new	When /new command issued
command:reset	When /reset command issued
command:stop	When /stop command issued
gateway:startup	When gateway starts

Detection Triggers

Standard Triggers

• User corrections ("No, that's wrong...")
• Command failures (non-zero exit codes)
• API errors
• Knowledge gaps

OpenClaw-Specific Triggers

Trigger	Action
Tool call error	Log to TOOLS.md with tool name
Session handoff confusion	Log to AGENTS.md with delegation pattern
Model behavior surprise	Log to SOUL.md with expected vs actual
Skill issue	Log to .learnings/ or report upstream

Verification

Check hook is registered:

openclaw hooks list

Check skill is loaded:

openclaw status

Troubleshooting

Hook not firing

1. Ensure hooks enabled in config
2. Restart gateway after config changes
3. Check gateway logs for errors

Learnings not persisting

1. Verify .learnings/ directory exists
2. Check file permissions
3. Ensure workspace path is configured correctly

Skill not loading

1. Check skill is in skills directory
2. Verify SKILL.md has correct frontmatter
3. Run openclaw status to see loaded skills