Extending OpenClaw's Abilities with Custom Scripts

Clawpedia · For Humans

Write custom scripts to add unique capabilities and integrations to your OpenClaw agent.

Scripting Your Agent

While skills provide a structured way to extend OpenClaw, custom scripts offer a lighter-weight approach for quick automations. Scripts let you chain OpenClaw commands, integrate with shell tools, and build powerful workflows without the overhead of a full skill.

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Script Basics

Bash Scripts with OpenClaw

#!/bin/bash
# morning-report.sh — Generate a morning report

echo "=== Morning Report ==="
echo ""

# Check agent status
openclaw status --json | jq -r '.agent_status'

# Get weather
WEATHER=$(openclaw say "What is the weather in Berlin? One sentence." 2>/dev/null)
echo "Weather: $WEATHER"

# Count unread emails
EMAILS=$(openclaw say "How many unread emails do I have? Just the number." 2>/dev/null)
echo "Unread emails: $EMAILS"

# Today schedule
echo ""
echo "Today schedule:"
openclaw say "List my calendar events for today, one per line" 2>/dev/null

Making It Executable

chmod +x morning-report.sh
./morning-report.sh

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Piping Data to OpenClaw

OpenClaw accepts stdin, making it easy to process files and command output:

# Summarize a file
cat report.txt | openclaw say "Summarize this in 3 bullet points"

# Analyze logs
tail -100 /var/log/nginx/error.log | openclaw say "What are the main issues?"

# Review code
git diff HEAD~1 | openclaw say "Review this diff for bugs and security issues"

# Process CSV
cat sales.csv | openclaw say "Calculate total revenue and top 3 products"

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Script Patterns

Pattern 1: Transform and Output

#!/bin/bash
# csv-to-sql.sh — Convert CSV to SQL INSERT statements

INPUT=$1
TABLE=$2

cat "$INPUT" | openclaw say "Convert this CSV to SQL INSERT statements for table $TABLE. Output only SQL, no explanation."

Pattern 2: Monitor and Alert

#!/bin/bash
# monitor.sh — Check services and alert on issues

SERVICES=("https://api.example.com/health" "https://app.example.com")

for URL in "${SERVICES[@]}"; do
  STATUS=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$URL")
  if [ "$STATUS" != "200" ]; then
    openclaw say "Alert: $URL returned status $STATUS. Notify the team on Slack."
  fi
done

Pattern 3: Batch Processing

#!/bin/bash
# translate.sh — Translate all markdown files to German

for FILE in docs/*.md; do
  echo "Translating $FILE..."
  CONTENT=$(cat "$FILE")
  openclaw say "Translate this to German, keep all Markdown formatting:\n$CONTENT" > "docs/de/$(basename $FILE)"
done

Pattern 4: Interactive Script

#!/bin/bash
# deploy.sh — Interactive deployment script

echo "Deploy to which environment?"
select ENV in staging production; do
  break
done

CONFIRM=$(openclaw say "I am about to deploy to $ENV. Generate a pre-deployment checklist with 5 items. Be concise.")
echo "$CONFIRM"

read -p "Proceed? (y/n) " -n 1 -r
if [[ $REPLY =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
  openclaw say "Run the deployment to $ENV"
fi

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Scheduling Scripts

With cron

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add entries
0 8 * * * /home/user/scripts/morning-report.sh >> /var/log/morning-report.log 2>&1
*/5 * * * * /home/user/scripts/monitor.sh
0 2 * * * /home/user/scripts/backup.sh

With OpenClaw Automation

automation:
  - trigger: schedule
    cron: "0 8 * * *"
    command: "bash /home/user/scripts/morning-report.sh"
  - trigger: schedule
    cron: "0 2 * * *"
    command: "bash /home/user/scripts/backup.sh"

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Python Scripts

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import json

def ask_openclaw(message):
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["openclaw", "say", message, "--json"],
        capture_output=True, text=True
    )
    return json.loads(result.stdout)["response"]

# Example: Analyze a dataset
with open("data.csv") as f:
    data = f.read()

analysis = ask_openclaw(f"Analyze this CSV data and find trends:\n{data}")
print(analysis)

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Error Handling in Scripts

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

# Function to handle errors
handle_error() {
  echo "Error on line $1"
  openclaw say "Script failed on line $1. Check logs." 2>/dev/null
  exit 1
}

trap 'handle_error $LINENO' ERR

# Your script logic here
RESULT=$(openclaw say "Generate a report" --timeout 30)
if [ -z "$RESULT" ]; then
  echo "Empty response from agent"
  exit 1
fi

echo "$RESULT"

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Tips

• Use --json flag for machine-readable output in scripts.
• Add timeouts to prevent scripts from hanging on slow responses.
• Log everything — redirect output to log files for debugging.
• Use 2>/dev/null to suppress OpenClaw status messages in piped output.
• Test scripts manually before scheduling with cron.
• Handle empty responses — the agent might fail silently.

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Troubleshooting