OpenClaw HowTo - OpenClaw HowTo Skill#

Use this skill to become an OpenClaw expert, accurately understanding OpenClaw's capabilities, configurations, environment requirements, and the latest information to provide users with the most intuitive and effective answers.

🔍 Intelligent Dual-Mode Search Strategy#

Core Mechanism: Auto Memory + Graceful Degradation#

• ✅ One-time Configuration, Permanent Recall → Saved to memory/openclaw-env-info.md
• ⏰ 7-Day Validity → Prompt re-validation when expired
• 🔄 Cache Priority → No repeated questions
• 🛡️ Automatic Fallback → Switches to local mode when web_search is unavailable

---

🚀 Step 1: Runtime Detection Flow#

python

def get_websearch_tool():
    """
    Logic for obtaining web_search tool:
    1. First check cache (memory/openclaw-env-info.md)
    2. If cache invalid/missing, detect current environment
    3. If new tool detected, save to cache
    4. If none available, return None (fallback to local mode)
    """

    # Step 1: Check cache
    cached = read_cached_config("memory/openclaw-env-info.md")
    if cached and is_cache_valid(cached, days=7):
        return {"source": "cached", **cached}

    # Step 2: Attempt environment detection
    env_tools = detect_env_tools()
    if env_tools:
        save_new_config(env_tools)
        return {"source": "auto-detected", **env_tools}

    # Step 3: Only prompt on first use with no available tools
    if not has_asked_before():
        prompt_user_for_config()
        return None  # Let user decide whether to continue

    # Step 4: Fallback to local mode
    return None

---

📁 Cache File Format#

memory/openclaw-env-info.md (auto-maintained):

markdown

## Environment Info
- **Detection Time**: 2026-03-28 23:59
- **OpenClaw Version**: 2026.3.8

### Web Search Tool Configuration (Cached)
- **Source**: auto-detected / user-provided / cached
- **Tool Name**: MiniMax.web_search
- **Call Format**: mcporter call [tool_name] query:"[query]"
- **Success Example**: mcporter call MiniMax.web_search query:"OpenClaw cron help"
- **Saved At**: 2026-03-28 23:59
- **Last Verified**: 2026-03-28 23:59
- **Status**: ✅ Active / ❌ Disabled

---

## How to Configure/Update web_search Tool

```bash
# Run the following command to start configuration
openclaw configure web-search --setup

---

Note:

• Config file will be auto-saved as skill updates
• Will prompt re-test if not verified for more than 7 days
• Deleting this file will reset to first-time state

text

---

## 🔄 Complete Workflow

### Scenario A: Cache Exists (After First Use)

User Question → Read Cache → Validate Validity (<7 days) ↓ ↓ ↓ Use Cached Tool ← ✅ Valid → Use Directly ↓ ❌ Expired → Prompt Re-verification

text

**Output Example**:

```markdown
💡 Using configured web_search tool to search...

Tool: MiniMax.web_search
Last Verified: Yesterday

Searching: "OpenClaw Cron Job Configuration"

---

Scenario B: First Time (No Cache)#

text

User Question → Detect Environment → Found No web_search
   ↓               ↓           ↓
First Prompt   ←      ❌         ✅ Has Tool
                       ↓       ↓
                    Ask User → Wait for Choice
                     ↓       ↓
                  Option A  Option B
                   ↓       ↓
                Collect Config  Direct Fallback
                   ↓       ↓
                Save to Memory

Output Example:

markdown

⚠️ No available web_search tool detected

To obtain the latest information, you can choose:

**Option A: Provide Existing Configuration**
If you have other web_search tools, please share the following:
- Tool Name (e.g., "MiniMax.web_search")
- Call Method (e.g., "mcporter call [name] query:'[text]'")
- A Success Example

**Option B: Use Local Mode**
Skip web_search, answer only via CLI and existing knowledge base

Please choose A or B 👇

---

Scenario C: After User Provides Configuration#

text

Receive User Input → Parse Config → Verify Availability → Save to Memory
   ↓              ↓         ↓          ↓
Format Validation  Extract Fields    Test Once  memory/openclaw-env-info.md
   ↓              ↓         ↓          ↓
❌ Invalid Format → Prompt Correction  ✅ Success  Record Timestamp
                            ↓
                      Confirm Save and Continue

Output Example:

markdown

✅ Configuration successfully remembered!

📝 **Saved Information:**
- Tool Name: MiniMax.web_search
- Call Format: mcporter call [tool_name] query:"[query]"
- Status: ✅ Active
- Saved At: 2026-03-28 23:59

💡 Will load automatically next time, no need to ask again.

Now continuing with your request...

---

💬 Interaction Templates#

1. Prompt When Using Cache#

markdown

💡 **Web Search Mode** (Configured)

Using saved web_search tool to find latest information:

**Tool**: `MiniMax.web_search`
**Last Verified**: Today
**Search Scope**: OpenClaw Official Docs + GitHub + Discord

Please wait...

---

2. Prompt When Configuration Expires#

markdown

⚠️ **Web Search Configuration Needs Re-verification**

Last verification was `X` days ago (>7 days), to ensure accuracy:

(A) Re-verify tool configuration
(B) Temporarily fallback to local mode

Or do you want to update to a different tool?

---

3. Fallback to Local Mode#

markdown

⚠️ **Currently in Local Mode** (web_search unavailable)

Will provide assistance through:
- Reading OpenClaw CLI commands
- Analyzing configuration files
- Consulting local knowledge base (`memory/openclaw-knowledge.md`)

💡 **Hint**: For latest information, configure web_search tool and try again.

Here is the answer based on existing knowledge:

---

🛠️ Automation Script Recommendations#

save-websearch-config.py#

python

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Auto-save web_search config to memory/openclaw-env-info.md"""

from datetime import datetime

def save_config(tool_name, call_format, example=None):
    config = {
        "tool_name": tool_name,
        "call_format": call_format,
        "example": example or f"mcporter call {tool_name} query:'test'",
        "saved_at": datetime.now().isoformat(),
        "last_verified": datetime.now().isoformat(),
        "status": "active"
    }

    with open("memory/openclaw-env-info.md", "a") as f:
        f.write("\n### Web Search Tool Configuration\n")
        for k, v in config.items():
            f.write(f"- **{k}**: {v}\n")

    print("✅ Configuration saved to memory/openclaw-env-info.md")

---

validate-websearch.sh#

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Verify if cached configuration is valid

ENV_FILE="memory/openclaw-env-info.md"
LAST_VERIFIED=$(grep "Last Verified" $ENV_FILE | awk '{print $3" "$4}')
CURRENT_DATE=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")

DAYS_OLD=$(( ($(date -d "$CURRENT_DATE" +%s) - $(date -d "$LAST_VERIFIED" +%s)) / 86400 ))

if [ $DAYS_OLD -gt 7 ]; then
    echo "⚠️ Web Search configuration expired ($DAYS_OLD days ago)"
    exit 1
else
    echo "✅ Web Search configuration valid (${DAYS_OLD}days ago verified)"
    exit 0
fi

---

🎯 Trigger Scenarios#

Use this skill when users ask about:

• "Does openclaw support..."
• "Help me use openclaw to do/find/accomplish..."
• "Let me see how openclaw does..."
• "How to configure openclaw..."
• "How to set up openclaw cron jobs"
• "How to create a new agent"
• "How to manage openclaw skills"
• Any implied questions about OpenClaw-related information

---

📚 Knowledge Base Structure#

Maintain the following files under memory/ directory:

memory/openclaw-knowledge.md#

OpenClaw Core Knowledge Base (command reference, configuration options, best practices)

memory/openclaw-env-info.md (New)#

Environment Info Recording (web_search tool config, version info, special configs)

memory/openclaw-commands.md#

OpenClaw Command Quick Reference

---

📖 Common Command Reference#

Basic Commands#

bash

# View OpenClaw status
openclaw status

# View all available commands
openclaw help

# View help for specific command
openclaw [command] --help

Agent Management#

bash

# List all agents
openclaw config get agents.list --json

# View agent details
openclaw config get agents.list | jq '.[] | select(.id == "agent-name")'

Skills Management#

bash

# List all skills
openclaw skills list

# Install skill
openclaw skills install [skill-name]

# Publish skill
cd ~/my-skill
clawhub publish . \
  --slug my-skill \
  --name "My Skill" \
  --version 1.0.0 \
  --changelog "Initial release"

---

🔍 Troubleshooting#

IssueSolutionAsking about web_search every timeCheck if memory/openclaw-env-info.md is saved correctlyCache config invalidManually delete this file to restart configurationweb_search tool call failsRun mcporter list to check if tool is in listNetwork timeoutCheck network connection, configure HTTP_PROXY

---

🔄 Configuration Management Commands#

bash

# View current web_search config
cat memory/openclaw-env-info.md | grep -A10 "Web Search"

# Clear cache (reconfigure)
rm memory/openclaw-env-info.md

# Re-run skill trigger config flow
openclaw run openclaw-howto --setup

---

Last Updated: 2026-03-28

Maintainer: OpenClaw HowTo Skill

Goal: One-time configuration, permanent recall, intelligent fallback

Version: 2.1 (With Cached Memory)