claw-agent-creator-archit

name

claw-agent-creator-archit

description

Create new OpenClaw agents for Arch's multi-agent system. Use this skill when asked to create, add, or set up a new OpenClaw agent, or when adding an agent to the system defined in ~/.openclaw/. Covers the full lifecycle: directory creation, workspace files (SOUL.md, IDENTITY.md, etc.), openclaw.json config, Telegram routing (bindings + groups + mention patterns), cron job creation with proper prompt engineering, and gateway restart. Includes hard-won lessons from building the Wire (News) agent — the first non-default agent in the system. Also use when modifying existing agent configs, adding cron jobs to agents, or debugging agent routing issues.

OpenClaw Agent Creator

Create and configure agents for Arch's OpenClaw multi-agent system at ~/.openclaw/.

System Context

• Owner: Archit (Arch), Linux user archit, timezone America/Denver
• Gateway: Single process on port 18789 managing all agents
• Bot: One Telegram bot shared across all agents — routing determines which agent handles which chat
• Existing agents: Check ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json → agents.list[] for current roster
• Implementation history: See ~/.openclaw/implementation-docs/ for the Wire agent reference implementation

Agent Creation Workflow

1. Gather Requirements

Before creating anything, clarify with Arch:

• Agent name and ID (lowercase, no spaces for ID)
• Role and responsibilities (specific, not vague)
• Model tier: cheap (Kimi K2.5 only) or full cascade (include Claude Sonnet)
• Whether it needs a Telegram group for Q&A
• Whether it needs cron jobs (what schedule, what tasks)
• Whether heartbeat should be enabled or disabled

2. Stop the Gateway

openclaw gateway stop

MANDATORY before editing openclaw.json or cron/jobs.json. The gateway actively writes to jobs.json (updating job state after each cron run). Editing while the gateway runs causes race conditions and data loss.

3. Backup Config

cp ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)

4. Create Directories

mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace-<agent_id>/memory
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent_id>/agent

NEVER reuse agentDir across agents — causes auth/session collisions.

5. Write Workspace Files

Use templates from assets/templates/ as starting points. Every agent needs:

File	Purpose	Required
SOUL.md	Personality, role, responsibilities, behavioral modes	Yes
IDENTITY.md	Quick-reference card (name, role, emoji)	Yes
USER.md	About Arch (copy from any existing agent workspace)	Yes
AGENTS.md	Workspace rules (boot sequence, memory, safety)	Yes
HEARTBEAT.md	Periodic task checklist (or comment if disabled)	Yes

SOUL.md is the most important file. Be specific about responsibilities. Include behavioral modes if the agent operates differently in different contexts (e.g., briefing mode vs chat mode).

6. Edit openclaw.json — Agent Entry

Add to agents.list[]. See references/config-schema.md for all valid fields.

Minimal entry:

{
  "id": "<agent_id>",
  "name": "<Display Name>",
  "workspace": "/home/archit/.openclaw/workspace-<agent_id>",
  "agentDir": "/home/archit/.openclaw/agents/<agent_id>/agent",
  "identity": { "name": "<Display Name>" }
}

Common additions:

• "model" — Override the default model cascade. Exclude expensive models for worker agents.
• "heartbeat": { "every": "0" } — Disable heartbeat for cron-only agents.
• "groupChat": { "mentionPatterns": ["@<id>", "@<Name>"] } — Enable @mentions in groups.

Only ONE agent should have "default": true (currently Fossil). The default agent receives all unrouted messages.

7. Edit openclaw.json — Telegram Routing (if needed)

THREE separate config changes are required. Missing any one causes silent failures. See references/telegram-routing.md for the full explanation.

1. Group config in channels.telegram.groups:

   "-100XXXXXXXXXX": { "requireMention": false }
   

2. Binding in bindings[]:

   { "agentId": "<id>", "match": { "channel": "telegram", "peer": { "kind": "group", "id": "-100XXXXXXXXXX" } } }
   

3. Mention patterns on the agent entry (already done in step 6 if groupChat was added).

8. Create Cron Jobs (if needed)

Edit cron/jobs.json. Every cron job prompt MUST include:

• Dynamic group ID resolution preamble (NEVER hardcode Telegram group IDs):

  FIRST: Resolve your Telegram group ID by running:
  jq -r '.bindings[] | select(.agentId == "<agent_id>") | .match.peer.id' ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
  Use the output as the target for all Telegram messages in this task.
  

• Date injection: $(date '+%A, %B %d, %Y') after the preamble
• Explicit constraints: source allowlists, recency rules, format templates
• Delivery instructions: use target='<AGENT_GROUP_ID>' placeholder (resolved by the preamble)

This self-healing pattern ensures cron jobs survive Telegram group ID migrations. See references/prompt-patterns.md for full patterns and references/telegram-routing.md for why this matters.

Critical: If copying files or prompts from another agent's workspace, grep for hardcoded paths and update them.

9. Restart Gateway and Verify

openclaw gateway start

Verify in logs:

• Agent registered: agent registered: <id>
• Messages route correctly: lane enqueue: lane=session:agent:<id>:...

If messages to a Telegram group show skip: no-mention, the channels.telegram.groups config is missing (see references/bugs-and-pitfalls.md).

Reference Files

File	When to Read
references/config-schema.md	When writing agent config or cron jobs
references/telegram-routing.md	When setting up Telegram group routing
references/prompt-patterns.md	When writing cron job prompts
references/bugs-and-pitfalls.md	When debugging issues or before any config edit

Template Files

Starter templates for workspace files are in assets/templates/. Copy and customize per agent.