| name | wechat-article-extractor |
| description | Extract full text and figures from a WeChat public account (微信公众号) article URL and save as a clean Markdown file. Handles WeChat's bot-detection by finding mirror sites automatically. Use when the user shares an mp.weixin.qq.com URL and asks to save, archive, extract, or read the article. |
WeChat Article Extractor
Extract WeChat public account articles to clean Markdown. WeChat blocks headless browsers (环境异常 CAPTCHA) and web_fetch gets empty JS-rendered pages, so the reliable approach is: find a mirror on aggregator sites, then extract content.
Scope & Boundaries
This skill handles:
- Extracting article text, images, and metadata from WeChat article URLs
- Finding mirror copies when direct access is blocked
- Converting HTML to clean Markdown
- Saving output as
.md files
This skill does NOT handle:
- Publishing or syncing to note-taking apps (that's the user's workflow)
- Batch extraction of multiple articles (handle one at a time)
- WeChat login, authentication, or account management
- Translating article content
Inputs
| Input | Required | Description |
|---|
| WeChat URL | Yes | An mp.weixin.qq.com link |
| Output filename | No | Defaults to kebab-case of article title |
| Save location | No | Defaults to /tmp/ |
Outputs
- A Markdown file with full article content, images, and metadata header
- Console confirmation with file path and character count
Workflow
Step 1 — Try direct fetch (fast path)
web_fetch(url, extractMode="markdown", maxChars=50000)
Success check: If result rawLength > 500 AND content has real paragraphs (not just nav/footer text) → skip to Step 4 Option B.
Failure indicators: rawLength < 500, content is navigation/boilerplate only, or contains "环境异常" → go to Step 2.
Step 2 — Extract article metadata
From the URL or any partial content, identify:
- Article title (from
<title> or og:title)
- Author / account name (from og:description or page content)
If metadata is unavailable from the URL, ask the user for the article title.
Step 3 — Search for mirrors
web_search("<article title> <author/account name>")
Mirror site priority (ranked by content quality and reliability):
- 53ai.com — full content, reliable formatting
- mp.ofweek.com — tech articles
- juejin.cn — developer content
- woshipm.com — product/business content
- 36kr.com — tech/business news
If title is unknown, try: web_search("site:53ai.com <keywords from URL path>")
If no mirrors found: Try the Chrome Extension Relay fallback (see Fallback section).
Step 4 — Download and extract
Option A — Mirror found:
curl -s -L "<mirror_url>" -o /tmp/wechat-article.html
Verify file size > 10KB (smaller usually means redirect/error page).
Run the extraction script:
python3 <skill_dir>/scripts/extract_wechat.py /tmp/wechat-article.html /tmp/<output-filename>.md
Replace <skill_dir> with the directory containing this SKILL.md.
Option B — Direct fetch succeeded (Step 1):
Format the fetched markdown with the header template below.
Step 5 — Verify output quality
Check the output file:
- Has a title (not "WeChat Article")
- Has multiple paragraphs of real content
- Images have valid URLs (not broken/placeholder)
- No excessive HTML artifacts remaining
If output looks truncated or garbled, try a different mirror site (return to Step 3).
Step 6 — Deliver to user
Report:
- File saved at:
<path>
- Title:
<title>
- Size:
<char count> characters
- Image count:
<N> images
If the user wants it saved to a specific location (e.g., Obsidian), follow their instructions for the final copy.
Markdown Header Template
Every extracted article must include this header:
# <title>
**作者：** <author>
**来源：** 微信公众号「<account_name>」
**日期：** <date>
**原文：** <original_wechat_url>
---
> **摘要：** <1-2 sentence summary generated from content>
---
Fields that cannot be determined should be omitted (don't write "Unknown").
Fallback: Chrome Extension Relay
If no mirror exists (very new or niche article):
Tell the user (in Chinese if they wrote in Chinese):
"没有找到镜像。请在 Chrome 中打开这篇文章，然后点击 OpenClaw Browser Relay 扩展图标（badge 亮起），我就能直接读取内容。"
Then use:
browser(action="snapshot", profile="chrome")
Extract content from the snapshot and format with the header template.
Error Handling
| Problem | Detection | Action |
|---|
| WeChat blocks access | rawLength < 500 or "环境异常" | Search for mirrors (Step 3) |
| No mirrors found | Search returns 0 relevant results | Try Chrome Relay fallback |
| Mirror content truncated | Output < 1000 chars when original is long | Try next mirror site |
| Script extraction fails | Python error or empty output | Fall back to web_fetch on mirror URL |
| Images broken | Image URLs return 404 | Note in output; images may expire |
Success Criteria
- Output Markdown contains the full article text (not truncated)
- Title and metadata are correctly extracted
- Images are preserved with working URLs
- No HTML artifacts or navigation junk in output
- File is saved at the specified location
Notes
- WeChat image URLs from mirrors (e.g., api.ibos.cn proxy) are generally valid and render in most Markdown viewers
- Mirror sites typically publish within minutes of the original
- The
· · · section dividers are WeChat style — preserve them
- For very long articles (>50K chars), the script handles them fine but
web_fetch may truncate
Configuration
No persistent configuration required. The skill uses standard OpenClaw tools (web_fetch, web_search, exec) and optionally browser for the Chrome Relay fallback.
Required tools:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|
web_fetch | Direct article fetch attempt |
web_search | Mirror site discovery |
exec | Run curl and Python extraction script |
Optional tools:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|
browser | Chrome Extension Relay fallback |
System dependencies:
| Dependency | Purpose |
|---|
| Python 3.8+ | Extraction script |
| curl | Mirror page download |
