| name | openclaw-safe-uninstall |
| description | Use when an agent must uninstall OpenClaw from a local machine with high safety requirements, especially when the host may contain macOS launchd, Linux systemd, Windows Scheduled Task or Startup-folder installs, multiple OpenClaw profiles, shell injection, source-checkout wrappers, or misleading non-target artifacts that must not be deleted automatically. |
OpenClaw Safe Uninstall
Overview
This skill performs high-risk local OpenClaw uninstall work through a strict sequence:
- scan
- plan
- explicit human approval
- apply
- verify
Do not jump straight to deletion.
Use the deterministic helper script in scripts/openclaw_uninstall.py instead of ad-hoc rm -rf unless the user explicitly wants a manual one-off cleanup.
Hard boundaries
- Never auto-delete anything under
.codex/skills or .agents/skills.
- Never auto-delete anything under protected AI tooling roots such as
.claude/skills, .claude/agents, .claude/commands, .gemini/commands, .opencode/skills, or .config/opencode/skills.
- Never treat
openclaw in a path string as sufficient deletion evidence by itself.
- Known companion traces such as
AutoClaw must be reported as manual_review, not auto-deleted.
- Require explicit user intent before
apply.
- Require all three apply flags:
--yes--acknowledge-risk--confirm "REMOVE OPENCLAW FROM THIS MACHINE"
- If root-owned artifacts remain, report exact manual commands rather than claiming success.
Required workflow
Step 1: Scan
Run:
python3 scripts/openclaw_uninstall.py scan --json
Review:
- detected state directories
- service registrations
- CLI/package installs
- shell injection
- manual review artifacts
- excluded paths
Step 2: Build the uninstall plan
Run:
python3 scripts/openclaw_uninstall.py plan --json
Explain:
- what will be deleted automatically
- what requires privilege
- what is intentionally excluded
- what remains manual review only
Step 3: Apply only with explicit approval
Run:
python3 scripts/openclaw_uninstall.py apply \
--yes \
--acknowledge-risk \
--confirm "REMOVE OPENCLAW FROM THIS MACHINE" \
--json
If the user wants rehearsal first, add --dry-run.
Step 4: Verify
Run:
python3 scripts/openclaw_uninstall.py verify --json
Summarize:
- removed artifacts
- remaining privileged artifacts
- remaining manual review artifacts
- exact next-step commands if anything remains
Platform notes
- macOS:
- detect LaunchAgents like
ai.openclaw.gateway, ai.openclaw.<profile>, and legacy com.openclaw.*
- detect shell completion injection
- detect optional app bundle paths
- Linux:
- detect
systemd --user units such as openclaw-gateway[-<profile>].service
- detect legacy unit names like
clawdbot-gateway and moltbot-gateway
- detect wrapper installs and global package paths
- Windows:
- detect Scheduled Task naming conventions
- detect Startup-folder fallback launchers
- detect
gateway.cmd and node.cmd in the state dir
- Neighboring AI tooling ecosystems:
- protect Claude Code subagent/custom-command directories
- protect Gemini CLI custom-command directories
- protect OpenCode skill directories and compatibility skill roots
References
Validation
Before you claim the uninstall plan is correct, run:
python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v
