116 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
116 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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summary: "What the OpenClaw system prompt contains and how it is assembled"
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read_when:
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- Editing system prompt text, tools list, or time/heartbeat sections
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- Changing workspace bootstrap or skills injection behavior
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title: "System Prompt"
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---
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# System Prompt
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OpenClaw builds a custom system prompt for every agent run. The prompt is **OpenClaw-owned** and does not use the p-coding-agent default prompt.
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The prompt is assembled by OpenClaw and injected into each agent run.
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## Structure
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The prompt is intentionally compact and uses fixed sections:
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- **Tooling**: current tool list + short descriptions.
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- **Safety**: short guardrail reminder to avoid power-seeking behavior or bypassing oversight.
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- **Skills** (when available): tells the model how to load skill instructions on demand.
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- **OpenClaw Self-Update**: how to run `config.apply` and `update.run`.
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- **Workspace**: working directory (`agents.defaults.workspace`).
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- **Documentation**: local path to OpenClaw docs (repo or npm package) and when to read them.
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- **Workspace Files (injected)**: indicates bootstrap files are included below.
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- **Sandbox** (when enabled): indicates sandboxed runtime, sandbox paths, and whether elevated exec is available.
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- **Current Date & Time**: user-local time, timezone, and time format.
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- **Reply Tags**: optional reply tag syntax for supported providers.
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- **Heartbeats**: heartbeat prompt and ack behavior.
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- **Runtime**: host, OS, node, model, repo root (when detected), thinking level (one line).
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- **Reasoning**: current visibility level + /reasoning toggle hint.
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Safety guardrails in the system prompt are advisory. They guide model behavior but do not enforce policy. Use tool policy, exec approvals, sandboxing, and channel allowlists for hard enforcement; operators can disable these by design.
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## Prompt modes
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OpenClaw can render smaller system prompts for sub-agents. The runtime sets a
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`promptMode` for each run (not a user-facing config):
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- `full` (default): includes all sections above.
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- `minimal`: used for sub-agents; omits **Skills**, **Memory Recall**, **OpenClaw
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Self-Update**, **Model Aliases**, **User Identity**, **Reply Tags**,
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**Messaging**, **Silent Replies**, and **Heartbeats**. Tooling, **Safety**,
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Workspace, Sandbox, Current Date & Time (when known), Runtime, and injected
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context stay available.
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- `none`: returns only the base identity line.
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When `promptMode=minimal`, extra injected prompts are labeled **Subagent
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Context** instead of **Group Chat Context**.
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## Workspace bootstrap injection
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Bootstrap files are trimmed and appended under **Project Context** so the model sees identity and profile context without needing explicit reads:
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- `AGENTS.md`
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- `SOUL.md`
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- `TOOLS.md`
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- `IDENTITY.md`
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- `USER.md`
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- `HEARTBEAT.md`
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- `BOOTSTRAP.md` (only on brand-new workspaces)
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Large files are truncated with a marker. The max per-file size is controlled by
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`agents.defaults.bootstrapMaxChars` (default: 20000). Missing files inject a
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short missing-file marker.
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Internal hooks can intercept this step via `agent:bootstrap` to mutate or replace
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the injected bootstrap files (for example swapping `SOUL.md` for an alternate persona).
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To inspect how much each injected file contributes (raw vs injected, truncation, plus tool schema overhead), use `/context list` or `/context detail`. See [Context](/concepts/context).
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## Time handling
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The system prompt includes a dedicated **Current Date & Time** section when the
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user timezone is known. To keep the prompt cache-stable, it now only includes
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the **time zone** (no dynamic clock or time format).
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Use `session_status` when the agent needs the current time; the status card
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includes a timestamp line.
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Configure with:
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- `agents.defaults.userTimezone`
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- `agents.defaults.timeFormat` (`auto` | `12` | `24`)
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See [Date & Time](/date-time) for full behavior details.
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## Skills
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When eligible skills exist, OpenClaw injects a compact **available skills list**
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(`formatSkillsForPrompt`) that includes the **file path** for each skill. The
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prompt instructs the model to use `read` to load the SKILL.md at the listed
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location (workspace, managed, or bundled). If no skills are eligible, the
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Skills section is omitted.
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```
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<available_skills>
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<skill>
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<name>...</name>
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<description>...</description>
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<location>...</location>
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</skill>
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</available_skills>
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```
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This keeps the base prompt small while still enabling targeted skill usage.
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## Documentation
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When available, the system prompt includes a **Documentation** section that points to the
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local OpenClaw docs directory (either `docs/` in the repo workspace or the bundled npm
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package docs) and also notes the public mirror, source repo, community Discord, and
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ClawHub ([https://clawhub.com](https://clawhub.com)) for skills discovery. The prompt instructs the model to consult local docs first
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for OpenClaw behavior, commands, configuration, or architecture, and to run
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`openclaw status` itself when possible (asking the user only when it lacks access).
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