Shell Execution
Run terminal commands on your machine. Automate scripts, move files, install packages, run builds — all from a chat message.
- Run my backup script now
- Compress all images in my Downloads folder
- Show me what's using the most disk space
Automation Guide
Automate Everything with OpenClaw
OpenClaw isn't just a chatbot — it's your personal automation engine. Here's every tool it has, what it can do, and real-world workflows to get you started.
Built-in tools
What OpenClaw Can Access
These are the core tools OpenClaw ships with out of the box — no extra skills needed.
File System
Read, write, move, rename, and organise files anywhere on your machine.
- Organise my Downloads by file type
- Find all PDFs created this month
- Summarise the document on my Desktop
Web Browser
Search the web, visit pages, extract content, and monitor sites on your behalf.
- What's the weather this week in Miami?
- Find the latest news on OpenAI
- Check if my website is down
Read, draft, and send emails. Summarise your inbox and create smart filters.
- Summarise my unread emails
- Draft a reply to John's last email
- Send the invoice to client@example.com
Calendar
Check availability, create events, reschedule meetings, and set reminders.
- Am I free Thursday afternoon?
- Schedule a 1-hour meeting with Sarah tomorrow at 2pm
- What's on my calendar this week?
Text & Document Creation
Write, edit, and save documents — reports, emails, summaries, code files, and more.
- Write a project summary from my notes
- Turn this bullet list into a professional email
- Create a README for my GitHub repo
Messaging Apps
Send and read messages in WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, or iMessage.
- Send the team the standup summary on Slack
- Forward that Telegram message to my notes
- Alert me on WhatsApp when the build finishes
Web Scraping
Extract structured data from websites — prices, listings, articles, and more.
- Track the price of this product daily
- Scrape all job listings matching "AI engineer"
- Extract the data table from this webpage
Scheduled Tasks
Set OpenClaw to run tasks automatically on a schedule — hourly, daily, or weekly.
- Every morning at 8am, email me a news summary
- Back up my Documents folder every Sunday
- Check my inbox at 9am and flag urgent emails
Workflows
Real-World Automation Examples
Here's how people are using OpenClaw to automate their day-to-day — and the commands that power each workflow.
Morning Briefing
Every morning, OpenClaw checks your calendar, summarises overnight emails, pulls the latest news, and sends everything as a single digest to your phone via WhatsApp.
Every day at 8am, summarise my emails, check my calendar, and send me a morning briefing on WhatsApp
Auto File Organiser
Point OpenClaw at your messy Downloads folder. It reads file types, creation dates, and content, then sorts everything into labelled folders automatically.
Organise my Downloads folder — sort by file type, rename duplicates, and delete anything older than 6 months
Smart Email Responder
OpenClaw monitors your inbox, drafts replies to routine messages (meeting requests, acknowledgements, status updates), and asks you to confirm before sending.
Check my inbox every hour. For any meeting requests, draft a polite reply and ask me to approve it before sending
Research Compiler
Give OpenClaw a topic and it searches the web, pulls key information from multiple sources, and writes a structured summary saved to a file on your desktop.
Research the top 5 AI coding tools in 2026 and save a summary report to my Desktop
Dev Build Monitor
OpenClaw watches your build process, notifies you on Slack when it completes or fails, and if it fails, attaches the relevant error lines for you to review.
Run the build, and if it fails, send me the error output on Slack. If it passes, just say "Build green" in #dev
Weekly Report Generator
Every Friday afternoon, OpenClaw checks your completed calendar events, reviews your sent emails, and generates a weekly activity summary saved as a document.
Every Friday at 4pm, create a summary of what I worked on this week based on my calendar and emails
Skill integrations
Extend with ClawHub Skills
Beyond the built-in tools, ClawHub skills unlock integrations with popular third-party apps and services. Always review permissions carefully before installing.
| Skill / Integration | What it automates | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Skill | Create issues, open PRs, check build status, push commits, and manage repos from chat. | DevGit |
| Notion Skill | Create pages, update databases, search notes, and append content to Notion workspaces. | ProductivityNotes |
| Google Drive Skill | Upload, find, and share files in Google Drive. Create Docs and Sheets from templates. | FilesGoogle |
| Spotify Skill | Play music, create playlists, and control playback based on your mood or task type. | MediaMusic |
| Jira Skill | Create tickets, update status, assign issues, and get sprint summaries via chat. | DevProject Mgmt |
| RSS Feed Monitor | Follow any RSS feed and receive summaries of new posts automatically on a schedule. | NewsResearch |
| Home Assistant Skill | Control smart home devices — lights, thermostats, locks — directly from your messaging app. | Smart HomeIoT |
| Zapier Bridge | Connect OpenClaw to thousands of apps via Zapier — trigger zaps or receive webhooks. | IntegrationWebhooks |
| Shopify Integration | Manage products, orders, customers, and inventory. Automate discount codes, draft orders, and fulfilment updates. Full guide → | E-commerceRetail |
Pro tips
Writing Great Automation Commands
The clearer your instruction, the better OpenClaw performs. Here's how to phrase commands for best results.
💡 Try commands like these:
- Every weekday at 7:30am, check my calendar and email me a summary of today's meetings
- Monitor the price of [product URL] and text me on Telegram if it drops below $50
- Scan my Downloads folder, delete duplicates, and move files older than 3 months to an Archive folder
- Draft a professional reply to the last email from my boss and show it to me before sending
- Search for "machine learning internships 2026" and save a list of links to a file on my Desktop
- Run my tests, and if any fail, open a GitHub issue with the failure details automatically
- Every Sunday evening, summarise what I worked on this week and save it as a weekly log entry