clawdbot/docs/tools.md

summary, read_when

summary	read_when
Agent tool surface for Clawdbot (browser, canvas, nodes, cron) replacing clawdbot-* skills	Adding or modifying agent tools Retiring or changing clawdbot-* skills

Tools (Clawdbot)

Clawdbot exposes first-class agent tools for browser, canvas, nodes, and cron. These replace the old clawdbot-* skills: the tools are typed, no shelling, and the agent should rely on them directly.

Tool inventory

bash

Run shell commands in the workspace.

Core parameters:

• command (required)
• yieldMs (auto-background after timeout, default 10000)
• background (immediate background)
• timeout (seconds; kills the process if exceeded, default 1800)
• elevated (bool; run on host if elevated mode is enabled/allowed)
• Need a real TTY? Use the tmux skill.

Notes:

• Returns status: "running" with a sessionId when backgrounded.
• Use process to poll/log/write/kill/clear background sessions.

process

Manage background bash sessions.

Core actions:

• list, poll, log, write, kill, clear, remove

Notes:

• poll returns new output and exit status when complete.
• log supports line-based offset/limit (omit offset to grab the last N lines).

browser

Control the dedicated clawd browser.

Core actions:

• status, start, stop, tabs, open, focus, close
• snapshot (aria/ai)
• screenshot (returns image block + MEDIA:<path>)
• act (UI actions: click/type/press/hover/drag/select/fill/resize/wait/evaluate)
• navigate, console, pdf, upload, dialog

Profile management:

• profiles — list all browser profiles with status
• create-profile — create new profile with auto-allocated port (or cdpUrl)
• delete-profile — stop browser, delete user data, remove from config (local only)
• reset-profile — kill orphan process on profile's port (local only)

Common parameters:

• controlUrl (defaults from config)
• profile (optional; defaults to browser.defaultProfile) Notes:
• Requires browser.enabled=true in ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json.
• Uses browser.controlUrl unless controlUrl is passed explicitly.
• All actions accept optional profile parameter for multi-instance support.
• When profile is omitted, uses browser.defaultProfile (defaults to "clawd").
• Profile names: lowercase alphanumeric + hyphens only (max 64 chars).
• Port range: 18800-18899 (~100 profiles max).
• Remote profiles are attach-only (no start/stop/reset).
• snapshot defaults to ai; use aria for the accessibility tree.
• act requires ref from snapshot --format ai; use evaluate for rare CSS selector needs.
• Avoid act → wait by default; use it only in exceptional cases (no reliable UI state to wait on).
• upload can optionally pass a ref to auto-click after arming.
• upload also supports inputRef (aria ref) or element (CSS selector) to set <input type="file"> directly.

canvas

Drive the node Canvas (present, eval, snapshot, A2UI).

Core actions:

• present, hide, navigate, eval
• snapshot (returns image block + MEDIA:<path>)
• a2ui_push, a2ui_reset

Notes:

• Uses gateway node.invoke under the hood.
• If no node is provided, the tool picks a default (single connected node or local mac node).
• A2UI is v0.8 only (no createSurface); the CLI rejects v0.9 JSONL with line errors.
• Quick smoke: clawdbot canvas a2ui push --text "Hello from A2UI".

nodes

Discover and target paired nodes; send notifications; capture camera/screen.

Core actions:

• status, describe
• pending, approve, reject (pairing)
• notify (macOS system.notify)
• camera_snap, camera_clip, screen_record
• location_get

Notes:

• Camera/screen commands require the node app to be foregrounded.
• Images return image blocks + MEDIA:<path>.
• Videos return FILE:<path> (mp4).
• Location returns a JSON payload (lat/lon/accuracy/timestamp).

image

Analyze an image with the configured image model.

Core parameters:

• image (required path or URL)
• prompt (optional; defaults to "Describe the image.")
• model (optional override)
• maxBytesMb (optional size cap)

Notes:

• Only available when agent.imageModel or agent.imageModelFallbacks is set.
• Uses the image model directly (independent of the main chat model).

cron

Manage Gateway cron jobs and wakeups.

Core actions:

• status, list
• add, update, remove, run, runs
• wake (enqueue system event + optional immediate heartbeat)

Notes:

• add expects a full cron job object (same schema as cron.add RPC).
• update uses { jobId, patch }.

gateway

Restart the running Gateway process (in-place).

Core actions:

• restart (sends SIGUSR1 to the current process; clawdbot gateway/gateway-daemon restart in-place)

Notes:

• Use delayMs (defaults to 2000) to avoid interrupting an in-flight reply.

sessions_list / sessions_history / sessions_send

List sessions, inspect transcript history, or send to another session.

Core parameters:

• sessions_list: kinds?, limit?, activeMinutes?, messageLimit? (0 = none)
• sessions_history: sessionKey, limit?, includeTools?
• sessions_send: sessionKey, message, timeoutSeconds? (0 = fire-and-forget)

Notes:

• main is the canonical direct-chat key; global/unknown are hidden.
• messageLimit > 0 fetches last N messages per session (tool messages filtered).
• sessions_send waits for final completion when timeoutSeconds > 0.
• sessions_send runs a reply‑back ping‑pong (reply REPLY_SKIP to stop; max turns via session.agentToAgent.maxPingPongTurns, 0–5).
• After the ping‑pong, the target agent runs an announce step; reply ANNOUNCE_SKIP to suppress the announcement.

discord

Send Discord reactions, stickers, or polls.

Core actions:

• react (channelId, messageId, emoji)
• reactions (channelId, messageId, optional limit)
• sticker (to, stickerIds, optional content)
• poll (to, question, answers, optional allowMultiselect, durationHours, content)
• permissions (channelId)
• readMessages (channelId, optional limit/before/after/around)
• sendMessage (to, content, optional mediaUrl, replyTo)
• editMessage (channelId, messageId, content)
• deleteMessage (channelId, messageId)
• threadCreate (channelId, name, optional messageId, autoArchiveMinutes)
• threadList (guildId, optional channelId, includeArchived, before, limit)
• threadReply (channelId, content, optional mediaUrl, replyTo)
• pinMessage/unpinMessage (channelId, messageId)
• listPins (channelId)
• searchMessages (guildId, content, optional channelId/channelIds, authorId/authorIds, limit)
• memberInfo (guildId, userId)
• roleInfo (guildId)
• emojiList (guildId)
• roleAdd/roleRemove (guildId, userId, roleId)
• channelInfo (channelId)
• channelList (guildId)
• voiceStatus (guildId, userId)
• eventList (guildId)
• eventCreate (guildId, name, startTime, optional endTime, description, channelId, entityType, location)
• timeout (guildId, userId, optional durationMinutes, until, reason)
• kick (guildId, userId, optional reason)
• ban (guildId, userId, optional reason, deleteMessageDays)

Notes:

• to accepts channel:<id> or user:<id>.
• Polls require 2–10 answers and default to 24 hours.
• reactions returns per-emoji user lists (limited to 100 per reaction).
• discord.actions.* gates Discord tool actions; roles + moderation default to false.
• searchMessages follows the Discord preview spec (limit max 25, channel/author filters accept arrays).
• The tool is only exposed when the current surface is Discord.

Parameters (common)

Gateway-backed tools (canvas, nodes, cron):

• gatewayUrl (default ws://127.0.0.1:18789)
• gatewayToken (if auth enabled)
• timeoutMs

Browser tool:

• controlUrl (defaults from config)

Recommended agent flows

Browser automation:

1. browser → status / start
2. snapshot (ai or aria)
3. act (click/type/press)
4. screenshot if you need visual confirmation

Canvas render:

1. canvas → present
2. a2ui_push (optional)
3. snapshot

Node targeting:

1. nodes → status
2. describe on the chosen node
3. notify / camera_snap / screen_record

Safety

• Avoid system.run (not exposed as a tool).
• Respect user consent for camera/screen capture.
• Use status/describe to ensure permissions before invoking media commands.

How the model sees tools (pi-mono internals)

Tools are exposed to the model in two parallel channels:

1. System prompt text: a human-readable list + guidelines.
2. Provider tool schema: the actual function/tool declarations sent to the model API.

In pi-mono:

• System prompt builder: packages/coding-agent/src/core/system-prompt.ts
  • Builds the Available tools: list from toolDescriptions.
  • Appends skills and project context.
• Tool schemas passed to providers:
  • OpenAI: packages/ai/src/providers/openai-responses.ts (convertTools)
  • Anthropic: packages/ai/src/providers/anthropic.ts (convertTools)
  • Gemini: packages/ai/src/providers/google-shared.ts (convertTools)
• Tool execution loop:
  • Agent loop: packages/ai/src/agent/agent-loop.ts
  • Validates tool arguments and executes tools, then appends toolResult messages.

In Clawdbot:

• System prompt append: src/agents/system-prompt.ts
• Tool list injected via createClawdbotCodingTools() in src/agents/pi-tools.ts