Install
openclaw skills install claude-code-taskLaunch Claude Code async in background with automatic delivery to Telegram/WhatsApp. Use for coding, refactoring, codebase research, file generation, and complex multi-step automations. NOT for quick one-off questions or real-time interactive tasks. Includes strict thread-safe routing + E2E operator validation workflow.
openclaw skills install claude-code-taskRun Claude Code in background — zero OpenClaw tokens while it works. Results delivered to WhatsApp or Telegram automatically.
Claude Code is NOT just a coding tool. It's a full-powered AI agent with web search, file access, and deep reasoning. Use it for ANY complex task:
Give it prompts the same way you'd talk to a smart human — natural language, focused on WHAT you need, not HOW to do it.
NOT for:
When user asks things like:
it means run the full E2E operator validation flow for run-task.py routing + notifications.
It does NOT mean pytest/unittest discovery by default.
Required behavior:
--validate-only).nohup and file-based prompt.Use the canonical protocol: references/testing-protocol.md and the section below Full E2E Test (reference).
run-task.py is asynchronous orchestration.
After a successful nohup launch, the correct behavior is:
Do not keep waiting in the same turn for Claude Code completion. Do not poll and then summarize in the same turn unless user explicitly asked for active live monitoring.
Anti-pattern:
run-task.py and keep responding as if completion should appear in this turn.Correct pattern:
run-task.py → acknowledge launch → stop → wait for wake.Never claim "launched" until you have positive launch proof.
Required proof checklist (all):
nohup command returned a PID,ps -p <PID>),🔧 Starting Claude Code... (or equivalent startup marker),--validate-only) for Telegram thread runs.If launch fails with ❌ Invalid routing:
sessions_list,--notify-channel telegram --notify-thread-id <id> --notify-session-id <uuid>,Do not send "Claude Code ушёл в работу" before this gate is satisfied.
Before launching Claude Code, post a short plan in chat:
If staged: explicitly say this run is "phase 1" and what signal will decide phase 2.
For Telegram thread runs, run-task.py is designed to either route correctly or fail immediately.
Resolve the current runtime session key first (source of truth), then launch with it.
sessions_list (or existing runtime context)agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID> → use it directly in --session--session from chat_id/sender id heuristics--session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" for thread tasksagent:main:telegram:user:<id> for thread tasks❌ Invalid routing--telegram-routing-mode auto:
agent:main:telegram:user:<id>) unless explicitly forced--telegram-routing-mode thread-only--telegram-routing-mode allow-non-thread or --allow-main-telegramThis is intentional: abort fast > silent misroute.
⚠️ ALWAYS launch via nohup — exec timeout (2 min) will kill the process!
⚠️ NEVER put the task text directly in the shell command — quotes, special characters, and newlines WILL break argument parsing. Always save the prompt to a file first, then use $(cat file).
# Step 1: Save prompt to a temp file
write /tmp/cc-prompt.txt with your task text
# Step 2: Launch with $(cat ...)
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/my-project \
--session "agent:main:whatsapp:group:<JID>" \
--timeout 900 \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
The --session key (e.g. agent:main:whatsapp:group:120363425246977860@g.us) is used to auto-detect the WhatsApp target.
# ALWAYS use the current thread session key from context:
# agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/my-project \
--session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" \
--timeout 900 \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
Do NOT use
agent:main:telegram:user:<id>for thread tests/runs. That routes to main chat scope and can drift from the source thread.
When Marvin is used in Telegram Threaded Mode, each thread has its own session key like agent:main:main:thread:369520.
Fail-safe routing (NEW): run-task.py now enforces strict thread routing.
--session contains :thread:<id>, the script refuses to start unless Telegram target + thread session UUID are resolved.sessions_list when possible.~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/*-topic-<thread_id>.jsonl.--notify-session-id mismatches the session key, it exits with error.Use --notify-session-id to wake the exact thread session:
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/my-project \
--session "agent:main:main:thread:369520" \
--timeout 900 \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
All 5 notification types route to the DM thread when --session key contains :thread:<id> ✅
--notify-session-id — optional override. Usually auto-resolved from session metadata/files.
--notify-thread-id — optional override. Usually auto-extracted from --session.
--reply-to-message-id — optional debug field; avoid for DM thread routing.
--validate-only — resolve routing and exit (no Claude run). Use this to verify thread launch args safely.
--notify-channel — optional channel hint (telegram/whatsapp); target is always auto-resolved from session metadata
--timeout — max runtime in seconds (default: 7200 = 2 hours)
--completion-mode — optional legacy hint (single default, iterate if explicitly needed)
--max-iterations — optional budget hint when using iterate mode
--trace-live — emit live technical trace markers into the same chat/thread (debug mode)
Always redirect stdout/stderr to a log file
Research/complex prompts contain single quotes, double quotes, markdown, backticks — any of these break shell argument parsing. Saving to a file and reading with $(cat ...) avoids all quoting issues.
The detect_channel() function determines where to send notifications:
@g.us (WhatsApp group JID), WhatsApp is used❌ Invalid routing instead of silent misroutedef detect_channel(session_key):
if NOTIFY_CHANNEL_OVERRIDE and NOTIFY_TARGET_OVERRIDE:
return NOTIFY_CHANNEL_OVERRIDE, NOTIFY_TARGET_OVERRIDE
jid = extract_group_jid(session_key)
if jid:
return "whatsapp", jid
return None, None
┌─────────────┐ nohup ┌──────────────┐
│ Agent │ ──────────────▶│ run-task.py │
│ (OpenClaw) │ │ (detached) │
└─────────────┘ └──────┬───────┘
│
▼
┌──────────────┐
│ Claude Code │ ← runs on Max subscription ($0 API)
│ (-p mode) │
└──────┬───────┘
│
┌───────────┼───────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
Every 60s On complete On error/timeout
┌────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ ⏳ ping │ │ ✅ result │ │ ❌/⏰/💥 error│
│ silent │ │ channel │ │ channel │
└────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────────┘
sessions_send (agent wakes up)message(send) to WhatsApp group--completion-mode is optional (default single) and acts as a hint:
single = one run → continuation summary → stopiterate = continuation summary + exactly one next iteration when gaps remainWake payload now frames continuation as the same ongoing assistant conversation (same agent identity, same session, same history) after Claude Code replies to the previous launch.
In iterate mode the continuation flow is:
run_id and wake_id in wake payload.run-task.py keeps per-project state in /tmp/cc-orchestrator-state-<hash>.json.--trace-live), skipped wakes are announced as [TRACE][TECH][TELEGRAM][WAKE][SKIP].[TRACE][AGENT][WAKE_RECEIVED] ...[TRACE][AGENT][DECISION] continue|stop ...<blockquote expandable> for prompt; via send_telegram_direct; includes Resume: <session-id|new>)send_telegram_direct)/tmp/cc-notify-{pid}.py; CC calls file; prefix "📡 🟢 CC: " auto-added)<blockquote expandable> for result; via send_telegram_direct)openclaw agent --deliver ✅ (same session continuation is visible to user)send_telegram_direct() is the core mechanism for all thread-targeted notifications from external scripts. It calls api.telegram.org directly with message_thread_id — bypasses the OpenClaw message tool entirely (which cannot route to DM threads from outside a session context).
Fallback — if agent wake fails (session locked/busy): already_sent=True is set after the direct send, so no duplicate is sent.
WhatsApp: Raw result sent directly (human sees it immediately) + sessions_send wakes agent for analysis.
Telegram: Result sent via send_telegram_direct → then agent is woken via openclaw agent --session-id --deliver so the continuation turn is visible in chat by default. This is the intended “same agent, same conversation” behavior after Claude completion.
Why not sessions_send for Telegram? sessions_send is blocked in the HTTP /tools/invoke deny list by architectural design. The openclaw agent CLI bypasses this limitation.
--timeout 7200 → after 7200s: SIGTERM → wait 10s → SIGKILLtry/except wraps entire main → crash notification always sentskills/claude-code-task/pids/ls skills/claude-code-task/pids/Telegram supports silent notifications (no sound).
Current policy: all Claude Code notifications are silent in Telegram:
silent=Truesilent=True📡 🟢 CC) → silent=Truesilent=Truesilent=TrueWhatsApp does NOT support silent mode — the flag is ignored for WhatsApp.
Telegram has two distinct thread models. The key difference for run-task.py is how to route messages to the thread.
The core problem with external scripts:
message tool's threadId parameter is Discord-specific — ignored for Telegram"chatId:topic:threadId" is rejected by the message tool's target resolvercurrentThreadTs) works ONLY inside active sessions — external scripts have no session contextsend_telegram_direct() bypasses the message tool entirely; calls api.telegram.org directly with message_thread_idDM Threaded Mode (bot-user private chat with threads):
send_telegram_direct(chat_id, text, thread_id=..., parse_mode=...) ✅thread_id auto-extracted from session key *:thread:<id> by extract_thread_id()parse_mode="HTML" with <blockquote expandable> for prompt/resultparse_mode=None (plain text, avoid Markdown parse errors)parse_mode="Markdown" trap: finish messages contain **text** (CommonMark bold); Telegram MarkdownV1 rejects this with HTTP 400 — messages silently don't arrivereplyTo trap: combining replyTo + message_thread_id → Telegram rejects request → fallback strips thread_id → message lands in main chatopenclaw agent --session-id <uuid> --deliver publishes the wake turn to chat so the user sees the same ongoing assistant conversation.Forum Groups (supergroup with Forum topics enabled):
send_telegram_direct() approach works; message_thread_id is standard Bot API for Forum topics*:thread:<id>Claude Code mid-task updates:
/tmp/cc-notify-{pid}.py to disk before launching Claude Code[Automation context: ... python3 /tmp/cc-notify-{pid}.py 'msg' ...]"📡 🟢 CC: " to all messages; cleaned up in finally block| Event | Emoji | WhatsApp delivery | Telegram delivery | DM thread? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | 🚀 | send_channel (Markdown) | send_telegram_direct (HTML, silent) | ✅ message_thread_id |
| Heartbeat | ⏳ | send_channel (Markdown) | send_telegram_direct (plain, silent) | ✅ message_thread_id |
| CC mid-task update | 📡 | — | /tmp/cc-notify-{pid}.py (Bot API, silent) | ✅ message_thread_id |
| Success | ✅ | send_channel + sessions_send | send_telegram_direct (HTML) + openclaw agent | ✅ message_thread_id |
| Error | ❌ | send_channel + sessions_send | send_telegram_direct (HTML) + openclaw agent | ✅ message_thread_id |
| Timeout | ⏰ | send_channel + sessions_send | send_telegram_direct (HTML) + openclaw agent | ✅ message_thread_id |
| Crash | 💥 | send_channel + sessions_send | send_telegram_direct (HTML) + openclaw agent | ✅ message_thread_id |
| Agent continuation reply | 🤖 | — | openclaw agent wake (--deliver) | ✅ visible in chat |
-p "task" — print mode (non-interactive, outputs result)--dangerously-skip-permissions — no confirmation prompts--verbose --output-format stream-json — real-time activity tracking for heartbeatsexec has 2 min default timeout → kills long taskspty:true, output has escape codes, hard to parsenohup + -p mode: clean, detached, reliableClaude Code needs a git repo. run-task.py auto-inits if missing.
run-task.py uses Optional[X] from typing (not X | None) for compatibility with Python 3.9. The union syntax (X | None) requires Python 3.10+.
# Correct (3.9+)
from typing import Optional
def foo(x: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]: ...
# Would break on 3.9
def foo(x: str | None) -> str | None: ...
Use this when you need to validate the entire pipeline in one run:
/tmp/cc-notify-<pid>.py)openclaw agent --session-id ... --deliver) and appears visibly in chatFor interactive/iterate-mode testing, do exactly one continuation step after phase 1.
Reason: keeps regression runs fast (minutes, not 20+ minutes) while still validating the critical iterate path.
Between ✅ Claude Code completed and any next 🚀 Claude Code started, there must be a user-facing analysis message in the thread.
sleep 70) to trigger wrapper heartbeatIf a Claude Code task is expected to run longer than ~1 minute, explicitly ask Claude to send intermediate progress updates during execution.
Recommended wording to include in prompt:
For thread-safe Telegram runs, updates should use the injected automation script (/tmp/cc-notify-<pid>.py).
cat > /tmp/cc-full-test-prompt.txt << 'EOF'
# ~10 lines, but total >4500 chars:
# 1) notify script now
# 2) create test file with repeated text (to exceed 4500 chars)
# 3) sleep 70 + notify script again
# 4) run several shell commands
# 5) return short structured report
EOF
python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-full-test-prompt.txt)" \
--project /tmp/cc-e2e-project \
--session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" \
--validate-only
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-full-test-prompt.txt)" \
--project /tmp/cc-e2e-project \
--session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" \
--timeout 900 \
> /tmp/cc-full-test.log 2>&1 &
/tmp/cc-full-test.log/tmp/cc-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.txt~/.openclaw/claude_sessions.jsonnohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
-t "Create a Python CLI tool that converts markdown to HTML with syntax highlighting. Save as convert.py" \
-p ~/projects/md-converter \
-s "agent:main:whatsapp:group:120363425246977860@g.us" \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/my-project \
--session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" \
--timeout 1800 \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/my-project \
--session "agent:main:main:thread:369520" \
--timeout 1800 \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
# thread_id auto-extracted from session key
# target + session UUID auto-resolved from API/local session files
run-task.py automatically creates an on-disk notification script before launching Claude Code, so CC can send progress updates without seeing the bot token in the prompt (which triggers safety refusals):
# Just write a normal task prompt — run-task.py handles the rest
cat > /tmp/cc-prompt.txt << 'EOF'
STEP 1: Write analysis to /tmp/report.txt (600+ words)...
After step 1, send a progress notification using the script from the
automation context above: python3 /tmp/cc-notify-<PID>.py "Step 1 done."
STEP 2: Write summary to /tmp/summary.txt...
EOF
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/my-project \
--session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" \
--timeout 1800 \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
# run-task.py writes /tmp/cc-notify-{pid}.py before launch
# Prepends "[Automation context: use python3 /tmp/cc-notify-{pid}.py 'msg']" to task
# Claude Code calls the file; prefix "📡 🟢 CC: " auto-added; file cleaned up on exit
⚠️ Never embed bot tokens or curl commands in the task prompt — Claude Code correctly identifies hardcoded tokens + external API calls as prompt injection and refuses. Use the on-disk script pattern above instead.
Quick reference: launching from a Telegram DM thread (minimal mode)
# 1) Validate routing first (no Claude run) python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \ --task "probe" \ --project ~/projects/x \ --session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" \ --validate-only # 2) Real launch (only 3 required params) nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \ --task "$(cat /tmp/prompt.txt)" \ --project ~/projects/x \ --session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" \ --timeout 900 \ > /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
- Required:
--task,--project,--session
:thread:<id> are blocked by default (❌ Unsafe routing blocked)--telegram-routing-mode allow-non-thread.
THREAD_IDis auto-extracted from session key- Target + session UUID are auto-resolved (API, then local session-file fallback)
- If routing is inconsistent/unresolved, script exits with
❌ Invalid routingbefore run- All notifications from run-task (launch/heartbeat/result) stay on the source thread ✅
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
-t "Refactor the entire auth module to use JWT tokens" \
-p ~/projects/backend \
-s "agent:main:whatsapp:group:120363425246977860@g.us" \
--timeout 3600 \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
Claude Code sessions can be resumed to continue previous conversations. This is useful for:
--resume takes the Claude Code session ID, not the run_id or wake_id.
Correct source — look for this line in the run log:
📝 Session registered: <session-id-here>
That is the value to pass as --resume <session-id>.
Do NOT use:
run_id from wake payloadwake_id from wake payloadWhen in doubt: skip --resume and start fresh.
When a task completes, the session ID is automatically captured and saved to the registry (~/.openclaw/claude_sessions.json).
To resume a session, use the --resume flag:
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/my-project \
--session "SESSION_KEY" \
--resume <session-id> \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
Use --session-label to give sessions human-readable names for easier tracking:
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/cc-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/my-project \
--session "SESSION_KEY" \
--session-label "Research on Jackson Berler" \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
The agent can read the session registry to find recent sessions:
# Python code (for agent automation)
from session_registry import list_recent_sessions, find_session_by_label
# List sessions from last 72 hours
recent = list_recent_sessions(hours=72)
for session in recent:
print(f"{session['session_id']}: {session['label']} ({session['status']})")
# Find session by label (fuzzy match)
session = find_session_by_label("Jackson")
if session:
print(f"Found: {session['session_id']}")
Or manually inspect the registry:
cat ~/.openclaw/claude_sessions.json
Resume when:
Start fresh when:
If a session ID is invalid or expired:
/tmp/cc-run.log for detailsCommon resume failures:
Step 1: Initial research
# Save prompt
write /tmp/research-prompt.txt with "Research the codebase architecture for project X"
# Launch task (Telegram thread-safe example)
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/research-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/project-x \
--session "agent:main:main:thread:<THREAD_ID>" \
--session-label "Project X architecture research" \
> /tmp/cc-run.log 2>&1 &
Step 2: Check result and find session ID
# Session ID printed in stderr: "📝 Session registered: <id>"
tail /tmp/cc-run.log
# Or read from registry
cat ~/.openclaw/claude_sessions.json | grep "Project X"
Step 3: Follow-up implementation
# Save follow-up prompt
write /tmp/implement-prompt.txt with "Based on your research, implement the authentication module"
# Resume session
nohup python3 {baseDir}/run-task.py \
--task "$(cat /tmp/implement-prompt.txt)" \
--project ~/projects/project-x \
--session "SESSION_KEY" \
--resume <session-id-from-step-1> \
--session-label "Project X auth implementation" \
> /tmp/cc-run2.log 2>&1 &
When the agent wake / continue chain fails (no agent summary, wrong thread, session not resolved, iterative loop stalls, etc.), see the dedicated guide:
Includes a Quick Triage Checklist (60 seconds) plus detailed items: agent not waking,
double messages, wrong thread routing, UUID resolution failures, session-locked wake,
❌ Invalid routing, Telegram HTTP 400 silent drops, mid-task update failures, stale/duplicate wake skips, and more.
This is the version validated in live Telegram thread tests.
openclaw agent --deliver) so continuation turns are visible in chat.wake_id/output dedupe.--trace-live emits technical milestones (RUN_TASK START/COMPLETE, WAKE, WAKE SKIP) into the same thread.--resume must use the Claude session id from 📝 Session registered: ... in the run log.sub:<N> (example: 🟢 CC (3min) | sub:1 | 12K tok | 18 calls | 🔧 Bash).output_tokens is aggregated from all assistant stream messages (main agent + subagents).last_activity / last tool signal is unified: whichever actor (main or subagent) emitted the latest tool event is shown.tool_use id add, matching tool_result/task_notification remove).skills/claude-code-task/
├── SKILL.md # This file
├── WAKE-TROUBLESHOOTING.md # Wake/continue chain diagnostics
├── run-task.py # Async runner with notifications
├── session_registry.py # Session metadata storage
└── pids/ # PID files for running tasks (auto-managed)