structs-building

Builds and manages structs in Structs — construction, the build-order decision, activation/deactivation, movement, defense assignment, stealth, and generator infusion. Use when building a struct, deciding what to build next, activating/deactivating, moving the Command Ship, setting defenders, enabling stealth, or infusing a generator. Build times range ~17 min (Command Ship) to ~6.4 hr (World Engine) at D=3.

Josh McDougall@abstrct

Install

openclaw skills install @abstrct/structs-building

Building structs: construct and position

Building turns power headroom + charge into capability: extractors/refineries (production), generators (power), and combat/defense structs. Alpha Matter funds power/infusion/trade, not the build tx itself. The mechanics are simple — initiate, prove the work, it auto-activates — so the skill that matters is deciding what to build, in what order, with the power to run it.

Conventions (TX_FLAGS, -- rule, the -D 3 PoW policy, the per-player charge bar, one-tx-at-a-time) are in conventions.md.

When to use it

You have power headroom (and Alpha to infuse if you need more capacity) and want more infrastructure or military.
Starting out and need the first base (Command Ship → extractor → refinery → power).
Adding defense (shields, defenders, PDC) ahead of a refine window or a threat.
Repositioning the Command Ship, assigning defenders, or stealthing a unit.
Converting Alpha to power via generator infusion.

Decisions

Build-order by phase (beginner default):

Command Ship (if you don't have one online) — required for all planet ops and your raid shield. Build in fleet, not on the planet.
Ore Extractor → Ore Refinery — start the production pipeline (structs-production).
Power — a Reactor infusion or a Field Generator so the above stays online (structs-energy).
Defense before your first big refine — at least one shield struct; keep the Command Ship online.
Expand — more defense (Ore Bunkers/OSGs are unlimited now), then military.

Always pre-check power. Initiate needs headroom for BuildDraw only; complete then applies PassiveDraw (sequential — not summed). For equal draws (all current types), peak = one draw, not 2×. Use scripts/power-budget.sh [player-id] --type [struct-type-id] to project PassiveDraw after activation. If it won't fit, raise capacity first or the struct will materialize but never come online.

Advanced considerations:

Defense scaling: Orbital Shield Generator and Ore Bunker are unlimited per player — stack them (power permitting) to drive your planetary shield well past a single set. Everything else is 1 per player.
What to build to kill what: the Battleship is the armour-piercing answer to Tanks and to armoured power generators; planetary structs are tough (6/8/10 HP). Match builds to the threat — see structs-combat.
Decisions live in playbooks/phases/early-game and playbooks/meta/economy-of-force.

Procedure

Pre-check — player online (capacity covers load); BuildDraw headroom; valid open slot (0-3 per ambit, correct ambit for the type); for planet builds: Command Ship online and fleet onStation. Run scripts/power-budget.sh to confirm headroom.
Initiate (CLI prompts — review type, ambit, slot; builds cost charge + power, not Alpha). [operating-ambit] is a lowercase string space/air/land/water, not a bitmask:
text
```
structsd tx structs struct-build-initiate TX_FLAGS -- [player-id] [struct-type-id] [operating-ambit] [slot]
```
Compute (expedition, auto-completes + auto-activates) — this is the documented -y exception.

Approval Block — struct id matches the build; you have power headroom for it to auto-activate; you accept the auto-activation landing minutes-to-hours later even if state shifts.
bash
```
nohup structsd tx structs struct-build-compute -D 3 --from [key] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] \
  > memory/jobs/build-[struct-id].log 2>&1 & echo $! > memory/jobs/build-[struct-id].pid
```
Then move / set defense / stealth as needed (below). No separate activate step — build-complete auto-activates. struct-activate is only for re-activating something you deactivated.

struct-build-compute performs the PoW and auto-submits struct-build-complete; you only call struct-build-complete directly if you hashed externally.

Struct catalog (the numbers that drive decisions)

Full table: knowledge/entities/struct-types. Key current values:

Group	HP	Build limit / player	Notes
Command Ship	6	1	movable; required for planet ops; build in fleet
Other fleet combat (IDs 2-13)	3	unlimited	ambit-locked; Battleship primary is armour-piercing
Ore Extractor / Refinery	6	1 each	the production pipeline
Orbital Shield Generator	6	unlimited	shield-only → stack it
Ore Bunker	6	unlimited	raises planetary shield (raid PoW); does not vault ore; `canDefend: false`
Jamming Satellite / PDC	6	1 each	shield + active defense
Field Generator	8	1	`armour` (DR 1); 2 kW/g
Continental Power Plant	10	1	`armour` (DR 1); 5 kW/g
World Engine	10	1	`armour` (DR 1); 10 kW/g

Charge costs (from your per-player bar): build-initiate 8, trash 8, activate 2, defense-change 1, Command Ship move 3, stealth activate 2. Deactivate (single or batch) is free and works even while offline. Full charge table and PoW decay times: knowledge/mechanics/building.

Build times (initiation → D=3 complete, ~6 s/block)

Struct	Type ID	Build Diff	Wait to D=3
Command Ship	1	200	~17 min
Starfighter	3	250	~20 min
Ore Extractor / Refinery	14 / 15	700	~57 min
PDC	19	2,880	~3.7 hr
Ore Bunker	18	3,600	~4.6 hr
World Engine	22	5,000	~6.4 hr

Initiate early, compute later — the age clock starts at initiation, and difficulty decays from 64 (fresh, impossible) to 1 (aged, instant). Batch-initiate, then compute in the background once it has decayed. One compute at a time per key (two concurrent computes on the same key collide on sequence numbers — one fails silently). Different keys run in parallel. See hashing.md — fresh vs aged anchor.

Manage existing structs

Move (Command Ship only — it's the one movable struct): struct-move TX_FLAGS -- [cmd-ship-id] [new-ambit] [new-slot] [new-location]. The chain rejects struct-move on any other struct.
Defense assignment: struct-defense-set TX_FLAGS -- [defender-id] [protected-id] / struct-defense-clear TX_FLAGS -- [defender-id] (1 charge). Only fleet types (canDefend: true) can be assigned.
Stealth (Stealth Bomber, Submersible): struct-stealth-activate / struct-stealth-deactivate (2 charge to activate).
Deactivate / re-activate: struct-deactivate frees its power (free, and works even while you're offline — a recovery lever); struct-activate brings it back (2 charge, requires you online). Deactivate many at once with struct-deactivate-batch -- [id1,id2,...] (up to 65). Taking an Extractor/Refinery offline halts your pipeline (Tier 1).
Trash (Tier 2, IRREVERSIBLE): struct-trash TX_FLAGS -- [struct-id] permanently destroys a built struct you own to free its slot (costs 8 charge, same as building it). There is no undo and nothing is refunded. To abort an unfinished build instead, use struct-build-cancel.
Generator infuse (Tier 2, IRREVERSIBLE): struct-generator-infuse TX_FLAGS -- [struct-id] [amount]ualpha. Alpha Matter is annihilated into energy — no defusion, and a raided generator takes the infused matter with it. Always escalate; confirm the generator's defense posture first. See structs-energy.

Commands reference

Action	CLI Command
Initiate	`structsd tx structs struct-build-initiate TX_FLAGS -- [player-id] [type-id] [ambit] [slot]`
Compute (PoW + complete + activate)	`structsd tx structs struct-build-compute -D 3 TX_FLAGS_APPROVED -- [struct-id]`
Complete (manual, rare)	`structsd tx structs struct-build-complete TX_FLAGS -- [struct-id] [proof] [nonce]`
Cancel	`structsd tx structs struct-build-cancel TX_FLAGS -- [struct-id]`
Activate / Deactivate	`structsd tx structs struct-activate \| struct-deactivate TX_FLAGS -- [struct-id]`
Deactivate (batch, ≤65)	`structsd tx structs struct-deactivate-batch TX_FLAGS -- [id1,id2,...]`
Trash (destroy built struct, IRREVERSIBLE)	`structsd tx structs struct-trash TX_FLAGS -- [struct-id]`
Move (CMD ship)	`structsd tx structs struct-move TX_FLAGS -- [cmd-ship-id] [ambit] [slot] [location]`
Defense set / clear	`structsd tx structs struct-defense-set \| struct-defense-clear TX_FLAGS -- [defender-id] [protected-id]`
Stealth on / off	`structsd tx structs struct-stealth-activate \| struct-stealth-deactivate TX_FLAGS -- [struct-id]`
Generator infuse (Tier 2)	`structsd tx structs struct-generator-infuse TX_FLAGS -- [struct-id] [amount]ualpha`

TX_FLAGS / TX_FLAGS_APPROVED per conventions.md. Requires structsd on PATH and a signing key.

Verification

structsd query structs struct [id] — status Online (or Built/Offline if power-starved).
Struct appears in the planet/fleet struct list.
After generator infuse: player capacity rises; broadcast ≠ success, so query to confirm.

Errors

Error	Cause	Fix
"required charge X but player had Y"	Per-player charge bar too low	Wait; space actions by their cost (see conventions)
"capacity_exceeded" / power errors	BuildDraw or PassiveDraw won't fit	Infuse / deactivate / wait (structs-energy)
"power overload" / won't go online	Capacity < load + draw	Raise capacity or deactivate something (structs-energy)
"fleet not on station"	Fleet away	Recall via `fleet-move`
"Command Ship required"	CMD ship offline/missing	Build or re-activate it first
"invalid slot" / "invalid ambit"	Slot taken or wrong ambit	Slots 0-3 per ambit; check the type's `possibleAmbit`