System Watchdog
PassAudited by ClawScan on May 1, 2026.
Overview
System Watchdog is a coherent local resource-monitoring skill that runs a local checker and keeps small state, with no artifact evidence of network exfiltration or destructive actions.
Before installing, be aware that this skill runs a local monitoring script, can see process command lines, and writes a local state file. Its behavior appears purpose-aligned and non-destructive, but you should inspect the script and confirm you are comfortable with local system telemetry being available to the agent.
Findings (3)
Artifact-based informational review of SKILL.md, metadata, install specs, static scan signals, and capability signals. ClawScan does not execute the skill or run runtime probes.
When run, the skill may expose running process names and command-line arguments to the agent’s context; command lines can sometimes contain sensitive flags or tokens.
The checker enumerates running processes and command arguments. This is expected for resource monitoring, but it gives the agent visibility into local process details.
ps_out = run(["ps", "axo", "pid=,ppid=,pcpu=,rss=,etime=,comm=,args="])
Use the skill only if you are comfortable with local process inspection, and avoid placing secrets in process command-line arguments.
Local monitoring history may remain on disk and be reused by later runs of the skill.
The skill stores local state across runs. This is disclosed and needed for delta-based anomaly detection, but users should know system telemetry persists between invocations.
The script persists lightweight state to `~/.openclaw/workspace/state/system-watchdog-state.json` so it can detect **changes since last run**
Review or delete the state file if you do not want monitoring history retained, or set `SYSTEM_WATCHDOG_STATE` to a preferred location.
Users have less provenance information and may not be warned up front about local runtime dependencies.
The registry metadata provides minimal provenance and does not declare required binaries, while the included checker is a local executable script that visibly invokes Python and OS utilities.
Source: unknown; Homepage: none; Required binaries (all must exist): none
Inspect the included script before enabling it and confirm Python 3 and standard system tools are available on the target machine.