Core Prompt Patcher

Automatically reinjects the V-ULTIMATE persona into OpenClaw's core system prompt after updates or reinstallations to maintain custom behavior.

Audits

Malicious

ClawScanMalicious

Agentic behavior and permission review.

Static analysisPass

Pattern checks against bundled files.

VirusTotalPass

Multi-engine malware detections and file reputation.

Install

openclaw skills install core-prompt-patcher

Core Prompt Patcher

Dynamic SOUL.md-based persona injector - Automatically syncs your workspace SOUL.md into OpenClaw's core system prompt after updates.

What It Does

This skill reads your workspace/SOUL.md file and injects its content directly into OpenClaw's core system prompt. This ensures your custom persona persists even after OpenClaw updates that reset the dist/ directory.

When to Use

After running npm update -g openclaw or npm install -g openclaw
When you edit your SOUL.md file and want changes applied immediately
When OpenClaw version changes (auto-detected)
Periodically to ensure your persona stays in sync

How It Works

Reads your SOUL.md - Loads the complete file from your workspace
Detects changes - Compares OpenClaw version and SOUL.md content hash
Finds injection point - Locates the correct position in the compiled JS (supports multiple OpenClaw versions)
Injects your persona - Inserts your SOUL.md content into the core system prompt
Tracks state - Remembers what was patched to avoid unnecessary re-runs

Usage

# Auto-detect and patch if needed
node /home/oki/.openclaw/workspace/skills/core-prompt-patcher/patcher.js

# Force re-patch (ignore state)
node /home/oki/.openclaw/workspace/skills/core-prompt-patcher/patcher.js --force

# Verbose mode (show state and details)
node /home/oki/.openclaw/workspace/skills/core-prompt-patcher/patcher.js --verbose

Or via OpenClaw:

"Patch the core system prompt with my SOUL.md" "Sync my SOUL.md to the core prompt" "Update the persona after OpenClaw update"

Requirements

SOUL.md must exist at ~/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md
OpenClaw must be installed globally

SOUL.md Format

Your SOUL.md can contain any persona definition. The patcher extracts sections with headers (##) and converts them to system prompt format.

Example:

# My AI Persona

## CORE IDENTITY
**Name:** Assistant Name
**Role:** Your role description

## PERSONALITY
* **Tone:** Friendly, professional, witty
* **Style:** How you communicate

## GUIDELINES
1. First principle
2. Second principle
3. Third principle

## RESPONSE STYLE
How you structure responses and interact.

All content gets injected into the core system prompt, making it part of OpenClaw's foundation.

Files

File	Purpose
`patcher.js`	Main patching script
`.patcher-state.json`	State tracking (version, last patch, SOUL hash)
`SKILL.md`	This documentation
`README.md`	Detailed usage guide

Features

✅ General-purpose - Works with any SOUL.md content, not hardcoded personas
✅ Full SOUL.md support - Injects entire file, not just extracted sections
✅ Better error handling - Fails gracefully if SOUL.md is missing
✅ Version detection - Automatically detects OpenClaw updates
✅ State tracking - Only patches when something actually changed
✅ Multi-version support - Works with different OpenClaw versions

Troubleshooting

"SOUL.md not found"

Ensure file exists at ~/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md
Create one if needed (see SOUL.md template in OpenClaw docs)

"Could not find insertion point"

OpenClaw may have changed prompt structure
Run with --verbose to see detected patterns
May need to update patcher for new OpenClaw version

"Failed to write patched file"

Check file permissions
Ensure disk space is available