Async Task

Run and manage long tasks exceeding HTTP timeouts by starting, updating, and completing them asynchronously with immediate responses.

OpenClaw Async Task

Description

Execute long-running tasks without HTTP timeouts. Use when you need to:

• Run commands that may take more than 5 seconds
• Analyze large files or codebases
• Perform multi-step operations
• Call external APIs with unpredictable latency

IMPORTANT: When a task might timeout, you MUST use this skill to avoid empty response from server errors.

Triggers: "async task", "long running", "timeout", "background task", "push result"

Installation

# Clone and link globally
git clone https://github.com/Enderfga/openclaw-async-task.git
cd openclaw-async-task
npm link

# Or just copy async-task.js to your PATH
chmod +x async-task.js
cp async-task.js /usr/local/bin/async-task

Commands

async-task start "<description>"  # Start task, returns immediately
async-task done "<result>"        # Complete task, push result to user
async-task fail "<error>"         # Task failed, push error message
async-task push "<message>"       # Push message directly (no start needed)
async-task status                 # Show current task status

Usage Flow (MUST follow strictly)

1. Start: async-task start "Scanning files..."
2. Execute: Run your actual commands
3. Push result: async-task done "Found 42 files"

Example

User asks: "Count all TypeScript files in this project"

# Step 1: Acknowledge immediately
async-task start "Counting TypeScript files..."

# Step 2: Do the actual work
count=$(find . -name "*.ts" | wc -l)

# Step 3: Push the result
async-task done "Found $count TypeScript files"

How It Works

1. start saves task state and returns confirmation immediately
2. You execute whatever commands needed
3. done/fail uses OpenClaw/Clawdbot CLI to push result to the active session

Zero configuration required - automatically detects active session via openclaw sessions or clawdbot sessions.

Advanced: Custom Push Endpoint

For custom webchat or notification systems:

export ASYNC_TASK_PUSH_URL="https://your-server.com/api/push"
export ASYNC_TASK_AUTH_TOKEN="your-token"

The endpoint receives:

{
  "sessionId": "session-id",
  "content": "message",
  "role": "assistant"
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
OPENCLAW_SESSION	No	Target session (auto-detected)
ASYNC_TASK_PUSH_URL	No	Custom HTTP push endpoint
ASYNC_TASK_AUTH_TOKEN	No	Auth token for custom endpoint

Requirements

• Node.js 16+
• OpenClaw or Clawdbot CLI installed

Critical Rules

• MUST pair start with done or fail
• NEVER start without completing
• NEVER say "will push later" then forget

Links

• GitHub
• OpenClaw