auto-prd-hunter
Scan platforms for user complaints, extract pain points, and produce a structured PRD + OpenClaw task JSON.
Important Notice
⚠️ No Fabrication Policy: This skill ONLY returns results from real API searches. If no API results are found, it returns an error instead of generating mock/fabricated data.
Commands
All operations use the packaged CLI script:
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/search.py search-pain-points --keyword "<keyword>" --max-results 8
Workflow
- Receive a keyword.
- Run the search command to fetch real complaints from APIs.
- Parse JSON from stdout.
- Extract up to 5 pain points (id, title, severity, context, sources).
- Invent product name and summary.
- Write user stories and MVP features.
- Derive openclaw_tasks.
- Output ONLY the final JSON (no markdown fences, no greetings).
Constraints
- MUST run the CLI script. Do NOT fabricate results.
- If APIs return no results, return error JSON:
{"status":"no_results","error":"No API results found"}
- Final reply MUST be ONLY valid JSON.
- No markdown fences (no ```json), no greetings, no explanations.
- If search fails, return:
{"status":"error","error":"reason"}
Network Requests
This skill makes outbound network requests to:
- Brave Search API (api.search.brave.com) - For web search results
- Hacker News Algolia API (hn.algolia.com) - For tech community discussions
⚠️ Privacy Notice: Your search keywords will be sent to these external services. Do not include sensitive or confidential information in keywords.
Environment Variables
The script optionally reads these environment variables:
| Variable | Required | Purpose |
|---|
BRAVE_API_KEY | No | Brave Search API key for enhanced search results |
BAIDU_API_KEY | No | Baidu Search API key for Chinese content |
If no API keys are provided, the skill will attempt to use Hacker News API (no key required).
Output JSON Schema
{
"status": "success",
"keyword": "searched keyword",
"project_name": "product name",
"summary": "one-line value",
"pain_points": [
{
"id": "PP-001",
"title": "pain title",
"severity": "high",
"context": "description",
"sources": [
{
"platform": "Hacker News",
"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=...",
"quote": "actual user words from the post"
}
]
}
],
"user_stories": [
{
"id": "US-001",
"as_a": "role",
"i_want_to": "desire",
"so_that": "goal",
"acceptance_criteria": ["criterion 1"],
"priority": "P0",
"pain_point_ids": ["PP-001"]
}
],
"mvp_features": [
{
"id": "F-001",
"title": "feature name",
"description": "what it does",
"priority": "P0",
"user_story_ids": ["US-001"],
"pain_point_ids": ["PP-001"]
}
],
"openclaw_tasks": [
{
"task_id": "TASK-001",
"title": "task name",
"description": "dev instructions",
"priority": "P0",
"acceptance_criteria": ["standard 1"],
"feature_id": "F-001"
}
],
"generated_at": "2026-04-07T12:00:00",
"data_source": "API"
}
Error Handling
Script Not Found
If the CLI script is not found or Python is missing:
{
"status": "error",
"error": "Search script not available. Ensure python3 is installed and the script exists at {baseDir}/scripts/search.py"
}
No API Results
If all APIs return no results:
{
"status": "no_results",
"keyword": "<keyword>",
"error": "No API results found. Try providing API keys (BRAVE_API_KEY) or using a different keyword.",
"suggestions": [
"Set BRAVE_API_KEY environment variable",
"Try a broader keyword",
"Check network connectivity"
]
}
API Error
If API calls fail:
{
"status": "error",
"error": "API request failed: <error details>"
}
Data Sources
The script fetches user complaints from these platforms:
| Platform | Type | Auth Required | URL |
|---|
| Brave Search | Web Search | Optional (API key) | api.search.brave.com |
| Hacker News | Tech Forum | No | hn.algolia.com |
Note: Without API keys, only Hacker News results will be available, which may limit results for non-tech topics.
Usage Examples
Basic Usage
python3 scripts/search.py search-pain-points --keyword "remote work" --max-results 10
With API Key
export BRAVE_API_KEY="your_api_key"
python3 scripts/search.py search-pain-points --keyword "AI tools" --max-results 8
Chinese Content
export BAIDU_API_KEY="your_api_key"
python3 scripts/search.py search-pain-points --keyword "远程办公" --max-results 8
Integration with Cron
This skill works with OpenClaw's cron system for automated daily PRD generation:
{
"name": "每日痛点挖掘与PRD生成",
"schedule": {
"kind": "cron",
"expr": "0 8 * * *",
"tz": "Asia/Singapore"
},
"payload": {
"kind": "agentTurn",
"message": "运行 auto-prd-hunter 调研热门领域痛点并生成PRD"
},
"sessionTarget": "isolated"
}
Transparency Commitment
This skill adheres to the following principles:
- No Fabrication: Never generates fake pain points or sources
- Transparency: All network requests are declared in metadata
- Privacy: Keyword inputs are sent to external APIs (as declared)
- Authenticity: All sources contain real URLs and quotes
- Error Handling: Returns clear errors when APIs fail or return no results
Troubleshooting
"No API results found"
- Cause: No API keys configured and Hacker News has no relevant results
- Solution: Set
BRAVE_API_KEY or try a different keyword
"API request failed"
- Cause: Network issue or invalid API key
- Solution: Check network connectivity and verify API keys
Limited results
- Cause: Only using Hacker News (tech-focused)
- Solution: Configure
BRAVE_API_KEY for broader web search
Getting API Keys
Brave Search API
- Visit: https://api.search.brave.com/
- Sign up for free tier
- Get your API key
- Set environment variable:
export BRAVE_API_KEY="your_key"
Baidu Search API
- Visit: https://cloud.baidu.com/
- Enable Baidu Search API
- Get your API key
- Set environment variable:
export BAIDU_API_KEY="your_key"
