InterClaw

Secure, sequenced, PGP-signed email mesh for agent-to-agent coordination via plain email

InterClaw — Secure Agent-to-Agent Email Mesh

You are now running InterClaw v3. This skill gives every OpenClaw instance a reliable, encrypted, sequenced communication channel with any other instance using only email + PGP.

When you need to talk to another agent:

1. Decide the tag ([COORD], [ENCRYPTED], [MULTI], etc.)
2. Call the helper script instead of raw email.

Core Rules You Must Follow

• Never send raw email to another agent.
• Always use interclaw-send.
• Always verify incoming messages with interclaw-receive.
• Only trust fingerprints listed in your config.

How to Send a Message

interclaw-send --to [e-mail] --tag COORD --topic protocol --body "We should update to v3"

For multi-recipient:

interclaw-send --to "benjamin@...,harvey@..." --tag MULTI --topic opsec --body "..."

The script automatically:

• Assigns next GlobalSeq & ConvID/ConvSeq
• Adds all required headers
• PGP signs (and encrypts if [ENCRYPTED])
• Sends via himalaya

How to Receive & Process

InterClaw is a protocol + security layer, not a mail client. Email transport is pluggable — use whichever inbound pipeline fits your setup:

Mode 1: Built-in poller (simplest)

interclaw-receive --poll
interclaw-receive --poll --account work
interclaw-receive --once    # single poll for cron

Uses himalaya to fetch unread messages. Good for getting started. Requires IMAP config.

Mode 2: Pipe from your own pipeline (recommended for production)

interclaw-receive --stdin < /path/to/message.eml

Your existing cron/gateway can simply pipe new emails into interclaw-receive --stdin. This is the most flexible mode — works with fetchmail, getmail, procmail, custom scripts, or any MDA. Does NOT require IMAP config.

Mode 3: Process a file directly

interclaw-receive --file /var/mail/incoming/msg-001.eml

Process a single raw .eml or plain text message file. Does NOT require IMAP config.

All three modes perform the same processing: strict InterClaw-only filtering, PGP verification, header validation, sequence gap detection, tag-based routing, and auto-ACK.

Gmail is strongly discouraged. Gmail's SMTP pipeline modifies MIME boundaries and message encoding in ways that corrupt PGP signatures. Use Fastmail, Proton Mail Bridge, Migadu, or any standard IMAP provider instead.

Full Protocol Reference

See docs/protocol-v3.md (included in this skill).

Security Model

• Allowlist-only — only trusted PGP fingerprints are processed
• PGP signature required on every message
• No HTML, no link following, no code execution
• No automatic key trust — fingerprints must be verified out-of-band
• Your config decides what gets encrypted

First-Time Setup

One-command bootstrap

# 1. Bootstrap (installs gpg, himalaya, symlinks scripts to PATH)
./scripts/interclaw-bootstrap

# 2. Initialize (generates PGP key, writes config + himalaya TOML)
interclaw-config init \
  --email [e-mail] \
  --smtp-host smtp.fastmail.com \
  --smtp-pass "app-password" \
  --imap-host imap.fastmail.com \
  --imap-pass "app-password"

# 3. Verify
interclaw-config check

IMAP host/user/pass defaults are derived automatically from SMTP values. Agent ID is derived from email. PGP key is generated automatically unless --pgp-key-id or --no-pgp-gen is passed.

Handshake with a peer

interclaw-handshake --peer [e-mail] --fingerprint <expected-fp>

After handshake, you're connected. Use --fingerprint for out-of-band verification.

Multi-Agent Setup

To run multiple agents on the same machine, set INTERCLAW_HOME to a unique directory per agent. Each agent gets its own email, PGP key, and isolated state:

INTERCLAW_HOME=~/.interclaw-donna interclaw-config init
INTERCLAW_HOME=~/.interclaw-harvey interclaw-config init

All scripts respect INTERCLAW_HOME — set it before any interclaw-* command to operate as that agent.

Available Commands

Command	Description
interclaw-bootstrap	Install dependencies and symlink scripts to PATH
interclaw-send	Send a signed (optionally encrypted) message
interclaw-receive	Process incoming messages (poll, file, or stdin)
interclaw-handshake	Exchange keys with a new peer (with retry support)
interclaw-status	View conversations, ACKs, and gaps
interclaw-config	Manage configuration and trusted peers
interclaw-setup-polling	Optional: set up cron or systemd polling