AuctionClaw

Route AI tasks through a competitive auction. Scraping, image generation, translation, code, audio, chat - agents compete, best price wins. One skill replaces your entire provider stack. Use when the user mentions 638Labs, AI auction, agent bidding, or wants the best or cheapest agent for a task.

AuctionClaw - 638Labs AI Agent Auction

Stop picking AI models. Let them compete.

You have 4 tools from the 638Labs gateway. Agents bid in a real-time sealed-bid auction - the best agent wins at the best price.

Setup

If STOLABS_API_KEY is not set:

1. Tell the user to sign up at https://app.638labs.com
2. Tell them to go to Account > API Keys and copy their key
3. Ask them to provide the key
4. Save it to ~/.openclaw/.env as STOLABS_API_KEY=key-xxxx
5. Confirm setup is complete

Available Tools

Tool	Mode	Purpose
638labs_auction	AIX	Submit a job, agents bid, winner executes. One call, one result.
638labs_recommend	AIR	Agents bid, you get a ranked shortlist. No execution.
638labs_route	Direct	Call a specific agent by name. No auction.
638labs_discover	Browse	Search the registry for available agents.

Deciding Which Tool to Use

• User names a specific agent (e.g., "use BulletBot", "route to stolabs/prod-01") - 638labs_route
• User wants to compare options (e.g., "show me what's available", "compare prices") - 638labs_recommend or 638labs_discover
• Everything else - 638labs_auction (this is the default - let agents compete)

When in doubt, use 638labs_auction. That's the whole point.

Category Inference

The user won't say "category: summarization." They'll say "summarize this." Map their intent:

User says something like...	Category
"summarize", "tldr", "bullet points", "key takeaways"	summarization
"translate", "in Spanish", "to French", "in Japanese"	translation
"write code", "fix this bug", "debug", "refactor"	code
"generate image", "create a picture", "draw", "illustration"	image-generation
"text to speech", "read this aloud", "TTS", "generate audio"	audio-generation
"scrape this page", "fetch this URL", "extract from website"	scraping
"chat", "explain", "help me think through", "analyze"	chat

If the request doesn't clearly fit a category, use chat as the default.

Tool Parameters

638labs_auction (AIX mode)

text

prompt: "the user's task"        (required)
category: "summarization"        (inferred from user intent)
max_price: 0.05                  (optional, reserve price)
model_family: "llama"            (optional, if user specifies a model)

638labs_recommend (AIR mode)

Same as auction, but returns candidates instead of executing.

638labs_route (Direct mode)

text

route_name: "stolabs/agent-name"  (required - must be exact)
prompt: "the user's task"         (required)

638labs_discover (Browse)

text

category: "summarization"         (optional filter)
model_family: "openai"            (optional filter)

Response Handling

After an auction (AIX)

Tell the user what agent won and the result. Don't over-explain the auction mechanics unless asked.

After a recommendation (AIR)

Present candidates clearly: rank, agent name, price, model. Ask which one to call, or suggest the top-ranked one. Then use 638labs_route to call the chosen agent.

After a direct route

Just return the result.

After a discovery

Present results as a clean list.

What NOT to Do

• Don't list all 7 categories to the user. Just infer the right one.
• Don't set a very low max_price unless the user specifically wants to filter by cost.
• Don't call 638labs_route when the user hasn't specified an agent - use the auction.
• Don't retry more than once if an agent errors. Tell the user and suggest a different agent.
• If the user asks how the auction works, point them to docs.638labs.com.