Openclaw Startup

First-run setup wizard for new OpenClaw agents. Interviews the user to generate a tailored SOUL.md, scaffolds memory architecture, installs recommended crons for operations and security, and recommends companion skills. Use when setting up a new OpenClaw agent from scratch, onboarding a new user, or resetting an agent to a clean baseline. Triggers on: "set up my agent", "first run", "new agent setup", "onboard me", "initialize workspace", "startup wizard", "help me get started".

Don Zurbrick@zurbrick

Install

openclaw skills install @zurbrick/openclaw-startup

OpenClaw Startup

First-run setup wizard for new OpenClaw agents. Interviews the user, generates tailored workspace files, scaffolds memory, installs operational crons, and recommends companion skills.

Use when

setting up a new OpenClaw agent from scratch
onboarding a new user who just installed OpenClaw
resetting an agent workspace to a clean baseline
someone says "set up my agent" or "help me get started"

Do not use when

the agent is already configured and running (use openclaw-guide instead)
the user wants to change one specific config setting
the task is skill authoring (use skill-builder)
the task is security hardening of an existing agent (use agent-hardening)

Phases

Run these in order. Each phase confirms with the user before proceeding.

Phase 1 — Identity Interview

Resuming a partial setup: Before starting the interview, check if any of SOUL.md, USER.md, or IDENTITY.md already exist. If they do, show the user what's already configured and ask: "Want to pick up where we left off, start fresh, or keep these and skip to memory setup?" Respect their choice.

Ask the user 8 questions to understand who they are and what the agent should do. Use the interview guide at references/interview-guide.md.

From the answers, generate:

SOUL.md — agent identity, personality, tone, boundaries
USER.md — human's key details
IDENTITY.md — agent name, emoji, presentation
AGENTS.md — customized from assets/agents-template.md with principles tailored to the user's main job (Q4) and communication style (Q5)

Show the user the generated files and ask for approval before writing.

Phase 2 — Memory Scaffolding

Run the install script to create the memory directory structure:

bash

bash {baseDir}/scripts/install.sh

This creates:

memory/ directory with daily log structure
MEMORY.md — durable fact index
ACTIVE.md — current priorities tracker
memory/FUTURE_INTENTS.md — commitments and deferred actions
.learnings/ — error and learning capture (agent-memory-loop)

Phase 3 — Operational Crons

Review recommended crons with the user. See references/cron-recipes.md.

If openclaw CLI is not available: Skip cron installation. Instead, show the user the recommended cron configs from references/cron-recipes.md and explain they can install them later once OpenClaw is set up. Proceed to Phase 4.

If openclaw CLI is available:

Always recommend:

Heartbeat (configurable frequency)
Workspace backup (daily)

Recommend if applicable:

Weekly memory consolidation
Session health watchdog
Security monitoring

Install only what the user approves. Use the OpenClaw cron tool directly.

Phase 4 — Security Baseline

Walk through the security checklist at references/security-baseline.md.

Key items:

Channel access controls (allowlist vs open)
Injection defense rules in SOUL.md
Escalation framework (green/yellow/red)
Tool restrictions for sub-agents

Phase 5 — Companion Skills

Recommend installing these skills based on the user's needs:

Skill	When to recommend	ClawHub
`cognition`	Always — memory architecture	clawhub.com/skills/cognition
`summarize`	Always — extract text/transcripts from URLs, videos, PDFs	clawhub.com/skills/summarize
`agent-hardening`	If the agent handles sensitive data or external channels	clawhub.com/skills/agent-hardening
`openclaw-backup`	If the user wants disaster recovery	clawhub.com/skills/openclaw-backup

Install via ClawHub if available: