OpenClaw Integration Guide

Prompt-first procedure: Describe the outcome you want in your agent conversation. The agent should select and load the appropriate AIWG assets, explain material changes, request any needed approval, and report verification evidence. Exact commands and flags appear only in the CLI reference.

Connect AIWG to OpenClaw for structured SDLC workflows, artifact management, and multi-agent orchestration — all accessible from the OpenClaw terminal.

Overview

AIWG integrates with OpenClaw through two complementary modes:

• MCP sidecar — Full workflow engine via the agent-owned mcp operation. OpenClaw calls AIWG tools for artifact management, template rendering, and staged execution.
• Native skills — AIWG skills deployed directly to OpenClaw's skill directories. Discovered and loaded by OpenClaw's native skill loader.

OpenClaw → MCP → AIWG (workflows, artifacts, templates)
OpenClaw → native skills (quick single-step operations)

Ownership boundaries:

• OpenClaw owns: conversation flow, tool orchestration, session state, user-facing chat
• AIWG owns: workflow execution, template-driven outputs, artifact generation, project state in `.aiwg/`
• MCP is the seam. Clear ownership, not system fusion.

Prerequisites

• OpenClaw installed and working (docs.openclaw.ai)
• AIWG installed via npm: the agent-assisted AIWG installation procedure
• Verify both independently:

Use AIWG to complete this documented outcome: - OpenClaw installed and working (docs.openclaw.ai) - AIWG installed via npm: the agent-assisted AIWG installation procedure - Verify both independently
Have it inspect the current state, explain the plan, ask before material
changes, and report the result with verification evidence.

Quick Start

Option A: Native Skills Only (simplest)

Deploy AIWG skills to OpenClaw's skill directories:

Use AIWG to complete this documented outcome: Deploy AIWG skills to OpenClaw's skill directories
Have it inspect the current state, explain the plan, ask before material
changes, and report the result with verification evidence.

AIWG kernel skills land in `~/.openclaw/skills/aiwg/<skill-name>/SKILL.md` to avoid collisions with non-AIWG ClawHub installs. The larger on-demand skill index remains under `~/.openclaw/.aiwg/skills/`.

Option B: MCP Sidecar (full power)

Connect AIWG as an MCP server for the complete workflow engine:

1. Add MCP configuration

In your OpenClaw config (typically `~/.openclaw/config.yaml` or workspace config):

mcp_servers:
  aiwg:
    command: "aiwg"
    args: ["mcp", "serve"]
    tools:
      include:
        - discover
        - command-run
        - artifact-read
        - artifact-write
        - template-render
        - agent-list
        - skill-list

2. Reload and verify

# Restart OpenClaw to pick up new MCP config
openclaw reload

# Verify AIWG tools are visible
openclaw tools list | grep aiwg

You should see the whitelisted tools available in your OpenClaw session.

3. Test the connection

You: Run a workflow to create an architecture decision record
OpenClaw: [calls the agent-owned command-run operation/template-render/artifact-write → creates .aiwg/architecture/adr-001.md]

Option C: Both (recommended)

Use both modes together for maximum flexibility:

Use AIWG to complete this documented outcome: Use both modes together for maximum flexibility
Have it inspect the current state, explain the plan, ask before material
changes, and report the result with verification evidence.

• Native skills handle quick, single-step operations (doc scraping, code analysis, etc.)
• MCP sidecar handles full SDLC workflows, artifact management, and multi-agent orchestration

Routing Guidance

When both modes are active, route requests based on complexity:

Route to AIWG MCP when:

• SDLC phase work is needed (inception, elaboration, construction transitions)
• Artifact generation required (architecture docs, test plans, requirements)
• Multi-agent orchestration requested (parallel reviewers, synthesis)
• Template-driven output needed (use case templates, ADR templates)
• Agent loops or iterative task execution
• Recovery-oriented or staged planning work

Use AIWG native skills when:

• Skill trigger phrase matches (e.g., "scrape docs", "run security audit", "analyze code")
• Quick single-step operation with no artifact persistence needed
• Voice profile application or content validation

Keep in OpenClaw when:

• Short one-off conversation questions
• Code editing without SDLC artifact tracking
• Quick debugging sessions
• Tasks that don't need persistent artifacts

What Gets Deployed

the agent-owned use operation deploys:

Artifact Type	Target Directory	Count
Kernel skills	`~/.openclaw/skills/aiwg/`	15-30
On-demand skill index	`~/.openclaw/.aiwg/skills/`	90+
Agents	`~/.openclaw/agents/`	90+
Commands	`~/.openclaw/commands/`	50+
Rules	`~/.openclaw/rules/`	33
Behaviors	`~/.openclaw/behaviors/`	5+

Behaviors — OpenClaw's Reactive Layer

OpenClaw is the first platform to support behaviors natively. Behaviors are a new AIWG artifact type: reactive capabilities with scripts and event hooks that fire automatically when system events occur — not just when a user asks.

Skills:    User asks → skill runs → done
Behaviors: User asks → behavior runs → done
           File written → behavior reacts → done
           Deploy completes → behavior reacts → done
           30 minutes pass → behavior reacts → done

AIWG ships behaviors for SDLC workflows out of the box:

Behavior	Hooks	What It Does
`security-sentinel`	on_file_write, on_deploy, on_schedule	Continuous security monitoring
`test-watcher`	on_file_write, on_schedule	Reactive test execution
`build-monitor`	on_tool_complete, on_schedule	Build health tracking
`quality-gate-watcher`	on_commit, on_pr_open	SDLC gate enforcement
`artifact-sync`	on_file_write (.aiwg/**)	Keep artifact index current

OpenClaw discovers behaviors in `~/.openclaw/behaviors/` and wires their hooks at startup. No additional configuration needed after the agent-owned use operation.

See the Behaviors Guide for the full format spec and authoring guide.

ClawHub Installation (alternative)

If AIWG is published to ClawHub, install without a full AIWG installation:

# Install SDLC skills from ClawHub
clawhub install aiwg-sdlc

# Install all AIWG skills
clawhub install aiwg-sdlc aiwg-forensics aiwg-media aiwg-research

# Update
clawhub update the all option

See ClawHub docs for registry details.

Skill Format

AIWG skills use the AgentSkills SKILL.md format, which is natively compatible with OpenClaw:

---
name: sdlc-accelerate
description: End-to-end SDLC ramp-up from idea to construction-ready
platforms: [claude-code, hermes, openclaw]
metadata: {"openclaw": {"primaryEnv": "terminal"}}
---

# Skill content...

OpenClaw-Specific Gating

Skills with external dependencies use `metadata.openclaw.*` for gating:

Field	Purpose	Example
`requires.bins`	Required binaries	`["curl", "docker"]`
`requires.env`	Required env vars	`["AIWG_TOKEN"]`
`os`	OS filter	`["linux", "macos"]`
`primaryEnv`	Preferred environment	`"terminal"`
`always`	Load unconditionally	`true`

Most AIWG skills require no gating — they run on any platform.

Verification Checklist

After setup, verify the integration:

• [ ] `openclaw skills list` shows AIWG skills (if native deployment)
• [ ] `openclaw tools list` shows AIWG MCP tools (if MCP sidecar)
• [ ] Run one native skill: "analyze this codebase for quality"
• [ ] Run one MCP workflow: "create an architecture decision record"
• [ ] Check `.aiwg/` directory created with artifacts
• [ ] Disable AIWG MCP server — verify OpenClaw still works (graceful degradation)

Troubleshooting

Skills not showing up

Use AIWG to complete this documented outcome: Skills not showing up
Have it inspect the current state, explain the plan, ask before material
changes, and report the result with verification evidence.

MCP connection failing

Use AIWG to complete this documented outcome: MCP connection failing
Have it inspect the current state, explain the plan, ask before material
changes, and report the result with verification evidence.

Skills conflict with existing skills

OpenClaw skill precedence: `workspace/skills/` > `~/.openclaw/skills/` > bundled > `extraDirs`. AIWG deploys kernel skills to `~/.openclaw/skills/aiwg/` (user-global) and on-demand skills to `~/.openclaw/.aiwg/skills/`. Workspace skills take precedence if names collide.

Performance

The MCP sidecar adds minimal overhead — AIWG runs as a local process. For latency-sensitive operations, use native skills instead of MCP.

Cross-References

• AIWG Quick Start — General AIWG setup
• Behaviors Guide — Behaviors format spec and authoring guide
• Daemon Guide — Running AIWG as a background daemon
• Messaging Guide — Chat platform integration
• Al Guide — Iterative task execution
• CLI Reference — All 50 AIWG commands
• OpenClaw Skills Docs — OpenClaw skill system
• ClawHub — OpenClaw skill registry
• `.aiwg/planning/openclaw-aiwg-integration-plan.md` — Full integration plan