System Prompt
OpenClaw builds a custom system prompt for every agent run. The prompt is OpenClaw-owned and does not use the p-coding-agent default prompt.
The prompt is assembled by OpenClaw and injected into each agent run.
Structure
The prompt is intentionally compact and uses fixed sections:
- Tooling: current tool list + short descriptions.
- Safety: short guardrail reminder to avoid power-seeking behavior or bypassing oversight.
- Skills (when available): tells the model how to load skill instructions on demand.
- OpenClaw Self-Update: how to run
config.apply and update.run.
- Workspace: working directory (
agents.defaults.workspace).
- Documentation: local path to OpenClaw docs (repo or npm package) and when to read them.
- Workspace Files (injected): indicates bootstrap files are included below.
- Sandbox (when enabled): indicates sandboxed runtime, sandbox paths, and whether elevated exec is available.
- Current Date & Time: user-local time, timezone, and time format.
- Reply Tags: optional reply tag syntax for supported providers.
- Heartbeats: heartbeat prompt and ack behavior.
- Runtime: host, OS, node, model, repo root (when detected), thinking level (one line).
- Reasoning: current visibility level + /reasoning toggle hint.
Safety guardrails in the system prompt are advisory. They guide model behavior but do not enforce policy. Use tool policy, exec approvals, sandboxing, and channel allowlists for hard enforcement; operators can disable these by design.
Prompt modes
OpenClaw can render smaller system prompts for sub-agents. The runtime sets a
promptMode for each run (not a user-facing config):
full (default): includes all sections above.minimal: used for sub-agents; omits Skills, Memory Recall, OpenClaw
Self-Update, Model Aliases, User Identity, Reply Tags,
Messaging, Silent Replies, and Heartbeats. Tooling, Safety,
Workspace, Sandbox, Current Date & Time (when known), Runtime, and injected
context stay available.none: returns only the base identity line.
When promptMode=minimal, extra injected prompts are labeled Subagent
Context instead of Group Chat Context.
Workspace bootstrap injection
Bootstrap files are trimmed and appended under Project Context so the model sees identity and profile context without needing explicit reads:
AGENTS.mdSOUL.mdTOOLS.mdIDENTITY.mdUSER.mdHEARTBEAT.mdBOOTSTRAP.md (only on brand-new workspaces)
Large files are truncated with a marker. The max per-file size is controlled by
agents.defaults.bootstrapMaxChars (default: 20000). Missing files inject a
short missing-file marker.
Internal hooks can intercept this step via agent:bootstrap to mutate or replace
the injected bootstrap files (for example swapping SOUL.md for an alternate persona).
To inspect how much each injected file contributes (raw vs injected, truncation, plus tool schema overhead), use /context list or /context detail. See Context.
Time handling
The system prompt includes a dedicated Current Date & Time section when the
user timezone is known. To keep the prompt cache-stable, it now only includes
the time zone (no dynamic clock or time format).
Use session_status when the agent needs the current time; the status card
includes a timestamp line.
Configure with:
agents.defaults.userTimezoneagents.defaults.timeFormat (auto | 12 | 24)
See Date & Time for full behavior details.
Skills
When eligible skills exist, OpenClaw injects a compact available skills list
(formatSkillsForPrompt) that includes the file path for each skill. The
prompt instructs the model to use read to load the SKILL.md at the listed
location (workspace, managed, or bundled). If no skills are eligible, the
Skills section is omitted.
<available_skills>
<skill>
<name>...</name>
<description>...</description>
<location>...</location>
</skill>
</available_skills>
This keeps the base prompt small while still enabling targeted skill usage.
Documentation
When available, the system prompt includes a Documentation section that points to the
local OpenClaw docs directory (either docs/ in the repo workspace or the bundled npm
package docs) and also notes the public mirror, source repo, community Discord, and
ClawHub (https://clawhub.com) for skills discovery. The prompt instructs the model to consult local docs first
for OpenClaw behavior, commands, configuration, or architecture, and to run
openclaw status itself when possible (asking the user only when it lacks access).