01
Why Most People Fail
I'll be direct: most people install OpenClaw, type "help me write code," get a response, and
wonder what the fuss is about. They treat it like ChatGPT with extra steps. Then they uninstall it.
Here's why.
The Three Fatal Mistakes
Mistake #1: No workspace identity. You now have a
powerful agent runtime with no idea who it is, what it's supposed to do, or how to behave. That's like
hiring a senior engineer and giving them no onboarding. Without AGENTS.md and
SOUL.md, your agent is a blank slate every single session.
Mistake #2: Treating it as a tool instead of an operator. OpenClaw isn't a CLI tool;
it's
an
agent runtime — a persistent, stateful system that can own workflows end-to-end. A tool
waits for you to invoke it. An agent checks your email at 7am, drafts responses, and updates Your CRM —
all before you've had coffee.
Mistake #3: Skipping memory architecture. Your agent wakes up fresh every session. The
only continuity mechanism is files on disk. If you don't set up a memory system — daily
logs, long-term memory, procedural knowledge — your agent is perpetually a day-one employee.
The Mindset Shift: Stop thinking: "How do I get OpenClaw to do X?" Start thinking:
"How do I build a system where my agent can figure out X on its own?"
Wait—Is Your Setup Even Valid?
Before you configure another file, run
our 10-point diagnostic to see where your current AI is failing.
Run Free Health Check
02
Mental Model: Tools vs Skills vs Agents
Before we configure anything, you need a clean mental model. OpenClaw has three layers, and
confusing them causes most configuration headaches.
Layer 1: Tools
Tools are atomic capabilities—the "hands" of your agent. read, write,
exec, web_search, browser. These are built into the framework.
You don't configure them; you just use them.
Layer 2: Skills
Skills are reusable workflows packaged in skill.md files. A skill is like a recipe. Your
agent reads the recipe, gathers the ingredients (tools), and follows the steps. These are markdown
files, not code.
Purpose: Generate a daily standup summary from memory
files.
Steps:
1. Read memory/episodic/YYYY-MM-DD.md (today and yesterday)
2. Extract: completed, blocked, and planned items
3. Format as a standup update and save to memory/standups/
Layer 3: Agents
The agent is the orchestrator. It's the model + context + memory + tools + skills. The agent decides
when to use which skill and how to respond to situations.
TOOLS.md: The Cheat Sheet
This is where your agent learns from its mistakes. Every time something breaks, document it here so the
agent avoids the same pitfall next session.
03
AGENTS.md + SOUL.md Deep Dive
These two files are the most important in your entire setup. Everything else is optional. These are not.
AGENTS.md: The Operating Manual
This file tells your agent how to operate. It handles the "First Run" bootstrap and the
mission-critical "Every Session" boot sequence.
Tiered Memory Architecture: Don't load 30 days of logs. Use a Tiered approach:
core/ (load always), episodic/ (today + yesterday), semantic/
(load on demand).
SOUL.md: The Identity File
SOUL.md is who your agent is. Use it to define core truths, boundaries, and the "vibe"
of your operator. Default to action over hesitation.
USER.md: The Forgotten Third File
Personalized helpfulness requires knowing the user. Timezones, current projects, and specific
communication preferences should live here.
04
HEARTBEAT.md for Proactive Agents
A heartbeat is a lightweight, recurring check that makes your agent proactive. Without
heartbeats, your agent is just a chatbot waiting for a prompt.
Design Principles for Good Heartbeats
- Keep them cheap: Completion under 30 seconds, minimal tokens.
- Escalate, don't act: Heartbeats detect issues; they don't necessarily fix them.
- Rotate daily checks: Cycle through categories (email, calendar, sales) to keep
costs
low.
Check Email: Scan for urgent items only. Summary if
found.
Check Health: Verify critical service nodes are
UP.
Quiet Hours: 23:00–08:00 (Only escalate truly urgent
items)
05
The Cron System
Heartbeats handle awareness. **Cron handles execution.** This is where your agent does real, scheduled
work like daily blog post generation or email drip cycles.
0 7 * * * /path/to/daily-blog.sh >> /path/to/logs/blog.log 2>&1
*/10 * * * * cd /path/to/live/site && node refresh-data.js
When to use Systemd instead
If your process needs to run continuously (not periodically), it's a service. Use
systemd. It ensures processes restart automatically and survive SSH disconnections.
06
Skills + ClawHub
Writing your own skills in ~/.clawdbot/skills/ is the ultimate workflow customization. A
good skill handles failure gracefully and produces consistent, structured output.
ClawHub is the community marketplace for skills. Don't write everything from
scratch—install pre-built skills for Research, Content, and Monitoring.
07
Model Selection
The only question that matters: How complex is the task?
| Task Complexity |
Model Tier |
Examples |
| Simple/Routine |
Flash |
File ops, simple searches |
| Standard Work |
Mid-tier |
Code, content analysis |
| Reasoning |
Frontier |
Novel problems, architecture |
Anti-pattern: Using "Frontier" models for everything. You'll burn your budget. Use
"Flash" models for heartbeats and routine sub-agent tasks.
08
Real-World Case Study: 13 Days Running Autonomously
Infrastructure is a lagging indicator of systems that work. Here's what 13 days of autonomous operation
looks like for a production agent:
- 29 blog posts written, published, and cross-posted.
- Email drip sequences running on a 6-hour cron cycle.
- Reddit Ad monitoring surfacing ROI spikes and tracking pixel conversions.
- Service monitoring for high-stakes trading or database nodes.
The Numbers: 13 days, 100+ comments, 0 security incidents. Cost: ~$25/month in API
calls.
09
Troubleshooting Common Failures
"My agent is too generic"
Refine your SOUL.md. If it reads like a job description, your agent will act like it.
Give it permission to have opinions.
"Context window fills up"
Audit your tiered memory startup sequence. Only load the core identity and the most recent 24-48 hours of
episodic logs.
"Browser automation breaks"
Use TOOLS.md to document site-specific timing issues (e.g., using
slowly: true for rich text editors).