@ownclaw/own-prose

@ownclaw/own-prose is a natural-language workflow compiler and executor for OpenClaw.

It lets you define a workflow in Markdown, compile it into a strict execution plan, and run it through OpenClaw.

Before You Install

This package is meant to be used as an OpenClaw plugin.

Install and initialize OpenClaw first:

npm install -g openclaw@latest
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

Install In OpenClaw

The recommended install path for normal users is:

openclaw plugins install @ownclaw/own-prose
openclaw gateway restart

After installation, OpenClaw will load the plugin and expose the own_prose_start, own_prose_status, own_prose_reply, and own_prose_drive tools to agent sessions. The own_prose_background_run tool is internal and should not be called directly by normal users.

If your OpenClaw setup uses a restrictive tool policy, also add the own-prose tools to tools.alsoAllow in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "tools": {
    "profile": "coding",
    "alsoAllow": [
      "own_prose_start",
      "own_prose_drive",
      "own_prose_status",
      "own_prose_reply",
      "own_prose_background_run"
    ]
  }
}

Recommended Agent Tools

• own_prose_start(programPath, input) Recommended default entry point. Starts the workflow in background mode and returns a runId.
• own_prose_status(runId | programPath) Poll an existing run or inspect whether a workflow file parses correctly.
• own_prose_reply(runId, answer, runDir?) Resume a workflow that is currently waiting in a blocked ask/reply state.
• own_prose_drive(programPath, input) Use only when the caller explicitly wants a blocking, end-to-end result.

CLI Helpers For Debugging

• openclaw own-prose inspect <program>
• openclaw own-prose compile <program>
• openclaw own-prose drive <program>
• openclaw own-prose reply <run-id>
• openclaw own-prose start <program>
• openclaw own-prose status <run-id>

Typical Workflow Layout

my-workflow/
├── program.md
└── agents/
    ├── writer.md
    ├── reviewer.md
    └── finalizer.md

Example program.md

---
name: article-workflow
version: 1
description: Draft, review, and finalize an article.
---

## Goal

Produce a final article from a topic input.

## Inputs

- topic: article topic

## Agents

- writer
- reviewer
- finalizer

## Workflow

Write a draft for the topic, review whether it is ready, and if approved,
return the final article text.

## Constraints

- maxSteps: 6
- allowLoops: false

## Output Contract

- Return only the final article

Quick Start

Send the agent a message like this:

Call the own_prose_start tool exactly once.
Use programPath "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/my-workflow/program.md" and input {
  "topic": "OpenClaw plugin workflows"
}.
After the tool returns, reply with only the runId.

Keep the returned runId. If the workflow was started from an agent session, own-prose will queue the completion notification back to that same session.

For manual debugging or polling, use:

openclaw own-prose status <run-id>

If the workflow enters a blocked clarification step, resume it with:

openclaw own-prose reply <run-id> --answer "Use the Saturday 02:00-03:00 UTC maintenance window."

Notes

• This package is intended for OpenClaw environments.
• Prefer own_prose_start for normal agent usage so the main conversation does not block.
• Use own_prose_reply only when you explicitly want to continue a blocked run; ordinary user follow-up messages should still be treated as new tasks unless the caller intentionally resumes the old run.
• Use own_prose_drive only when the caller explicitly wants a blocking workflow run.
• More detailed user and repository documentation is available in the project repository.