What is ClawPad?

ClawPad is a local-first document workspace built for OpenClaw users. Your documents are markdown files on disk. Your AI agent reads and writes the same files. No database, no Docker, no cloud required.

Think of it as Notion, but your AI agent is a first-class citizen — it can edit your pages, you can chat with it in a side panel, and everything stays on your machine.

Quick Start

npx clawpad

That's it. ClawPad auto-detects your local OpenClaw gateway, opens in your browser, and you're working.

Prefer a global CLI?

curl -fsSL https://clawpad.io/install.sh | bash

Install via OpenClaw agent (paste this link to your agent):

https://clawpad.io/skill.md

Requirements:

• Node.js 18+
• OpenClaw gateway running locally

OpenClaw Integration

ClawPad can install an optional OpenClaw plugin that adds document tools and links your docs to OpenClaw memory search. When you start ClawPad, it will offer to install this automatically.

Manual install:

openclaw plugins install @clawpad/openclaw-plugin

Note: When installing via --link (used by npx clawpad for local development), plugin dependencies are installed automatically. No manual npm install needed.

Features

📝 Block-based editor

Notion-style editing powered by BlockNote. Slash commands, drag handles, markdown shortcuts — everything you'd expect.

💬 Chat with your agent

Side panel chat that connects directly to your OpenClaw agent. Ask questions, get help with writing, or just talk. Messages stream in real-time with markdown rendering.

✨ AI writing assistance

Select text → get AI actions. Improve, simplify, expand, summarize, fix grammar — or type a custom instruction. Results stream in with accept/discard flow.

• Floating toolbar — appears on text selection
• Slash commands — /ai, /summarize, /translate, /improve
• Keyboard shortcut — ⌘J for quick AI actions
• Continue writing — AI continues from your cursor position

🔍 Search

Fast workspace search with relevance scoring. Supports QMD for semantic search when installed, falls back to text search.

🌙 Dark mode

Full dark mode with system preference detection. Toggle with ⌘⇧D or from the sidebar.

📱 Mobile responsive

Bottom tab navigation on mobile, touch-friendly editor, full-screen chat panel. Works on tablets too.

🔌 Zero infrastructure

• No database — files are the source of truth
• No Docker — just npx clawpad
• No cloud — everything local
• No API keys — routes through your OpenClaw gateway

How It Works

~/.openclaw/workspace/pages/  ← Your documents (markdown files, default)
~/.openclaw/pages/            ← Legacy location (auto-detected)
    ├── inbox.md              ← Root-level page (shows under Root Pages)
    ├── daily-notes/
    │   └── 2026-02-04.md
    ├── projects/
    │   ├── my-project.md
    │   └── client-a/
    │       └── scope.md
    └── knowledge-base/
        └── notes.md

ClawPad (localhost:3333)    ← Reads/writes these files
    ↕ WebSocket
OpenClaw Gateway (:18789)   ← Your AI agent

Pages are folders. Documents are .md files. ClawPad watches for changes — when your agent edits a file, the UI updates in real-time. When you edit in ClawPad, the agent sees the changes too.

• Root-level markdown files are first-class and appear in a dedicated Root Pages section.
• Nested folders inside any space are supported in sidebar, mobile browser, and search.

Works alongside any text editor. Edit in VS Code, Obsidian, vim — ClawPad picks up changes automatically.

Keyboard Shortcuts

| Shortcut | Action | |----------|--------| | ⌘K | Command palette / search | | ⌘N | New page | | ⌘⇧L | Toggle chat panel | | ⌘J | AI on selection | | ⌘S | Save | | ⌘⇧D | Toggle dark mode | | ⌘\ | Toggle sidebar | | ⌘/ | Show all shortcuts |

Tech Stack

| Layer | Technology | |-------|-----------| | Framework | Next.js 15 (App Router) | | Editor | BlockNote (Notion-style blocks) | | AI | Vercel AI SDK v6 | | Styling | Tailwind CSS v4 + shadcn/ui | | State | Zustand | | Gateway | OpenClaw WebSocket Protocol v3 |

Development

git clone https://github.com/mhmdez/clawpad.git
cd clawpad
npm install
npm run dev

Dev server runs on localhost:3000. Make sure your OpenClaw gateway is running.

Release checks

pnpm test
pnpm run check:installer:parity
pnpm run check:installer:smoke
# Post-deploy:
pnpm run check:installer:live

Set CLAWPAD_WEBSITE_INSTALLER_PATH in CI/local shells when your website repo lives outside this repo.

Project structure

src/
├── app/                    # Next.js App Router pages + API routes
│   ├── api/chat/           # Chat → OpenClaw gateway
│   ├── api/files/          # File CRUD on ~/.openclaw/pages/
│   ├── api/gateway/        # Gateway status, events, history
│   └── workspace/          # Main workspace UI
├── components/
│   ├── chat/               # Chat panel, AI FAB, status bar
│   ├── editor/             # BlockNote editor, AI toolbar, blocks
│   ├── sidebar/            # Navigation sidebar
│   └── ui/                 # shadcn/ui components
├── hooks/                  # Gateway events, shortcuts, responsive
└── lib/
    ├── files/              # File operations, frontmatter, paths
    ├── gateway/            # WS client, detection, types
    └── stores/             # Zustand stores

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. This is an early-stage project built as a companion app for OpenClaw.

License

MIT