A standardized way to schedule AI agents to run recurring, unattended tasks.
A claw is a lightweight, open format for packaging work you would normally hand to a coding agent so it can run on its own. A claw is a single self-contained CLAW.md file. The file holds YAML frontmatter (name and description at minimum) followed by one or more ordered tasks. There are no companion directories, no sibling scripts, and no external assets. Everything a claw needs lives inside the one file.
---
name: eng-dependency-cve-watch
description: Watch the security advisory feeds each morning for new entries that affect your declared dependencies, rank each by severity with the fixed version, and email a digest only when a new advisory lands.
schedule: daily @ 07:00
---
# watch
Check the GHSA, OSV, and NVD advisory feeds for new entries that affect the
dependencies you declare. Rank each by severity, note the affected range and the
fixed version, and email a short digest. If no new advisory touches your
dependencies, send nothing.- Unattended automation. Anything you can ask a coding agent to do once, a claw can do over and over without you in the loop.
- One portable file. A claw is a single
CLAW.mdwith no companion assets, so it copies, reviews, and version-controls like any other text file. - Scheduled or on demand. Add a
scheduleand a runner executes the claw on its own cadence. Leave it out and the claw runs only when you ask. - Cross-product reuse. The format is vendor-neutral, so the same
CLAW.mdruns on any compatible runner.
Progressive disclosure. The frontmatter is cheap to scan, so a runner can load just the name and description of many claws for browsing and search. The body, which holds the full task prompts, loads only when a claw is activated for execution or detailed inspection. This keeps discovery fast even across a large collection of claws.
Ordered execution. A runner reads the tasks in source order and executes each one as an agent with full tool use. When a claw declares a schedule, the runner triggers it on that cadence. Without a schedule, the claw runs only on demand.
Any CLAW.md-compatible runner can execute a claw. Because the format carries no vendor-specific mechanisms, a claw authored for one runner runs unchanged on another.
- Specification. Read SPECIFICATION.md for the complete
CLAW.mdformat. - Example Claws. Browse examples/ for working claws covering a range of schedules and runtimes.
- Contributing. See CONTRIBUTING.md to propose changes to the specification or add an example.
Agent Claws was originally developed by Clor and released as an open standard so any runner can adopt it. The specification is vendor-neutral and the project welcomes ecosystem contributions. See CONTRIBUTING.md to get involved.
Code in this repository is licensed under Apache-2.0 (see LICENSE). Documentation, including this README and the specification, is licensed under CC-BY-4.0.