OpenCLI

Overview

Use this skill to help the user work through a local opencli installation from inside NextClaw.

This skill is intentionally decoupled:

• The skill owns explanation, onboarding, readiness checks, workflow choice, and risk handling.
• opencli owns actual execution.

From the user's point of view, the experience should feel complete:

• install or update opencli if needed,
• guide the user through browser or app setup,
• verify readiness,
• then run the real task.

Do not pretend the environment is ready when it is not.

What This Skill Covers

• public read-only commands,
• browser tasks that reuse the user's Chrome login session,
• Electron or desktop app adapters that opencli already supports,
• passthrough to external CLIs through opencli,
• first-use setup and troubleshooting.

What This Skill Does Not Cover

• inventing commands that do not appear in opencli list,
• claiming support for a site or app that opencli does not actually expose,
• silently bypassing missing setup,
• silently triggering destructive or write actions,
• treating third-party runtime behavior as native NextClaw behavior.

First-Use Workflow

When the user asks for an opencli-powered task, follow this order.

1. Classify the task

Classify the task into one of these:

• public read task,
• browser session task,
• desktop app task,
• external CLI passthrough task.

If the task does not fit any supported opencli shape, say so clearly.

2. Check whether opencli exists

Run:

command -v opencli

If missing, explain that opencli must be installed locally first.

Recommended install:

npm install -g @jackwener/opencli

After installation, continue with readiness checks instead of jumping straight into the user task.

3. Run readiness check

Run:

opencli doctor

Use this as the main readiness gate.

If doctor fails, do not proceed to the real task yet. Diagnose the failure first.

4. Apply task-specific prerequisites

For browser session tasks:

• Chrome must be running.
• The user must already be logged into the target website in Chrome.
• The OpenCLI Browser Bridge extension must be installed and enabled.

For desktop app tasks:

• The target app must already be installed.
• The target app should be open before execution when appropriate.
• Do not assume desktop adapters are universally cross-platform; verify command availability first.

For external CLI passthrough tasks:

• Verify the target command exists before assuming passthrough is ready.
• Example:

command -v gh

• opencli documentation says some passthrough commands may attempt auto-install of missing CLIs.
• Do not rely on that behavior silently.
• If the underlying CLI is missing, explain it and ask for explicit user confirmation before any install path.

5. Discover supported commands

When support is uncertain, run:

opencli list

Prefer:

opencli list -f yaml

when structured inspection is easier.

Only use commands that can be confirmed from the installed opencli command list.

Safe Execution Rules

• Prefer read-only commands before write commands.
• For writes, posting, deleting, following, publishing, or account-affecting actions, ask for explicit confirmation first.
• If the task is exploratory, start with a lightweight read command or status command before a more invasive action.
• If the user asks for an unsupported site or command, say it is unsupported instead of improvising.
• If opencli doctor or command output indicates missing login, missing extension, or missing app state, stop and guide the user.
• Do not bury setup details. Explain the missing prerequisite directly.

Browser Setup Guidance

When browser setup is missing, guide the user through this exact idea:

1. Install the latest OpenCLI browser extension from the upstream releases page.
2. Open chrome://extensions.
3. Turn on Developer mode.
4. Load the unpacked extension or the unzipped release bundle.
5. Make sure Chrome stays running.
6. Log into the target site in Chrome.
7. Re-run:

opencli doctor

Do not claim browser commands are safe to run before these checks pass.

Privacy And Trust Guidance

When a user is sensitive to privacy or account risk, explain these points clearly:

• opencli reuses the user's existing Chrome login state.
• Its browser bridge communicates through a local daemon on localhost.
• The extension requests browser permissions such as debugger, tabs, cookies, activeTab, and alarms.
• The skill should surface this clearly before high-trust tasks.

Do not frame this as "no-risk magic". Frame it as a local tool with explicit browser permissions and explicit account reuse.

Recommended Command Patterns

Use patterns like these:

opencli list
opencli doctor
opencli hackernews top --limit 5
opencli reddit search "AI"
opencli youtube transcript "<url>"
opencli bilibili hot --limit 5
opencli gh pr list --limit 5

If the user wants a specific command and you are unsure whether it exists, check opencli list first.

Troubleshooting

opencli not found

• Explain that the local CLI is not installed.
• Guide the user through installation.
• Re-check with command -v opencli.

doctor reports extension or daemon problems

• Do not continue to the real task.
• Guide the user through extension setup and rerun opencli doctor.

Browser command returns empty data or unauthorized behavior

• Explain that the most likely cause is missing or expired Chrome login state.
• Ask the user to log into the target site in Chrome and try again.

Desktop command fails

• Confirm the target app is actually supported.
• Confirm the app is open.
• Confirm the command exists in opencli list.

External CLI passthrough may install another CLI

• Explain that this may modify the local machine.
• Ask for explicit confirmation before proceeding.

Success Criteria

The skill is working correctly when:

• the user understands what opencli is being used for,
• missing setup is identified before task execution,
• readiness is checked with opencli doctor,
• the user is guided through any required setup,
• supported commands are confirmed via opencli list when needed,
• and the final task runs only after the environment is truly ready.