Core Prompt Patcher

Dynamic SOUL.md-based persona injector - Automatically syncs your workspace SOUL.md into OpenClaw's core system prompt after updates.

What It Does

This skill reads your workspace/SOUL.md file and injects its content directly into OpenClaw's core system prompt. This ensures your custom persona persists even after OpenClaw updates that reset the dist/ directory.

When to Use

• After running npm update -g openclaw or npm install -g openclaw
• When you edit your SOUL.md file and want changes applied immediately
• When OpenClaw version changes (auto-detected)
• Periodically to ensure your persona stays in sync

How It Works

1. Reads your SOUL.md - Loads the complete file from your workspace
2. Detects changes - Compares OpenClaw version and SOUL.md content hash
3. Finds injection point - Locates the correct position in the compiled JS (supports multiple OpenClaw versions)
4. Injects your persona - Inserts your SOUL.md content into the core system prompt
5. Tracks state - Remembers what was patched to avoid unnecessary re-runs

Usage

# Auto-detect and patch if needed
node /home/oki/.openclaw/workspace/skills/core-prompt-patcher/patcher.js

# Force re-patch (ignore state)
node /home/oki/.openclaw/workspace/skills/core-prompt-patcher/patcher.js --force

# Verbose mode (show state and details)
node /home/oki/.openclaw/workspace/skills/core-prompt-patcher/patcher.js --verbose

Or via OpenClaw:

"Patch the core system prompt with my SOUL.md" "Sync my SOUL.md to the core prompt" "Update the persona after OpenClaw update"

Requirements

• SOUL.md must exist at ~/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md
• OpenClaw must be installed globally

SOUL.md Format

Your SOUL.md can contain any persona definition. The patcher extracts sections with headers (##) and converts them to system prompt format.

Example:

# My AI Persona

## CORE IDENTITY
**Name:** Assistant Name
**Role:** Your role description

## PERSONALITY
* **Tone:** Friendly, professional, witty
* **Style:** How you communicate

## GUIDELINES
1. First principle
2. Second principle
3. Third principle

## RESPONSE STYLE
How you structure responses and interact.

All content gets injected into the core system prompt, making it part of OpenClaw's foundation.

Files

File	Purpose
patcher.js	Main patching script
.patcher-state.json	State tracking (version, last patch, SOUL hash)
SKILL.md	This documentation
README.md	Detailed usage guide

Features

• ✅ General-purpose - Works with any SOUL.md content, not hardcoded personas
• ✅ Full SOUL.md support - Injects entire file, not just extracted sections
• ✅ Better error handling - Fails gracefully if SOUL.md is missing
• ✅ Version detection - Automatically detects OpenClaw updates
• ✅ State tracking - Only patches when something actually changed
• ✅ Multi-version support - Works with different OpenClaw versions

Troubleshooting

"SOUL.md not found"

• Ensure file exists at ~/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md
• Create one if needed (see SOUL.md template in OpenClaw docs)

"Could not find insertion point"

• OpenClaw may have changed prompt structure
• Run with --verbose to see detected patterns
• May need to update patcher for new OpenClaw version

"Failed to write patched file"

• Check file permissions
• Ensure disk space is available