> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.clawkitchen.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Recipe format

> ClawRecipes recipes are Markdown files with YAML frontmatter.

They come in two flavors:

* **agent** recipes — scaffold one agent workspace
* **team** recipes — scaffold a shared team workspace plus role agents

This doc explains the format you actually need to write.

***

## Where recipes live

Recipes are discovered from:

* built-in plugin recipes: `recipes/default/*.md`
* workspace recipes: `~/.openclaw/workspace/recipes/*.md`

You can inspect available recipes with:

```bash theme={null}
openclaw recipes list
openclaw recipes show development-team
```

***

## Smallest useful recipe

```md theme={null}
---
id: project-manager
name: Project Manager
kind: agent
version: 0.1.0
description: A lightweight planning agent
---

# Project Manager

This is a simple recipe.
```

***

## Common frontmatter fields

```yaml theme={null}
---
id: development-team
name: Development Team
kind: team
version: 0.1.0
description: File-first engineering team
requiredSkills:
  - some-skill
optionalSkills:
  - another-skill
---
```

### Field meanings

* `id` — stable recipe id
* `name` — human-readable name
* `kind` — `agent` or `team`
* `version` — recipe version string
* `description` — short summary
* `requiredSkills` — skills the recipe really needs
* `optionalSkills` — nice-to-have skills

***

## Agent recipe example

```md theme={null}
---
id: project-manager
name: Project Manager
kind: agent
version: 0.1.0
description: Keeps plans and tasks organized

templates:
  soul: |
    # SOUL.md

    You are a project manager.

  agents: |
    # AGENTS.md

    Track work clearly.

files:
  - path: SOUL.md
    template: soul
    mode: createOnly
  - path: AGENTS.md
    template: agents
    mode: createOnly

tools:
  profile: coding
  allow: ["group:fs", "group:web"]
  deny: ["exec"]
---

# Project Manager
```

Scaffold it with:

```bash theme={null}
openclaw recipes scaffold project-manager --agent-id pm --apply-config
```

***

## Team recipe example

```md theme={null}
---
id: my-team
name: My Team
kind: team
version: 0.1.0
description: Tiny file-first team

team:
  teamId: my-team
  name: My Team

agents:
  - role: lead
    name: Team Lead
  - role: dev
    name: Developer

templates:
  lead.soul: |
    # SOUL.md
    You are the lead.

  dev.soul: |
    # SOUL.md
    You are the developer.

files:
  - path: SOUL.md
    template: soul
    mode: createOnly
---

# My Team
```

Scaffold it with:

```bash theme={null}
openclaw recipes scaffold-team my-team --team-id my-team --apply-config
```

***

## Team ids and agent ids

Important rule:

* team ids used with `scaffold-team` must end with `-team` in many real setups / conventions

Role agent ids normally become:

```text theme={null}
<teamId>-<role>
```

Examples:

* `development-team-lead`
* `development-team-dev`
* `development-team-test`

***

## Templates and files

### `templates`

`templates` is a string map of template names to template bodies.

### `files`

`files` tells ClawRecipes which files to write into the scaffolded workspace.

Example:

```yaml theme={null}
files:
  - path: SOUL.md
    template: soul
    mode: createOnly
  - path: AGENTS.md
    template: agents
    mode: overwrite
```

### Template rendering

Rendering is intentionally simple:

* `{{var}}` replacement only
* no conditionals
* no code execution

Common variables include:

* `agentId`
* `agentName`
* `teamId`
* `teamDir`

***

## Tools policy

Recipes can write tool policy into agent config when you scaffold with `--apply-config`.

Example:

```yaml theme={null}
tools:
  profile: coding
  allow:
    - group:fs
    - group:web
    - group:runtime
  deny: []
```

Team recipes can also define per-agent tool policies.

***

## Cron jobs

Recipes can optionally define cron jobs.

Example:

```yaml theme={null}
cronJobs:
  - id: daily-review
    schedule: "0 14 * * 1-5"
    message: "Review inbox and summarize priorities."
    enabledByDefault: false
    timezone: "America/New_York"
```

Notes:

* use valid **5-field cron**
* keep `id` stable
* ClawRecipes can install/reconcile these during scaffold

***

## Skill declarations

If a recipe declares skills, you can install them with:

```bash theme={null}
openclaw recipes install-skill my-team --yes
```

That installs the recipe’s declared `requiredSkills` / `optionalSkills`.

***

## Recommended conventions

* keep recipes small and readable
* keep `requiredSkills` minimal
* use `optionalSkills` for non-essential extras
* prefer file-first workflows
* make the generated workspace obvious to a human reader
* include enough commands/examples in generated docs that a user can actually run the system

***

## Good next steps

After reading this, do one of these:

```bash theme={null}
openclaw recipes show development-team
openclaw recipes show workflow-runner-addon
```

Then read:

* [TUTORIAL\_CREATE\_RECIPE.md](tutorial-create-recipe)
* [BUNDLED\_RECIPES.md](bundled-recipes)