Tutorial: create your first recipe

By the end, you will:

create a recipe file
scaffold a team
dispatch a ticket
move work through the file-first flow

Step 0 — confirm ClawRecipes is installed

openclaw plugins list
openclaw recipes list

If that fails, go back to INSTALLATION.md.

Step 1 — create a recipe file

Create this file:

~/.openclaw/workspace/recipes/my-first-team.md

Paste this in:

---
id: my-first-team
name: My First Team
kind: team
version: 0.1.0
description: A tiny demo team
requiredSkills: []

team:
  teamId: my-first-team
  name: My First Team

agents:
  - role: lead
    name: Team Lead
    tools:
      profile: coding
      allow: ["group:fs", "group:web"]
      deny: ["exec"]

  - role: worker
    name: Worker
    tools:
      profile: coding
      allow: ["group:fs", "group:web"]
      deny: ["exec"]

templates:
  lead.soul: |
    # SOUL.md

    You are the lead for {{teamId}}.
    Turn requests into clear tickets.

  lead.agents: |
    # AGENTS.md

    Team directory: {{teamDir}}

    Do this:
    - check inbox/
    - create backlog tickets
    - assign work clearly

  worker.soul: |
    # SOUL.md

    You are a worker on {{teamId}}.

  worker.agents: |
    # AGENTS.md

    Team directory: {{teamDir}}

    Do this:
    - pick assigned work
    - move it to in-progress
    - do the work
    - hand off to testing when ready

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"]
---

# My First Team

This is a tutorial recipe.

Step 2 — scaffold the team

openclaw recipes scaffold-team my-first-team \
  --team-id my-first-team \
  --apply-config

You should now have a shared workspace like:

~/.openclaw/workspace-my-first-team/

Look around:

find ~/.openclaw/workspace-my-first-team -maxdepth 3 -type f | sort | head -n 50

Step 3 — create work

Dispatch a request into the team:

openclaw recipes dispatch \
  --team-id my-first-team \
  --owner lead \
  --request "Draft a welcome README for this team"

Now inspect tickets:

openclaw recipes tickets --team-id my-first-team

Step 4 — move work through the lanes

Start the ticket:

openclaw recipes take --team-id my-first-team --ticket 0001 --owner worker

Hand it to testing:

openclaw recipes handoff --team-id my-first-team --ticket 0001

Complete it:

openclaw recipes complete --team-id my-first-team --ticket 0001

Step 5 — inspect the generated workspace

Useful commands:

find ~/.openclaw/workspace-my-first-team/work -maxdepth 2 -type f | sort
cat ~/.openclaw/workspace-my-first-team/work/done/0001-*.md

This is the whole point: the team’s work is visible and durable on disk.

Common mistakes

Using the wrong team id

Use a stable team id and keep it consistent.

Forgetting `--apply-config`

If you want agent config entries written automatically, include --apply-config.

Expecting magic after install

ClawRecipes gives you the scaffolding and workflow system, but optional workflow features (LLM nodes, posting, etc.) may still require extra setup depending on your environment.

Next steps

Read these next:

And inspect a bundled recipe:

openclaw recipes show development-team

Getting started

ClawRecipes

ClawKitchen

Tutorial: create your first recipe

Step 0 — confirm ClawRecipes is installed

Step 1 — create a recipe file

Step 2 — scaffold the team

Step 3 — create work

Step 4 — move work through the lanes

Step 5 — inspect the generated workspace

Common mistakes

Using the wrong team id

Forgetting `--apply-config`

Expecting magic after install

Next steps

​Step 0 — confirm ClawRecipes is installed

​Step 1 — create a recipe file

​Step 2 — scaffold the team

​Step 3 — create work

​Step 4 — move work through the lanes

​Step 5 — inspect the generated workspace

​Common mistakes

​Using the wrong team id

​Forgetting --apply-config

​Expecting magic after install

​Next steps

Step 0 — confirm ClawRecipes is installed

Step 1 — create a recipe file

Step 2 — scaffold the team

Step 3 — create work

Step 4 — move work through the lanes

Step 5 — inspect the generated workspace

Common mistakes

Using the wrong team id

Forgetting `--apply-config`

Expecting magic after install

Next steps