dr-claw

Filter by source, configure your research domains, and never leave your workspace to keep up with the field — covers arXiv, HuggingFace (Daily Papers + Models / Datasets / Spaces), GitHub trending & new repos, WeChat 公众号 (via RSSHub), X, and Xiaohongshu.

Browse skills spanning ideation, code survey, experiment development & analysis, paper writing, review response, and delivery — agents auto-discover and apply them as task-level assistance throughout the pipeline.

Manual work is too slow. Fully automated AI is too generic. Vibe Researching is the new frontier. Dr. Claw turns your Research Taste into outsized outcomes with Agentic Execution–so you can move faster, think bigger, and still hold the line on scientific rigor.

• 📡 Auto Port Fallback 2026-03-26 — Port already taken? Dr. Claw finds a free one automatically. One less thing to worry about.
• 🏷️ Smart Prompt Loading 2026-03-26 — Tasks auto-load into Chat with a handy badge dropdown — just click and go!
• 🏷️ Session Stage Tags 2026-03-26 — Sessions are now auto-tagged by research stage — instantly see where each conversation stands.
• ✍️ Rebuttal Skill 2026-03-24 — New skill for crafting review rebuttals — turn reviewer feedback into publication-ready responses.
• 🧑‍💻 Multi-Session Support 2026-03-21 — Run multiple sessions in parallel with smart naming — juggle projects like a pro!
• 🗑️ Trash Bin 2026-03-21 — Accidentally deleted a project? Relax — it’s in the trash, ready to be restored.
• 🤖 Dr. Claw CLI & OpenClaw 2026-03-21 — Full CLI control plus an OpenClaw integration for mobile-friendly, voice-ready research management.
• 📚 Reference Library 2026-03-20 — Manage your papers with a streamlined picker and local Zotero support — your literature, organized.
• 🔀 Git Source Control 2026-03-20 — Stage, commit, diff, and switch branches without ever leaving the app. Version control, built in.
• 📰 News Dashboard 2026-03-14 — Stay on top of research-relevant updates right inside your workspace — never miss a trending paper!

• 💬 Interactive Chat + Shell — Chat with your agent or drop into a full terminal — side by side with your research context
• 📁 File & Git Explorer — Browse files with syntax highlighting, live-edit, stage changes, commit, and switch branches without leaving the UI
• 📱 Responsive & PWA-Ready — Desktop, tablet, and mobile layouts with bottom tab bar, swipe gestures, and Add-to-Home-Screen support
• 🔄 Session Management — Resume conversations, manage multiple sessions, and track full history across projects

Project Dashboard — Start from the project overview, review status, and launch end-to-end automation.

Skill Library — Browse reusable research skills across ideation, experimentation, and writing.

News Dashboard — Follow research-relevant updates without leaving the workspace.

Open your browser at http://localhost:5173 (or the port you configured in .env).

Open a second terminal (keep npm run dev running in the first) and install the drclaw CLI harness:

pip install -e ./agent-harness

Then log in with the credentials you created during setup:

drclaw auth login --username YOUR_USERNAME --password YOUR_PASSWORD

Install at least one agent CLI (if you haven’t already):

OpenRouter lets you use any model (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Llama, Mistral, Qwen, etc.) through a single API key. Select your model in the UI or set OPENROUTER_MODEL in .env.

Navigate to the project directory you want to work in and launch any of the agents:

cd /path/to/your/project
claude    # or: gemini | codex

Skills from dr-claw/skills/ are automatically symlinked into each project’s .claude/skills/ directory when the project is created, so the agent discovers them without extra configuration. You can also reference any skill manually inside a session:

> Read .claude/skills/inno-experiment-analysis/SKILL.md and follow it to analyze my results.

For a lightweight terminal-only experience using any OpenRouter model, use the built-in dr-claw chat command. No browser or UI required — just an interactive agentic session with full tool-calling capabilities (file I/O, shell, grep, glob, web search/fetch).

# Make sure OPENROUTER_API_KEY is set (or pass --key)
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...

# Launch a chat session with any model
node server/cli.js chat --model moonshotai/kimi-k2.5

You can also pass the API key inline:

node server/cli.js chat --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4 --key sk-or-your-key

Browse all available models at openrouter.ai/models.

# Development mode (launches Electron with hot reload)
npm run desktop:dev

# Build distributable installer (.dmg / .exe)
npm run desktop:dist

For details on the desktop architecture, IPC bridge, and CI/CD release process, see electron/README.md.

OpenClaw connects to Dr. Claw through the drclaw CLI, giving you project control, smart digests, and proactive notifications — all from your phone or chat app.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  User  (mobile / chat / voice)                              │
│    ↕                                                        │
│  OpenClaw  ── secretary layer ──────────────────────────┐   │
│    │  runs local `drclaw ...`       receives push msgs  │   │
│    ↓                                        ↑           │   │
│  drclaw CLI  ── stable control plane ──────────────┐    │   │
│    │  JSON + openclaw.* schema          WebSocket   │    │   │
│    ↓                                        │       │    │   │
│  Dr. Claw Server                        Watcher ────┘    │   │
│    (projects, sessions, pipelines, artifacts)            │   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The integration has three layers:

Quick Start (6 steps)

1. Start the server

npm install && npm run dev       # or: drclaw server on
drclaw --json auth status        # verify reachability

drclaw server status only reports the daemon from drclaw server on. If you started Dr. Claw with npm run dev, it may show STOPPED even though http://localhost:3001 is working — use auth status as the real check.

2. Install the CLI

pip install -e ./agent-harness
drclaw --help

If drclaw is not on your PATH:

PYTHONPATH=agent-harness python3 -m cli_anything.drclaw.drclaw_cli --help

3. Authenticate

drclaw auth login --username <user> --password <pass>
drclaw --json projects list      # should return your projects

4. Link OpenClaw

drclaw install --server-url http://localhost:3001
# with push channel:
drclaw install --server-url http://localhost:3001 --push-channel feishu:<chat_id>

This copies the Dr. Claw skill, installs wrapper scripts, and saves the server URL and CLI path.

5. Verify the core loop

Run these four commands from OpenClaw — if they all return valid JSON, the integration is live:

drclaw --json projects list                            # resolve projects
drclaw --json chat waiting                             # find sessions needing input
drclaw --json digest portfolio                         # cross-project summary
drclaw --json workflow status --project <project>      # single-project status

6. Reply into a session

drclaw --json chat waiting                             # pick a session
drclaw --json chat reply --project <proj> --session <sid> -m “Continue with option B.”
drclaw --json chat waiting --project <proj>            # confirm it cleared

For multi-turn discussion within the same project:

drclaw --json chat project --project <proj> --session <sid> -m “Summarize blockers.”

Structured Schema

Machine-facing commands return a versioned openclaw field. Current families:

Client rendering tips:

Always prefer the openclaw payload over raw reply text when both are present.

Full contract: agent-harness/cli_anything/drclaw/SCHEMA.md

Proactive Watcher

The watcher is event-driven — it subscribes to Dr. Claw WebSocket events and only notifies on attention-worthy changes.

# Configure push channel
drclaw openclaw configure --push-channel feishu:<chat_id>

# Manage the watcher
drclaw --json openclaw-watch on --to feishu:<chat_id>
drclaw --json openclaw-watch status
drclaw --json openclaw-watch off

How it works:

WebSocket event → project resolution → snapshot diff → signal derivation
                                                          ↓
                         dedup (6h TTL) ← stable signature + signal kinds
                                                          ↓
                         openclaw agent --deliver → Feishu / Lark summary
                                (fallback: plain bridge push)

Derived signals:

State and logs:

• ~/.drclaw/openclaw-watcher-state.json
• ~/.drclaw/logs/openclaw-watcher.log

Serialized Local Turns

When OpenClaw calls openclaw agent --local repeatedly, use the wrapper script to avoid session-lock collisions:

agent-harness/skills/dr-claw/scripts/openclaw_drclaw_turn.sh \
  --json -m “Use your exec tool to run \`drclaw --json digest portfolio\`. Return only raw stdout.”

Rule of thumb: stable serial turns are always better than risky parallel turns.

Integration Checklist

Your OpenClaw integration is complete when all of these work:

• OpenClaw can list Dr. Claw projects
• OpenClaw can identify waiting sessions
• OpenClaw can reply into a chosen session
• OpenClaw can produce a digest portfolio summary
• OpenClaw receives at least one watcher-driven push in Feishu / Lark

At that point, OpenClaw becomes Dr. Claw’s mobile secretary. Users can speak naturally:

”Which projects are waiting for my reply?” ”Summarize this project’s progress and blockers.” ”Reply to that session: go with option B and report back.” ”Give me a cross-project summary and what to focus on today.” ”I have a new idea — create a project, discuss it with me, and start planning.”

OpenRouter is integrated as a first-class provider, giving you access to hundreds of models (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Llama, Mistral, Qwen, Kimi, and more) through a single API key.

Setup

1. Get an API key at openrouter.ai/keys.
2. Set the key in one of three ways:
   • Environment variable: export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...
   • .env file: add OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-... to your project .env
   • UI: go to Settings → OpenRouter and paste your key

Using OpenRouter in the UI

1. Open a project and go to Chat.
2. Under Choose Your AI Assistant, click OpenRouter.
3. Search for a model in the dropdown (it fetches the full list from OpenRouter) or type a custom model slug.
4. Start chatting — the agent has the same tool-calling capabilities as Claude, Gemini, and Codex (file read/write, shell, grep, glob, web search/fetch, todo).

OpenRouter is also available in Auto Research on the Project Dashboard — select it as the provider and pick any model.

Using OpenRouter in the Terminal

No browser needed. The dr-claw chat CLI gives you a fully agentic terminal session:

# Basic usage
node server/cli.js chat --model moonshotai/kimi-k2.5

# With an explicit API key
node server/cli.js chat --model deepseek/deepseek-r1 --key sk-or-your-key

The CLI supports the same tools as the UI (file I/O, shell, grep, glob, web search, web fetch, todo). Type your message and the agent will execute multi-step research tasks autonomously.

Default Model

Set OPENROUTER_MODEL in .env to change the default model used when none is specified:

OPENROUTER_MODEL=moonshotai/kimi-k2.5

If unset, the default is anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.

When you first open Dr. Claw you will see the Projects sidebar. You have two options:

• Open an existing project — Dr. Claw auto-discovers registered projects and linked sessions from Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini.
• Create a new project — Click the “+” button, choose a directory on your machine, and Dr. Claw will set up the workspace: agent folders such as .claude/, .agents/, .gemini/, standard workspace metadata, linked skills/ directories, preset research dirs (Survey/references, Survey/reports, Ideation/ideas, Ideation/references, Experiment/code_references, Experiment/datasets, Experiment/core_code, Experiment/analysis, Publication/paper, Promotion/homepage, Promotion/slides, Promotion/audio, Promotion/video), and instance.json at the project root with absolute paths for those directories. Cursor agent support is coming soon.

Default project storage path: New projects are stored under ~/dr-claw by default. You can change this in Settings → Appearance → Default Project Path, or set the WORKSPACES_ROOT environment variable. The setting is persisted in ~/.claude/project-config.json.

After creating or opening a project, Dr. Claw opens Chat by default. If no research pipeline exists yet, an onboarding banner appears with a Use in Chat button that injects a starter prompt.

Describe your research idea — even a rough one is fine. The agent uses the inno-pipeline-planner skill to ask clarifying questions and then generates:

• .pipeline/docs/research_brief.json (your structured research brief)
• .pipeline/tasks/tasks.json (the task pipeline)

Switch to Research Lab to review the generated tasks, progress metrics, and artifacts. Then execute tasks:

1. Choose a CLI backend from the CLI selector (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, or Codex).
2. In Research Lab, click Go to Chat or Use in Chat on a pending task.
3. The agent executes the task and writes results back to the project.

If you want Dr. Claw to execute the generated task list end-to-end for you, use Auto Research:

1. Open Settings → Email and configure Notification Email, Sender Email, and Resend API Key.
2. Make sure your project already contains .pipeline/docs/research_brief.json and .pipeline/tasks/tasks.json.
3. Open the Project Dashboard and click Auto Research on the project card.
4. Use Open Session to jump into the live Claude session created for the run.
5. When all tasks finish, Dr. Claw sends a completion email. If the session is interrupted, stale runs are recovered automatically so they can be cancelled cleanly instead of staying stuck in running.

Auto Research Hub (sidebar → Auto Research) lets you browse and configure third-party research tool packs. Three packs are available:

How to use:

1. Open Auto Research from the sidebar.
2. Pick a pack and expand Included Workflows to see available slash commands.
3. If the pack requires configuration (e.g. ARIS), expand Configuration, select an MCP Reviewer, enter your API key, and click Auto Configure.
4. Go to Chat, click the Auto Research dropdown above the input box, select the pack and workflow.
5. Enter your research topic — the agent executes the workflow end-to-end and writes results to your project.

Zero-dependency packs (Autoresearch, DeepScientist) work out of the box — no configuration step needed.

If the agent cannot search webpages, your current permission settings are likely too restrictive. Also check whether a runtime network lock is still active for the process.

1. Check the runtime network lock:

echo "${CODEX_SANDBOX_NETWORK_DISABLED:-0}"

If the output is 1, network requests can remain blocked even if Settings permissions are opened. Remove or override this variable in your deployment or startup layer (shell profile, systemd, Docker, PM2), then restart Dr. Claw.

2. Open Settings (gear icon in sidebar).
3. Go to Permissions, then choose your current agent:

• Claude Code:
  • Enable WebSearch and WebFetch in Allowed Tools.
  • Ensure they are not present in Blocked Tools.
  • Optionally enable Skip permission prompts if you want fewer confirmations.
• Gemini CLI:
  • Choose an appropriate Permission Mode.
  • Allow google_web_search and web_fetch in Allowed Tools when web access is required.
  • Ensure they are not present in Blocked Tools.
• Codex:
  • In Permission Mode, switch to Bypass Permissions when web access is required.

4. Return to Chat, start a new message, and retry your web-search prompt.

Codex permission mode notes:

• Default / Accept Edits: sandboxed execution; network may still be restricted by session policy.
• Bypass Permissions: sandboxMode=danger-full-access with full disk and network access.

Security note:

• Use permissive settings only in trusted projects/environments.
• After finishing web search tasks, switch back to safer settings.

Each agent may require a one-time trust confirmation before it can execute code in your project directory. If Chat freezes or shows a trust prompt, switch to the Shell tab inside Dr. Claw and approve the prompt there.

Steps:

1. Switch to the Shell tab in Dr. Claw.
2. Approve the trust/auth prompt shown in Shell.
3. Return to Chat and resend your message.

By default, trust flow is already enabled in Dr. Claw, so you usually do not need to manually run extra trust commands.

The trust decision is persisted per directory — you only need to do this once per project.

Shell tab not working? If the Shell tab shows Error: posix_spawnp failed, see docs/faq.md for the fix, then retry.

You can switch tabs at any time:

Dr. Claw now uses the generated Pipeline Task List as the execution flow. The project includes 100+ skills under skills/ to support research tasks (idea exploration, code survey, experiment development/analysis, writing, review, and delivery). These skills are discovered by the agent and can be applied as task-level assistance throughout the workflow.

Mobile & Tablet

Dr. Claw is fully responsive. On mobile devices:

• Bottom tab bar for thumb-friendly navigation
• Swipe gestures and touch-optimized controls
• Add to Home Screen to use it as a PWA (Progressive Web App)

Architecture

System Overview

┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Frontend      │    │   Backend       │    │  Agent          │
│   (React/Vite)  │◄──►│ (Express/WS)    │◄──►│  Integration    │
│                 │    │                 │    │                │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

Backend (Node.js + Express)

• Express Server - RESTful API with static file serving
• WebSocket Server - Communication for chats and project refresh
• Agent Integration (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, OpenRouter) - Process spawning, streaming, and session management
• File System API - Exposing file browser for projects

Frontend (React + Vite)

• React 18 - Modern component architecture with hooks
• CodeMirror - Advanced code editor with syntax highlighting

Security & Tools Configuration

🔒 Important Notice: Agent permissions are configurable per provider. Review Settings → Permissions before enabling broad file, shell, or web access.

Enabling Tools

To use web and tool-heavy workflows safely:

1. Open Settings - Click the gear icon in the sidebar
2. Choose an Agent - Claude Code, Gemini CLI, or Codex
3. Enable Selectively - Turn on only the tools or permission mode you need
4. Apply Settings - Your preferences are saved locally

Recommended approach: Start with the safest permission mode that still lets you complete the task, then relax settings only when needed.

We welcome contributions! Please follow these guidelines:

Getting Started

1. Fork the repository
2. Clone your fork: git clone <your-fork-url>
3. Install dependencies: npm install
4. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature

Development Process

1. Make your changes following the existing code style
2. Test thoroughly - ensure all features work correctly
3. Run quality checks: npm run typecheck && npm run build
4. Commit with descriptive messages following Conventional Commits
5. Push to your branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
6. Submit a Pull Request with:
   • Clear description of changes
   • Screenshots for UI changes
   • Test results if applicable

What to Contribute

• Bug fixes - Help us improve stability
• New features - Enhance functionality (discuss in issues first)
• Documentation - Improve guides and API docs
• UI/UX improvements - Better user experience
• Performance optimizations - Make it faster