California

---

name: California slug: california version: 1.0.0 homepage: https://clawic.com/skills/california description: Navigate California for living, moving, working, and road trips with region fit, housing reality, hazard planning, and daily logistics. changelog: "Initial release with resident-first California guidance, regional tradeoffs, and practical state-level logistics." metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🌊","requires":{"bins":[],"config":["~/california/"]},"os":["linux","darwin","win32"],"configPaths":["~/california/"]}}

---

When to Use

User needs California-specific guidance that generic U.S. advice usually gets wrong: choosing a region, moving, licensing, housing, taxes, wildfire and earthquake readiness, healthcare, schools, commuting, or statewide trip planning.

This skill should activate for four modes: visiting, moving to California, living in California, and operating a California-based business.

Architecture

This skill works statelessly for one-off California questions. If the user wants continuity across sessions, memory lives in ~/california/. If ~/california/ does not exist, read setup.md, explain planned local storage in plain language, and ask for confirmation before creating files. See memory-template.md for structure.

~/california/
└── memory.md     # User context, region, timelines, constraints, and open loops

Quick Reference

| Topic | File | |-------|------| | Setup guide | setup.md | | Memory template | memory-template.md | | Regions, metros, and base-city tradeoffs | regions.md | | Move-in sequence and relocation checklist | moving-and-settling.md | | Driver license, registration, smog, and DMV flow | california-dmv-and-vehicles.md | | Renting, buying, insurance pressure, and property fit | housing-and-insurance.md | | Electricity, water, gas, internet, and recurring bills | utilities-and-bills.md | | Taxes, salary reality, and total cost of life | costs-and-taxes.md | | Wildfire, earthquake, flood, and outage readiness | hazards-and-preparedness.md | | Laws, scams, and practical safety | laws-and-safety.md | | Schools, childcare, and family-location logic | family-and-schools.md | | Health insurance, care access, and plan selection | healthcare-and-coverage.md | | Work, startups, LLCs, and statewide business tradeoffs | work-and-business.md | | Transit, driving, and commute design | transit-and-commutes.md | | Road trips, parks, and visiting strategy | road-trips-and-visiting.md | | Official sources map | sources.md |

Core Rules

1. Classify the User Before Giving Advice

Decide which California mode applies first: visitor, future resident, current resident, or business operator.

Then anchor the answer to the user's region, metro, county, ZIP, and school district when those variables change the recommendation.

If that context is missing, ask for it before pretending California is one market.

2. Separate State Rules from Local California Reality

California-level rules are only the first layer. City, county, utility territory, school district, coastal or inland climate, and insurance exposure often change the real answer.

Always label which parts are statewide and which parts must be verified locally.

For address-specific questions, prefer official portals over generic summaries.

3. California Is a Set of Distinct Operating Environments

Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire, San Diego, Sacramento, Central Coast, and mountain or desert regions do not solve the same problem.

Never compare them as if only rent changes.

The correct answer usually depends on housing cost, commute shape, hazard exposure, and job geography together.

4. Total Cost Beats Headline Rent or Salary

Include state income tax, sales tax variation, car or transit cost, parking, utilities, insurance, and hazard-driven costs.

For homeowners and renters, mention wildfire or earthquake readiness, deductible pressure, and availability problems when relevant.

Use costs-and-taxes.md before saying a place is "worth it."

5. Hazard Planning Changes Good Advice

Wildfire, smoke, earthquake, flood, mudslide, drought, heat, and outage risk are not side notes.

Adjust home choice, commute, trip design, and insurance guidance around actual exposure.

When hazard risk matters, lead with readiness and fallback plans, not scenery.

6. Deliver Sequence, Not Brochure Copy

California users often need deadlines, documents, portals, and tradeoffs.

For administrative topics, answer in the form "do this today / this week / later" whenever possible.

For destination or relocation topics, show why one base region fits better than another.

Before creating or changing local files in ~/california/, explain the planned write and ask for confirmation.

7. Use Official Sources for Unstable Rules

DMV steps, smog rules, tax rates, wildfire insurance issues, district boundaries, and health-coverage details can change.

Verify current information from the official state or local source before giving precise compliance steps.

If current verification is blocked, say so plainly and avoid false precision.

Common Traps

Treating California like one state experience instead of multiple different markets and risk zones.

Recommending a neighborhood or suburb without checking commute shape, insurance stress, and district fit.

Comparing salaries without subtracting state tax, parking, transit, utilities, and local cost pressure.

Ignoring wildfire, smoke, earthquake, or flood exposure until after housing is narrowed.

Mixing up DMV, CDTFA, FTB, Covered California, CPUC-regulated utilities, and local school or county systems.

Planning California travel by map distance instead of traffic, mountain timing, permits, and seasonal hazard conditions.

External Endpoints

| Endpoint | Data Sent | Purpose | |----------|-----------|---------| | https://www.ca.gov | Page requests only unless user explicitly wants form guidance | State services and resident tasks | | https://www.dmv.ca.gov | Page requests only unless user explicitly provides case details | Driver license, REAL ID, registration, and smog workflows | | https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov | Page requests only unless user explicitly wants tax-specific guidance | Sales tax and local district tax guidance | | https://www.ftb.ca.gov | Page requests only unless user explicitly wants income-tax guidance | State income tax references and resident tax workflows | | https://www.calfire.ca.gov | ZIP, county, or region references if the user asks for wildfire-specific guidance | Wildfire preparedness and local fire-risk context | | https://www.earthquake.ca.gov | Page requests only | Earthquake alerts and preparedness guidance | | https://www.insurance.ca.gov | ZIP, county, or region references if the user asks for insurance or wildfire-loss guidance | Insurance help, wildfire consumer protections, and claims guidance | | https://www.coveredca.com | County or ZIP if the user asks for marketplace coverage help | Health insurance marketplace and plan lookup | | https://www.cde.ca.gov | ZIP, city, district, or school references if the user asks for school matching | Education and school district framework |

No other data is sent externally.

Security & Privacy

Data that may leave your machine:

Public page requests to official California agencies and official service portals

ZIP, county, or district data only when the user asks for location-specific guidance

Data that stays local:

Region preference, move timeline, family constraints, vehicle notes, and open tasks in ~/california/

This skill does NOT:

Submit government forms on the user's behalf without explicit instruction

Store credentials, SSNs, or payment information in local memory

Assume local rules when the answer depends on a city, county, district, or utility territory

Trust

By using this skill, location details such as ZIP, county, or district may be checked against official California or local-government websites when the user asks for precise guidance.

Only install if you trust those public services with that lookup context.

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install if user confirms:

travel — General itinerary design and travel planning structure

car-rental — Rental car, pickup, and handoff decisions for California trips

home-buying — Deeper purchase workflow support after region and housing fit are narrowed

health-insurance — More detailed insurance-plan comparison and terminology support

business — Broader business operations guidance beyond California-specific rules

Feedback

If useful: clawhub star california

Stay updated: clawhub sync