Memorist Agent
by @yinghaojia
Memorist Agent — helps you capture your parents' and family members' life stories through adaptive interviews via WhatsApp, WeChat, or direct conversation. O...
clawhub install memorist-agent📖 About This Skill
name: memorist_agent description: "Memorist Agent — helps you capture your parents' and family members' life stories through adaptive interviews via WhatsApp, WeChat, or direct conversation. Organizes stories into memoir chapters. Local-first, privacy-protected. Bilingual: English + Chinese (普通话). Commands: /memorist_agent setup, interview, stories, compile, export, share." version: 0.1.0 license: MIT metadata: openclaw: emoji: "📖" os: ["darwin", "linux", "windows"] optional: anyBins: - mlx-whisper-transcribe - whisper install: - id: mlx-whisper kind: exec command: pip3 args: ["install", "mlx-whisper"] label: "Install mlx-whisper (Apple Silicon, recommended)" platforms: ["darwin"] - id: openai-whisper kind: brew formula: openai-whisper bins: ["whisper"] label: "Install OpenAI Whisper via Homebrew (Intel Mac / Linux fallback)" platforms: ["darwin", "linux"] allowed-tools: - file_read - file_write - whatsapp_send_message - fetch - web_search
Memorist Agent
Help your parents and grandparents tell their stories before it's too late.
Memorist Agent conducts adaptive, empathetic interviews across 9 life domains — in English or Chinese. It remembers every name, place, and year the narrator mentions and follows up with targeted questions to draw out richer memories.
Why Memorist Agent?
~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/. Nothing is uploaded to any server. You own your family's data completely./memorist_agent setup, answer 4 questions, and you're interviewing. Relay mode works immediately with zero configuration. WhatsApp auto-reply takes one extra command. The AI handles question flow, entity tracking, and story writing — you just talk to your family.Quick Start — Your First Interview
Step 1 — Set up a narrator:
/memorist_agent setup
Step 2 — Pick "Relay" mode (easiest — no extra config needed). You'll get questions to ask your narrator in person, over the phone, or via any messaging app. Type or paste their answers back.
Step 3 — Run the interview:
/memorist_agent interview --narrator "Dad"
That's it. After 3–5 questions, the skill saves a story fragment automatically.
Want hands-free WhatsApp? Pick "WhatsApp auto-reply" during setup instead. The narrator chats directly with their own dedicated agent — no copy-pasting needed. Requires WhatsApp gateway setup (see Prerequisites below).
What You Need
openclaw status should show gateway running.Nice to have (based on your setup):
| Feature | What to configure |
|---------|-------------------|
| WhatsApp auto-reply | WhatsApp linked (openclaw status), narrator's number in channels.whatsapp.allowFrom or dmPolicy: "open", mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/media |
| Telegram auto-reply | Telegram bot configured, narrator's numeric user ID in channels.telegram.allowFrom |
| WeCom auto-reply | @sunnoy/wecom plugin loaded, channels.wecom.enabled: true |
| iMessage auto-reply | macOS only. channels.imessage.enabled: true, narrator's phone/email in channels.imessage.allowFrom, Full Disk Access granted to terminal. Requires imsg CLI (brew install pj4533/homebrew-imsg/imsg) |
| Voice replies (TTS) | messages.tts configured in openclaw config — see references/media-and-voice.md |
| Voice note transcription | pip3 install mlx-whisper (Apple Silicon) or brew install openai-whisper, or run /memorist_agent setup-stt |
File paths use ~/.openclaw/ ($HOME/.openclaw/ on all platforms — macOS, Linux, Windows WSL).
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| /memorist_agent setup | Add a narrator and configure their interview channel |
| /memorist_agent interview [--narrator NAME] [--domain DOMAIN] | Start or continue an interview session |
| /memorist_agent spawn [--narrator NAME] | Enable auto-reply — creates a dedicated agent for this narrator |
| /memorist_agent despawn [--narrator NAME] | Disable auto-reply — remove the dedicated agent |
| /memorist_agent remind [--narrator NAME] | Send a gentle reminder to continue their story |
| /memorist_agent stories [--narrator NAME] [--domain DOMAIN] | Browse collected story fragments |
| /memorist_agent entities [--narrator NAME] | Show the entity map: people, places, years |
| /memorist_agent compile [--narrator NAME] | Compile fragments into polished memoir chapters |
| /memorist_agent export [--narrator NAME] [--format md\|json\|txt] | Export the memoir to a file |
| /memorist_agent share [--narrator NAME] | Invite a family co-editor to review |
| /memorist_agent status | Show all narrators, progress, and agent status |
| /memorist_agent setup-stt | Auto-install voice transcription |
Life Story Domains
| ID | Domain (EN) | Domain (ZH) | Sample Opening Question |
|----|-------------|-------------|------------------------|
| origins | Origins & Childhood | 出身与童年 | "Where were you born, and what's your earliest memory of home?" |
| growing-up | Growing Up | 成长岁月 | "What was school like for you? Who were your closest friends?" |
| family-history | Family History | 家族历史 | "Tell me about your parents — what kind of people were they?" |
| love | Love & Partnership | 爱情与伴侣 | "How did you and Mum/Dad first meet?" |
| work | Work & Career | 工作与事业 | "What was your first real job? What did you dream of becoming?" |
| places | Places & Journeys | 地方与旅途 | "What places have you lived in across your life?" |
| history | Historical Moments | 历史时刻 | "You lived through [decade] — what do you remember most?" |
| milestones | Family Milestones | 家庭里程碑 | "What family celebrations stand out most in your memory?" |
| wisdom | Values & Wisdom | 价值观与智慧 | "What's the most important lesson life has taught you?" |
Storage Layout
All data is stored locally at ~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/:
~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/
├── owner.json # Skill owner's name
├── narrators.json # Index of all narrators
├── narrators/
│ └── {narrator-id}/
│ ├── profile.json # Narrator metadata & domain progress
│ ├── entities.json # Extracted people, places, years
│ ├── sessions.json # Interview session log
│ ├── fragments/ # Story fragments by domain
│ ├── chapters/ # Compiled memoir chapters
│ ├── exports/ # Exported memoir files
│ └── workspace/ # Agent workspace (if auto-reply enabled)
/memorist_agent setup
Purpose: Register a narrator and choose how interviews will be conducted.
Steps:
1. First-run bootstrap: Create the data directory if it doesn't exist:
- mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/narrators
- If narrators.json doesn't exist, create it as [].
- If this is the first run, ask: "What's your name? (This is how narrators will know who set this up.)" Save to ~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/owner.json as { "name": "{name}" }. Skip if owner.json already exists.
2. Ask the user:
Let's set up your narrator. I'll ask a few questions. 1. What is their name? (e.g. "Dad", "Grandma Li", "Uncle Chen")
2. What's their relationship to you? (parent / grandparent / relative / friend)
3. What language should I interview them in?
[1] English
[2] Chinese (普通话)
[3] Both (start in Chinese, key summaries in English)
4. How should I conduct interviews?
[1] Relay — I give you questions, you ask them and bring back answers
(Works with any channel: in person, phone call, WeChat, etc.)
[2] WhatsApp auto-reply — they chat directly with a dedicated agent
(Requires WhatsApp gateway. I'll help you set it up.)
[3] iMessage auto-reply — they chat via iMessage with a dedicated agent
(macOS only. Requires iMessage channel configured.)
[4] Telegram auto-reply — they chat via Telegram with a dedicated agent
(Requires Telegram bot configured.)
[5] Live — the narrator is here right now, let's start talking
3. If "WhatsApp auto-reply" is selected:
a. Ask for their WhatsApp number (with country code, e.g. +1234567890).
b. Validate allowlist: Read the openclaw config and check if the number is in channels.whatsapp.allowFrom or if dmPolicy is "open". If NOT:
⚠️ {number} is not in your WhatsApp allowlist yet.
Their replies will be silently dropped without this. I can add it for you — shall I update channels.whatsapp.allowFrom?
[Yes, add it] / [No, I'll do it manually]
channels.whatsapp.allowFrom in the openclaw config file.
c. Verify gateway: Check openclaw status output. If WhatsApp is not linked:
⚠️ WhatsApp gateway is not connected.
Run: openclaw status
If WhatsApp shows "not linked", you'll need to pair it first. For now, I'll set up the narrator in Relay mode. You can switch to
WhatsApp auto-reply later with /memorist_agent spawn.
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/media (gateway rejects media from other paths).4. If "iMessage auto-reply" is selected:
a. Ask for their phone number or Apple ID email.
b. Check platform: If not macOS, warn: "iMessage is only available on macOS. Switching to Relay mode."
c. Validate allowlist: Check if the number/email is in channels.imessage.allowFrom or if dmPolicy is "open". Offer to add if missing (same flow as WhatsApp step 3b).
d. Verify iMessage: Check openclaw status — iMessage should show OK or configured. If not:
⚠️ iMessage channel is not configured.
Make sure:
1. channels.imessage.enabled: true in your openclaw config
2. imsg CLI is installed: brew install pj4533/homebrew-imsg/imsg
3. Full Disk Access is granted to your terminal app
(System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access) For now, I'll set up in Relay mode. Switch later with /memorist_agent spawn.
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/media.5. If "Telegram auto-reply" is selected:
a. Ask for their Telegram user ID (numeric). Explain: "Ask them to message @userinfobot on Telegram to get their numeric ID."
b. Validate allowlist: Check if the ID is in channels.telegram.allowFrom. Offer to add if missing.
c. Verify Telegram: Check openclaw status — Telegram should show OK. Warn and fall back to relay if not configured.
6. If "Live" is selected: Note that the narrator is present — skip channel setup, start interview immediately after setup completes.
5. Generate a narrator ID: narrator-{slug(name)}-{timestamp}.
6. Create ~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/narrators/{id}/ directory structure (including fragments/, chapters/, exports/ subdirs):
profile.json:
{
"id": "{narrator-id}",
"name": "{name}",
"relationship": "{relationship}",
"lang": "{en|zh|both}",
"channel": "{relay|whatsapp|imessage|telegram|live}",
"whatsapp": "{number or null}",
"imessage": "{phone or email or null}",
"telegram": "{numeric user ID or null}",
"replyFormat": "text",
"createdAt": "{ISO timestamp}",
"domains": {
"origins": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 },
"growing-up": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 },
"family-history": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 },
"love": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 },
"work": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 },
"places": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 },
"history": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 },
"milestones": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 },
"wisdom": { "status": "not-started", "fragmentCount": 0 }
}
}
entities.json: { "people": [], "places": [], "years": [], "events": [] }
sessions.json: []
7. Append narrator to narrators.json.
8. If channel is "whatsapp", "imessage", or "telegram", immediately recommend auto-reply:
Narrator added: {name}
Language : {lang}
Channel : WhatsApp ({number}) For the best experience, I recommend enabling auto-reply so {name}
can chat directly without you copy-pasting messages.
Enable now? /memorist_agent spawn --narrator "{name}"
[Skip — I'll use relay mode for now]
Otherwise (relay or live):
Narrator added: {name}
Language : {lang}
Channel : {channel}
Domains : 9 life story domains ready Start the first interview with:
/memorist_agent interview --narrator "{name}"
/memorist_agent interview
Purpose: Conduct one interview session covering one memory domain. Generates 1–3 story fragments and updates the entity map.
Usage:
/memorist_agent interview — auto-selects narrator and next domain/memorist_agent interview --narrator "Dad" — specific narrator/memorist_agent interview --narrator "Dad" --domain origins — specific domain/memorist_agent interview --narrator "Dad" --resume — continue last sessionHigh-level flow: 1. Load narrator context (profile, entities, prior fragments) 2. Pick next domain (or resume in-progress one) 3. Generate opening question adapted to language and prior context 4. Send question via configured channel (relay, WhatsApp, or live) 5. Run adaptive follow-up loop (3–5 exchanges per session) 6. Distill exchanges into a first-person story fragment 7. Update entity map and save all data
Error handling:
/memorist_agent setup first."/memorist_agent compile to create the memoir."For detailed step-by-step instructions, read: references/interview-workflow.md
Interview principles (read before first session): references/interview-principles.md
/memorist_agent remind
Purpose: Send a gentle, warm reminder to continue sharing stories.
Steps: 1. Load narrator profile. Find in-progress or next not-started domain. 2. Generate personalized reminder referencing something they already shared. 3. Send via WhatsApp if configured, otherwise display for relay.
/memorist_agent stories
Purpose: Browse collected story fragments.
Usage:
/memorist_agent stories — all fragments for default narrator/memorist_agent stories --narrator "Dad" --domain origins — filteredSteps: 1. Load all fragment files for the narrator. 2. Display grouped by domain: title, preview, people/places mentioned, pending follow-ups. 3. Show total fragment count and domain coverage.
/memorist_agent entities
Purpose: Show the entity map — all people, places, years, events extracted from stories.
Steps:
1. Load entities.json for the narrator.
2. Display grouped by type, with follow-up status (resolved vs pending).
3. Show count of unresolved entities that will be followed up automatically.
/memorist_agent compile, export, share
Purpose: Compile fragments into memoir chapters, export to file, share with family.
For detailed instructions, read: references/compile-export-share.md
/memorist_agent spawn, despawn
Purpose: Enable or disable auto-reply for a narrator. "Spawn" creates a dedicated, isolated agent that chats directly with the narrator — no copy-pasting needed. "Despawn" removes it.
After spawning, all messages from the narrator's WhatsApp/Telegram route directly to their personal agent. The main session is never touched.
Error handling:
openclaw gateway start, then try again."openclaw status to check."/memorist_agent interview."For detailed instructions, read: references/spawn-despawn.md
/memorist_agent status
Purpose: Overview of all narrators and their progress.
Steps:
1. Load narrators.json and each narrator's profile.json.
2. Display per narrator: name, relationship, language, channel, agent status, domain progress bar, fragment count, last session date.
3. Show available commands.
Memorist Agent — OverviewNarrators: {N}
───────────────────────────────
{name} ({relationship})
Language : {lang}
Channel : {Relay / WhatsApp auto-reply / Live}
Agent : {active/none}
Progress : {bar} {N}/9 domains
Fragments : {count} stories collected
───────────────────────────────
Common Issues
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---------|-------|-----|
| Narrator's WhatsApp replies don't arrive | Number not in allowlist | Add to channels.whatsapp.allowFrom in openclaw config, or set dmPolicy: "open" |
| /memorist_agent spawn fails | Gateway not running | openclaw gateway start or openclaw gateway restart |
| Media sends hang (text works) | Gateway WhatsApp connection crashed | openclaw gateway restart |
| Voice notes not transcribed | No STT tool installed | Run /memorist_agent setup-stt |
| Voice replies don't play properly | Wrong audio format | WhatsApp needs OGG/Opus, not MP3. See references/media-and-voice.md |
| TTS produces garbled speech | Wrong voice language | Set messages.tts.edge.voice to match narrator's language in openclaw config |
| Interview says "no narrators" | Haven't run setup yet | Run /memorist_agent setup first |
| All domains complete | Interviews finished | Run /memorist_agent compile to create the memoir |
Privacy Architecture
| Data | Where it lives | Who can access |
|------|---------------|----------------|
| Story fragments | ~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/ | Local machine only |
| Entity map | ~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/ | Local machine only |
| Interview sessions | ~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/ | Local machine only |
| Compiled chapters | ~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/ | Local machine only |
| WhatsApp messages sent | Narrator's WhatsApp | Narrator only |
| Exported files | Path you choose | You control sharing |
Claude AI processes text during active sessions. If privacy-sensitive, use relay mode — type questions manually and record answers yourself.
Tool Usage Notes
~/.openclaw/memorist_agent/.whatsapp./memorist_agent share with API option.For media format requirements, TTS config, STT setup, and troubleshooting, read: references/media-and-voice.md