Built for Windows power users, solo operators, and technical builders who want machine answers without unrestricted shell generation.
Describe the issue. PowerClaw previews or runs an approved tool chain, then returns an operator-style answer.
PowerClaw is for Windows operators who want faster machine diagnosis and cleanup without handing a model free-form command execution.
The model chooses tools, not raw PowerShell. The system only executes actions you already defined and approved through the tool registry.
This is meant to feel better on Windows than generic agents do. Event logs, services, Windows Search, local diagnostics, and filesystem workflows are core product value.
PowerClaw is optimized for inspectable automation. Preview a short intended tool chain with -Plan, block writes with -DryRun, require confirmation for destructive tools, and inspect the results.
The design is intentionally narrow: useful Windows operations, strong safety boundaries, and a fast path to a first real result.
The model picks from a known, approved list of tools. It never writes raw PowerShell. The blast radius of any action is defined at design time, not at query time.
Tools are auto-discovered from disk but only tools explicitly listed in tools-manifest.json become executable. Everything else is ignored.
Any tool marked Write risk pauses, shows you the arguments, and requires a typed confirmation token before executing.
COM, WMI, Task Scheduler, Windows Search index, native Office object models. Not a Linux tool ported to Windows.
Plans, tool requests, outcomes, final answers, and errors are logged as structured append-only entries. Use -Verbose to see the full request/response JSON. Use -Plan to preview without running.
Add a .ps1 file to tools/ with .CLAW_* metadata and add it to the manifest. No core changes needed.
The default workbench covers machine health, files, networking, local reads, and local knowledge search. Personal overlays stay outside the default onboarding path.
CPU load, RAM usage, uptime, top processes by CPU and memory.
Processes sorted by CPU or memory usage with configurable count.
Query System, Application, or Security event logs for errors and warnings.
Check Windows services — running, stopped, or failed auto-start services.
Active interfaces, TCP connections, DNS servers, external IP.
Per-process and connection-level network usage to spot who is talking and how much.
Disk usage across all drives, largest folders by size.
Windows Search index queries — by name, kind, size, date. Much faster than disk scan.
List files and folders in a directory with optional filtering.
Read any file and let the model reason about it — logs, configs, scripts, journals.
Search configured local knowledge directories for notes, docs, journals, and other text files. Defaults to Documents.
Delete specific full-path files. Sends to Recycle Bin by default, requires confirmation, blocks protected system locations, and limits batch/permanent delete scope.
Fetch-WebPage stays in the repo, but it is opt-in in the manifest, requires a one-time Playwright browser setup, and is meant as a secondary evidence source after local machine evidence. Machine-specific note-search tools still live under overlays\personal\ instead of the main portable tool directory.
Requires PowerShell 7+. You can start in demo mode with -UseStub, or configure an Anthropic or OpenAI API key for live runs. Webpage lookup stays out of the default path and is only a later add-on.
# Clone and enter the directory
git clone https://github.com/spinchange/PowerClaw.git
cd PowerClaw
Copy-Item .\config.example.json .\config.json # Or start from a provider-specific template Copy-Item .\config.claude.example.json .\config.json # or Copy-Item .\config.openai.example.json .\config.json
Import-Module .\PowerClaw.psd1 powerclaw -UseStub "What's eating my CPU?" powerclaw -UseStub "Find the 10 biggest files in Downloads"
# Set for this session $env:CLAUDE_API_KEY = 'sk-ant-...' # Or set provider=openai in config.json # and point api_key_env at OPENAI_API_KEY
Import-Module .\PowerClaw.psd1
Test-PowerClawSetup
powerclaw "What's eating my CPU?" powerclaw "Read config.json and explain my settings" powerclaw "Search my notes for PowerClaw setup decisions"
# Only if local machine evidence is not enough: # add Fetch-WebPage to approved_tools, then install its runtime pwsh -File .\Install-PowerClawWebRuntime.ps1
pwsh -File .\Install-PowerClaw.ps1 ` -ModuleRoot C:\dev\powershell-modules ` -BinRoot C:\dev\bin
The installer copies the example configs and seeds config.json in the installed module directory if needed.
PowerClaw is trying to be useful without asking you to trust a model with unconstrained shell access.
Only tools in tools-manifest.json can register. Discovery from disk is not enough to make a tool executable.
Write-risk tools pause and show arguments before execution. You must type the confirmation token to allow the operation.
Write tools are blocked unless the user goal explicitly asks for a destructive change. Advisory prompts stay read-only until the user asks to act.
Remove-Files accepts only fully qualified file paths, blocks deletes from Windows, System, Program Files, and ProgramData locations, caps delete batches by default, and limits permanent delete to one file per call.
-Plan shows a short intended tool chain before execution. Health checks and cleanup prompts can preview multiple planned steps instead of only the first tool.
-UseStub is the explicit no-key demo path for the flagship workflows, and each run remains inspectable for debugging and review.
PowerClaw can grow beyond these, but the default product story is strongest when it starts with the highest-value Windows workflows.
Use PowerClaw when your machine feels wrong and you want a fast, inspectable answer. Ask about CPU pressure, memory load, service failures, reboot timing, network state, and recent event log issues. The goal is one operator summary, not a pile of tool output.
powerclaw "Give me a full system health check"
Use PowerClaw to find the junk before you remove it. Search indexed files, inspect directory contents, identify large or stale items, then get a review-oriented answer about what looks worth checking before anything destructive happens.
powerclaw -Plan "Find the 10 biggest files in Downloads"
Use PowerClaw when the answer sits across a config, log, note, or local document set. Inspect local files, search configured knowledge directories, and pull supporting evidence into the machine diagnosis when it materially changes the answer. Web fetch remains available only as a later opt-in source when the local machine evidence is not enough.
powerclaw "Read config.json and explain my settings"
-Plan previews a short chain, -DryRun skips write tools, -Verbose exposes raw API traffic, and -UseStub runs an explicit demo path without an API key.