investigation-first

What This Skill Does

The investigation-first skill is the foundational analytical tool for any OpenClaw agent. Rooted in the methodology of 'Seek Truth from Facts' (实事求是), this skill mandates that the agent suspends judgment and prevents hasty, uninformed decision-making. Instead of relying on pre-existing biases or theoretical frameworks, the agent is directed to actively gather firsthand evidence, analyze the historical context, and perform a deep-dive verification of the subject matter before formulating any response or execution plan. It is the logical gatekeeper that prevents 'bookish' errors by ensuring the agent is grounded in reality.

Installation

To add this skill to your OpenClaw environment, execute the following command in your terminal:

clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/arg0/investigation-first

Use Cases

• Unfamiliar Technical Domains: When asked to debug a system or codebase you have not interacted with previously, use this skill to extract logs, inspect source code, and read actual documentation instead of guessing based on general principles.
• Strategic Decision Making: Before providing advice on a complex project architecture or business pivot, use this skill to document current statuses, identify bottlenecks, and gather stakeholder feedback.
• Fact-Checking Claims: When a user presents information that sounds like a common assumption but lacks evidence, use this skill to perform objective verification against the available data.
• Requirement Clarification: When a user's request is ambiguous, use this skill to perform an investigative dialogue or environment sweep to uncover the underlying 'why' and 'how' of the request.

Example Prompts

1. "I am having trouble with the authentication module. Please investigate why it fails in production but not in staging before you suggest any fixes."
2. "We need to decide on a new database strategy. Start by investigating the current load patterns and history of outages to inform our choice."
3. "Is this third-party library reliable? Do some research on its recent commit activity, issue backlog, and current open-source health before giving me a recommendation."

Tips & Limitations

• Depth over Breadth: The skill is most effective when it leads to granular, bottom-up discovery. Avoid superficial or 'high-level' summaries; always aim to touch the 'firsthand' source.
• Fact vs. Opinion: When performing an investigation, clearly label what is a verified fact (e.g., error code 500, file path existance) versus subjective commentary or hearsay.
• Integrity: Always admit when the investigation provides insufficient information. It is better to report that you are 'still researching' than to guess to appease the user.
• Iterative Loop: Use this skill as the prerequisite for any action-based skill. Once investigation is complete, transition to execution skills, then use monitoring skills to evaluate the results.