cairn
Project management for AI agents using markdown files. Install and use the cairn CLI to create projects, manage tasks, track status, and coordinate human-AI collaboration through a shared workspace of markdown files.
Why use this skill?
Manage your projects and AI agent tasks with Cairn. A markdown-based workspace that keeps you and your AI in sync with local, version-controlled project management.
Install via CLI (Recommended)
clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/gregoryehill/cairn-cliWhat This Skill Does
Cairn is an AI-native project management system designed to bridge the gap between human intent and AI execution. Instead of relying on proprietary cloud-based dashboards, Cairn turns your local file system into a structured, markdown-powered workspace. By generating standardized AGENTS.md and planning files, it provides your AI agent with the necessary context, role definitions, and project objectives to act autonomously. It facilitates a clear, version-control-friendly workflow where status updates, task tracking, and project deliverables are all stored as text files, making them easily readable by humans and machines alike.
Installation
To get started, install the CLI globally via npm:
npm install -g cairn-work
Once installed, run the initialization command:
cairn onboard
This creates the ~/cairn/ directory structure, which includes essential configuration files that agents use to interpret project requirements, success criteria, and autonomy levels. Ensure your agent has read/write permissions to this directory for optimal synchronization.
Use Cases
Cairn is ideal for developers and technical creators who want to manage complex projects while collaborating with autonomous agents. It excels in scenarios requiring iterative development, such as building software features, managing content pipelines, or tracking research projects. Because it relies on markdown with YAML frontmatter, it is perfectly suited for Git-integrated workflows, allowing for audit trails of every task transition and artifact creation. Whether you are managing a solo agent project or coordinating a multi-step task list, Cairn provides the structure necessary to maintain momentum without leaving your local environment.
Example Prompts
- "cairn create project 'Website Redesign' --description 'Modernizing the landing page' --objective 'Increase conversion by 15%'" - This sets the foundational intent for the AI to begin planning.
- "cairn list tasks --status pending" - Use this to ask your agent to pull up all work items that have not yet been started, allowing the agent to suggest which to prioritize next.
- "cairn start task-slug-123" - Instruct the agent to move a task into the 'in_progress' state based on the current autonomy settings defined in the task's frontmatter.
Tips & Limitations
Always define the 'Autonomy Level' for each task. Using 'propose' is the safest way to start, as it forces the agent to stop at the review stage, preventing unwanted deployment. Remember to run cairn update-skill if you update your CLI, as this ensures your context files stay synced with the latest agent-readable formats. A limitation to keep in mind is that while Cairn excels at project tracking, it is file-system dependent; ensure you are not clearing your cache or ~/cairn/ folder, or you will lose your project history. For best results, pair this with a git-tracked folder to keep your project evolution auditable.
Metadata
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Find the right skillPaste this into your clawhub.json to enable this plugin.
{
"plugins": {
"official-gregoryehill-cairn-cli": {
"enabled": true,
"auto_update": true
}
}
}Tags(AI)
Flags: file-write, file-read