Life Capture
/install life-capture
life-capture
Turn natural-language life logs into durable records. This skill classifies each input item, generates tags, creates user-visible markdown, writes to a daily note under life/daily, and syncs structured data into life/db/life.db.
Default storage layout
Use these paths unless the user explicitly overrides them:
life/
daily/
ideas/
db/life.db
Create missing directories as needed. Never delete existing content. Append or update only.
Supported record types
Map every parsed item to exactly one primary type:
expense: spending, bills, purchases, subscriptions, refundstask: completed tasks, ongoing work, todos, chores, habitsschedule: calendar items, appointments, time blocks, plansidea: ideas, inspiration, possible projects, reflections worth saving
When a sentence contains multiple items, split it into multiple records.
Output contract
For each user request:
- Parse the message into one or more records.
- Generate a stable
idfor each record using the pattern:exp_YYYYMMDD_NNNtask_YYYYMMDD_NNNsched_YYYYMMDD_NNNidea_YYYYMMDD_NNN
- Generate 1 to 4 short tags.
- Show the user the organized result in markdown.
- Save the records by running
scripts/process_entry.py.
Always keep the original user wording in raw_text. Never invent missing fields. Leave unknown fields null.
User-visible response format
Because this skill is configured for visible output, show a concise but complete result after writing:
## 已整理记录
### 1) \x3Ctype label>
- ID: \x3Cid>
- 标签: #a #b
- 归档: \x3Cdaily markdown path>
- 数据库: \x3Cwritten/skipped>
#### Markdown
\x3Cthe markdown block written for this item>
#### JSON
```json
\x3Cthe parsed record json>
If there are multiple records, repeat the block for each one.
## Parsing rules
Use `scripts/parse_entries.py` for natural-language parsing. The parser now reads configurable rules from `references/parser_config.json`, so prefer editing that file instead of changing Python when you need new categories, tags, or keyword mappings.
### Expense
Extract when present:
- `amount`
- `currency` (default `CNY` only when the currency symbol or language implies RMB; otherwise null)
- `category`
- `subcategory`
- `merchant`
- `pay_method`
Default top-level tags often include `开销` plus one semantic tag such as `餐饮` or `交通`.
Preferred categories:
- 饮食
- 交通
- 购物
- 居家
- 社交
- 娱乐
- 医疗
- 学习
- 其他
### Task
Extract when present:
- `status` (`todo`, `doing`, `done`, `cancelled`)
- `priority` (`low`, `normal`, `high`)
- `project`
- `due_date`
- `completed_at`
If the user says they already did something, default status to `done`.
### Schedule
Extract when present:
- `schedule_date`
- `start_time`
- `end_time`
- `location`
- `status` (`planned`, `done`, `skipped`)
If the user uses relative dates, resolve them from the current conversation date. Prefer passing `--today YYYY-MM-DD` to `scripts/process_entry.py` or `scripts/parse_entries.py` so relative dates like `明天` are stable across environments.
### Idea
Extract when present:
- `idea_type`
- `status` (`captured`, `reviewing`, `used`, `archived`)
- `related_task_id`
Default status to `captured`.
## Configurable parsing rules
Before editing Python, check whether the change can be made in `references/parser_config.json`.
You can change:
- category and subcategory mappings for expenses
- task project mappings
- idea type mappings
- schedule extra tag mappings
- default tags by record type
- hint regexes used in type inference
To test a modified config without changing the bundled default file:
```bash
python scripts/parse_entries.py --config /path/to/custom_config.json --text "买咖啡 18 元,明天下午两点去体检"
Markdown writing rules
Write each record into the daily note for its effective date under one of these sections:
## 开销## 任务## 日程## 灵感
Use this block structure:
### \x3Cid>
- 时间:\x3Ctime or empty>
- 标签:#tag1 #tag2
- 原始描述:\x3Craw_text>
- 摘要:\x3Csummary>
Then add type-specific fields:
- Expense: 金额 / 币种 / 分类 / 子分类 / 商家 / 支付方式
- Task: 状态 / 优先级 / 项目 / 截止日期 / 完成时间
- Schedule: 日期 / 开始时间 / 结束时间 / 地点 / 状态
- Idea: 类型 / 状态 / 关联任务
Execution workflow
End-to-end one-command flow
Use this when the user provides natural language and wants the records saved immediately:
python scripts/process_entry.py --root life --db life/db/life.db --today 2026-03-10 --text "今天中午牛肉面 26 元,下午整理了书桌,想到可以做一个生活数据看板"
The wrapper script will:
- initialize the database if missing
- parse text into
{"records": [...]}withscripts/parse_entries.py - save markdown and sqlite rows with
scripts/save_entry.py - print parsed records plus save results as json
Split-step flow
Use this when the user asks to inspect or verify the structured output before writing:
python scripts/parse_entries.py --text "明天下午两点去体检,买咖啡 18 元"
Then save:
python scripts/save_entry.py --root life --db life/db/life.db --stdin-json
Database init only
Use this once before first write if life/db/life.db does not exist and you are not using process_entry.py:
python scripts/init_db.py --db life/db/life.db
Database sync rules
The database design is:
entriesexpensestasksschedulesideastagsentry_tags
See references/schema.md for the schema, references/examples.md for sample payloads and commands, and references/configuration.md plus references/parser_config.json for configurable parsing rules.
Failure handling
- If markdown write succeeds but database sync fails, say so clearly.
- Do not silently drop a record.
- If parsing is ambiguous, make the narrowest safe interpretation and preserve the original text.
- If a record is missing a critical type-specific field, still save the record with null fields rather than discarding it.
- Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
- Run the install command in chat:
/install life-capture - After installation, invoke the skill by name or use
/life-capture - Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
What is Life Capture?
capture daily-life notes into markdown and sqlite. use when the user wants to record one or more life entries such as expenses, completed tasks, schedules, r... It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 255 downloads so far.
How do I install Life Capture?
Run "/install life-capture" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.
Is Life Capture free?
Yes, Life Capture is completely free, licensed under MIT-0. You can download, install and use it at no cost.
Which platforms does Life Capture support?
Life Capture is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).
Who created Life Capture?
It is built and maintained by Matilda Johnson (@epitomizelu); the current version is v1.0.0.