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brucko

The Primer

by brucko · GitHub ↗ · v1.1.2
cross-platform ⚠ suspicious
2304
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4
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3
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4
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Install in OpenClaw
/install primer
Description
Bring Neal Stephenson's "Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" from The Diamond Age to life. Transform your AI from a helpful butler into a subversive tutor — one that adapts to your life stage, holds you accountable to who you're becoming, and has permission to challenge you. Use when setting up growth goals, accountability systems, life transitions, "who I want to become", personal development, or when someone wants their AI to challenge them rather than just help them.
Usage Guidance
What to consider before installing: - This skill will create files in your workspace (e.g., PRIMER.md) and temporarily store setup answers in .primer-setup.json, then delete that scratchpad. Review and back up your workspace first. - The setup script will attempt to modify AGENTS.md and SOUL.md to add the Primer to session startup. If you rely on custom startup behavior, inspect these changes before accepting them — they alter how your agent starts and behaves. - The skill prints cron-style jobs and recommends creating scheduled check-ins. It does not itself create system cron jobs, but it asks you to create them via the platform; confirm and control any scheduling actions. - There are no network calls or credential requests, which reduces exfiltration risk, but file-write and config-change behavior is persistent and can subtly change agent behavior over time. Review scripts/setup_primer.py to confirm it does only what you expect. - Recommended actions: run the script in a sandbox or test workspace first; open and read PRIMER.md, AGENTS.md, and SOUL.md diffs before committing changes; decide deliberately which Persona/permissions to grant (especially 'Full Primer'); and ensure any Miranda human/process you name consents to that role. - If you want stronger guarantees, ask the publisher for an explicit confirmation step before any write to AGENTS.md/SOUL.md or before scheduling check-ins, or modify the script to require explicit user approval for each file change.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill Name: primer Version: 1.1.2 The skill is classified as suspicious due to its use of high-risk capabilities, including modifying core agent configuration files (`AGENTS.md`, `SOUL.md`), creating cron jobs for persistence, and executing shell commands (`cat`, `rm`, `ls`, `grep`) as instructed in `SKILL.md` and automated by `scripts/setup_primer.py`. While these actions are explicitly described and appear to be for the stated purpose of integrating the 'Primer' persona and accountability system into the AI agent, they represent significant control over the agent's environment and behavior. There is no clear evidence of intentional harmful behavior such as data exfiltration or unauthorized remote control, but the broad permissions and system-level modifications warrant a 'suspicious' classification.
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
The skill's name/description map to what it does: collect user growth data, create PRIMER.md, and wire the Primer into the agent. The included setup script and templates are appropriate for producing a persistent 'tutor' document and marking permission bundles.
Instruction Scope
SKILL.md instructs the agent to create a scratchpad (.primer-setup.json), write PRIMER.md (the 'source of truth'), and later use PRIMER.md for session behavior. It explicitly directs reading/writing files in the workspace and suggests creating scheduled jobs. All actions are related to the Primer purpose, but the instructions give the skill procedural control over the workspace (create/remove files, suggest scanning for placeholders) — so users should expect persistent state and file mutations.
Install Mechanism
No install spec or external downloads. The skill is instruction-first and ships one straightforward Python script. No network fetches or third-party install steps are present in the package, so installation risk is low.
Credentials
The skill requests no environment variables, credentials, or external tokens. No suspicious secret access is requested in manifests or instructions.
Persistence & Privilege
The provided script writes PRIMER.md and modifies AGENTS.md and SOUL.md in the user's workspace to integrate the Primer into session startup. It also generates cron-like job config and instructs creation of cron jobs via the platform. While these changes are coherent with the skill's goal, programmatic modification of agent startup/config files and scheduling check-ins is a powerful, persistent capability that affects future agent behavior beyond a one-off setup and should be explicitly approved by the user.
How to Use
  1. Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
  2. Run the install command in chat: /install primer
  3. After installation, invoke the skill by name or use /primer
  4. Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v1.1.2
No user-facing changes in this version. Submit feedback or issues here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbmg1WNwVaVZdK2tYvY2QLy_b8LWnePMmESeywLZl8IFC6Cg/viewform?usp=dialog
v1.1.1
Add scratchpad for steps 0-3, create PRIMER.md at step 4 (checkpoint), add completion checklist and recovery flow.
v1.1.0
Added scratchpad persistence from step 0 in setup and moved PRIMER.md file creation to step 4 with a completion checklist and session recovery mode
v1.0.0
Bring the Diamond Age to life. The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer — now for OpenClaw. • Life stage adaptive (Building → Performing → Transitioning → Deepening) • Independent purpose, not just independent thought • Permission personas (Mirror → Companion → Coach → Sage → Full Primer) • The Miranda Protocol — external accountability built in • Daily AI self-reflection on tutor performance Inspired by Neal Stephenson. Built on Cattell's fluid/crystallized intelligence.
Metadata
Slug primer
Version 1.1.2
License
All-time Installs 3
Active Installs 3
Total Versions 4
Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Primer?

Bring Neal Stephenson's "Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" from The Diamond Age to life. Transform your AI from a helpful butler into a subversive tutor — one that adapts to your life stage, holds you accountable to who you're becoming, and has permission to challenge you. Use when setting up growth goals, accountability systems, life transitions, "who I want to become", personal development, or when someone wants their AI to challenge them rather than just help them. It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 2304 downloads so far.

How do I install The Primer?

Run "/install primer" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.

Is The Primer free?

Yes, The Primer is completely free (open-source). You can download, install and use it at no cost.

Which platforms does The Primer support?

The Primer is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).

Who created The Primer?

It is built and maintained by brucko (@brucko); the current version is v1.1.2.

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