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vinxu

Castreader Openclaw Skill

by vinxu · GitHub ↗ · v2.1.1 · MIT-0
darwinlinuxwin32 ⚠ suspicious
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Install in OpenClaw
/install castreader-openclaw-skill
Description
Read any web page aloud with natural AI voices. Extract article text from any URL and convert it to audio (MP3). Use when the user wants to: listen to a webp...
README (SKILL.md)

CastReader — Read Any Web Page Aloud

Setup (once per session)

cd \x3Cskill-directory> && npm install --silent 2>/dev/null

How to find target (chatId)

User messages look like: [Telegram username id:8716240840 ...] The number after id: is the target. You MUST use this number in every message tool call. Example: target is "8716240840".

When user sends a URL, follow these steps:

Step 1: Extract article

node scripts/read-url.js "\x3Curl>" 0

Returns: { title, language, totalParagraphs, totalCharacters, paragraphs[] }

Step 2: Show info + ask user to choose

Reply with this text:

📖 {title}
🌐 {language} · 📝 {totalParagraphs} paragraphs · 📊 {totalCharacters} chars

📋 Summary:
{write 2-3 sentence summary from paragraphs}

Reply a number to choose:
1️⃣ Listen to full article (~{totalCharacters} chars, ~{Math.ceil(totalCharacters / 200)} sec to generate)
2️⃣ Listen to summary only (~{summary_char_count} chars, ~{Math.ceil(summary_char_count / 200)} sec to generate)

STOP. Wait for user to reply 1 or 2.

Step 3a: User chose 1 (full article)

Reply: 🎙️ Generating full audio (~{totalCharacters} chars, ~{Math.ceil(totalCharacters / 200)} seconds)...

node scripts/read-url.js "\x3Curl>" all

Then send the audio file using the message tool:

{"action":"send", "target":"\x3CchatId>", "channel":"telegram", "filePath":"\x3CaudioFile>", "caption":"🔊 {title}"}

Reply: ✅ Done!

Step 3b: User chose 2 (summary only)

Reply: 🎙️ Generating summary audio...

Save the SAME summary text you showed in Step 2 to a file and generate:

echo "\x3Csummary text>" > /tmp/castreader-summary.txt
node scripts/generate-text.js /tmp/castreader-summary.txt \x3Clanguage>

Then send the audio file using the message tool:

{"action":"send", "target":"\x3CchatId>", "channel":"telegram", "filePath":"/tmp/castreader-summary.mp3", "caption":"📋 Summary: {title}"}

Reply: ✅ Done!

Rules

  • ALWAYS extract first (index=0), show info, wait for user choice. Never skip.
  • ALWAYS send audio files using the message tool with target (numeric chatId) and channel ("telegram"). Never just print the file path.
  • Do NOT use built-in TTS tools. ONLY use read-url.js and generate-text.js.
  • Do NOT use web_fetch. ONLY use read-url.js.
Usage Guidance
This skill does what it says: it uses Node + Puppeteer to load pages, run an in-page extractor, and then calls a CastReader TTS API to produce MP3 files. Before installing or using it, consider: 1) Privacy: the full extracted text of any URL you ask it to read is sent (by default) to http://api.castreader.ai:8123 — do not send sensitive or private pages unless you trust that service or change CASTREADER_API_URL to a service you control. 2) Installation: `npm install` will download many packages and Chromium via Puppeteer; run in a controlled environment if you prefer isolation. 3) Runtime impact: Puppeteer launches headless (and read-aloud can launch a visible Chrome) and may access a Chrome profile if configured; check CHROME_PROFILE and CASTREADER_EXT_PATH before running. 4) If you want to avoid external network transmission, you can host a local Kokoro-compatible TTS endpoint and set CASTREADER_API_URL to it, or inspect/modify the generate-* scripts to use a different TTS backend. If any of these behaviors are unacceptable or unclear, review the included scripts and extractor bundle source before enabling the skill.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill Name: castreader-openclaw-skill Version: 2.1.1 The skill bundle contains several high-risk security patterns and vulnerabilities. Most notably, it uses an unencrypted HTTP endpoint (http://api.castreader.ai:8123) to transmit web content extracted from sensitive platforms like Notion, Google Docs, and private AI chat interfaces (ChatGPT/Claude), exposing user data to MITM attacks. Additionally, SKILL.md provides instructions that create a shell injection risk by directing the agent to use 'echo' with unsanitized summary text. The 'extractor-bundle.js' is a large, complex payload designed to be injected into various high-privilege web sessions via Puppeteer, which, combined with the lack of transport security, poses a significant risk to data privacy.
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
Name/description (read webpages and produce MP3) align with the included files and runtime requirements: Node + Puppeteer are required to load pages and extract DOM content, and the scripts call an external TTS API to generate MP3s. The package.json, extractor bundle, and read/generate scripts support the claimed functionality.
Instruction Scope
SKILL.md confines the agent to running the provided node scripts (read-url.js, generate-text.js) and to using the `message` tool for delivery. However, those scripts execute a full browser (Puppeteer) to fetch/render pages and then POST the extracted text to an external TTS endpoint. The SKILL.md does not prominently warn that full page text (potentially sensitive) will be transmitted off-host.
Install Mechanism
There is no formal install spec in the registry, but SKILL.md instructs `npm install` which will install puppeteer and a large dependency tree and download Chromium. This is expected for a page-extraction engine that uses headless Chrome, but it writes packages and Chromium to disk and performs network downloads during setup.
Credentials
The skill declares no required env vars, and optional env vars (CASTREADER_API_URL, CASTREADER_VOICE, CASTREADER_SPEED, CASTREADER_API_KEY) are reasonable for configuring a TTS client. Still: the default API URL (http://api.castreader.ai:8123) means extracted page text will be sent to that third-party service by default. That is proportional to the feature but is a privacy risk that users should be aware of.
Persistence & Privilege
The skill is user-invocable and not always-enabled. It does not request elevated platform privileges in the registry metadata. Runtime behavior may interact with a Chrome user profile if CHROME_PROFILE is set, and read-aloud launches a non-headless browser with an extension path — those are optional runtime behaviors, not registry-level persistent privileges.
How to Use
  1. Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
  2. Run the install command in chat: /install castreader-openclaw-skill
  3. After installation, invoke the skill by name or use /castreader-openclaw-skill
  4. Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v2.1.1
Update README and docs to match v2.1 flow: extract→choose full/summary→generate audio
v2.1.0
v2.1: Add full/summary choice (reply 1 or 2). Fix audio sending with target+channel. Never print file path.
v2.0.0
v2.0: Simplified UX. Full article audio in one file. No buttons, no paragraph-by-paragraph. Show char count + estimated time before generating.
v1.8.1
Force all messages through message tool (no plain text replies). JSON examples for every step. Delete audio after completion to prevent auto-play.
v1.8.0
v1.8.0: Immediate feedback before every action. Summary audio must match displayed text. Delete audio after completion to prevent auto-play. Full message tool examples with buttons at every step.
v1.7.5
Explicit numeric chatId example in message tool calls to fix target resolution errors
v1.7.4
Fix message tool: add target/channel params. Add generate-text.js for summary audio. Summary Only now generates audio.
v1.7.3
Explicit message tool call examples with buttons parameter for Phase 1 and Phase 2
v1.7.2
Add npm install setup step; use inline buttons for Read Full / Summary Only
v1.7.1
Stronger two-phase flow instructions to prevent agent skipping Phase 1
v1.7.0
Two-phase UX
Metadata
Slug castreader-openclaw-skill
Version 2.1.1
License MIT-0
All-time Installs 1
Active Installs 1
Total Versions 11
Frequently Asked Questions

What is Castreader Openclaw Skill?

Read any web page aloud with natural AI voices. Extract article text from any URL and convert it to audio (MP3). Use when the user wants to: listen to a webp... It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 410 downloads so far.

How do I install Castreader Openclaw Skill?

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

Is Castreader Openclaw Skill free?

Yes, Castreader Openclaw Skill is completely free, licensed under MIT-0. You can download, install and use it at no cost.

Which platforms does Castreader Openclaw Skill support?

Castreader Openclaw Skill is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (darwin, linux, win32).

Who created Castreader Openclaw Skill?

It is built and maintained by vinxu (@vinxu); the current version is v2.1.1.

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