OpenClaw - AI assistant with screenpipe memory

OpenClaw is a self-hosted personal AI assistant that connects to your messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, iMessage, etc.) and can take actions on your behalf. With screenpipe, OpenClaw can recall what you’ve seen on screen, reference past conversations, and answer questions about your digital history.

quick setup

One command makes OpenClaw screenpipe-aware: it installs the screenpipe skills into OpenClaw’s skills directory and registers the screenpipe MCP server in its config.

npx -y screenpipe@latest agent setup openclaw

Restart OpenClaw and it can search your screen history, audio transcriptions, and memories. The command is idempotent (safe to re-run) and preserves any MCP servers you already had.

Want to wire it up by hand, or run OpenClaw on another machine? See the manual and remote setups below.

same machine (manual)

If OpenClaw and screenpipe run on the same machine, setup is straightforward.

MCP

Add screenpipe to your OpenClaw MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "screenpipe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "screenpipe-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart OpenClaw — it will now have access to your screen history, audio transcriptions, and more. You can test the MCP server independently:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx screenpipe-mcp

custom skill (alternative)

Create ~/openclaw/skills/screenpipe/skill.md:

---
name: screenpipe
description: Search screen recordings and audio transcriptions from the user's computer
tools:
  - Bash
---

# screenpipe skill

Query the user's screen history via the local API at http://localhost:3030.

## search content

```bash
curl -s "http://localhost:3030/search?q=QUERY&limit=20"
```

## get recent activity

```bash
curl -s "http://localhost:3030/search?limit=10&content_type=all"
```

Restart OpenClaw to load the skill.

different machines

If OpenClaw runs on a different machine (e.g., a VPS or home server) than screenpipe, the simplest path is to sync your data over and run the one-command setup. You can also query screenpipe’s API over the network — see the options below.

recommended: selective sync + one-command setup

1. sync your data to the server (lightly). screenpipe’s remote sync pushes ~/.screenpipe over SSH — no cloud account needed. Skip the heavy media and exclude anything sensitive, so you ship just text, transcripts, and memories:

npx -y screenpipe@latest sync remote now \
  --host openclaw.example.com --user ubuntu \
  --key-path ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 --remote-path /home/ubuntu/.screenpipe \
  --no-media \
  --exclude "secrets/*" \
  --disable-clipboard-capture

--no-media skips screenshots and video — text, transcripts, and memories still sync.
--exclude <glob> is repeatable, and a <data-dir>/.screenpipeignore file (one glob per line) is honored too.

Put it on a timer for continuous sync (see the cron example below). 2. point OpenClaw at the synced data. On the server, one command writes the skill + MCP config targeting the local synced copy:

npx -y screenpipe@latest agent setup openclaw --api-url http://localhost:3030

Headless npx -y screenpipe@latest login writes the cloud token where the engine reads it, so cloud features work on the server without the desktop app.

option 1: query screenpipe’s REST API directly

If both machines are on the same network, OpenClaw can query screenpipe’s API directly. Use a custom skill: Create ~/openclaw/skills/screenpipe/skill.md:

---
name: screenpipe
description: Search screen recordings and audio transcriptions from the user's computer
tools:
  - Bash
---

# screenpipe skill

Query the user's screen history via their screenpipe REST API at http://SCREENPIPE_IP:3030.

## search content

```bash
curl -s "http://SCREENPIPE_IP:3030/search?q=QUERY&limit=20"
```

## filter by type

```bash
# screen content (accessibility-first text plus OCR fallback)
curl -s "http://SCREENPIPE_IP:3030/search?q=QUERY&content_type=all"

# audio transcriptions
curl -s "http://SCREENPIPE_IP:3030/search?q=QUERY&content_type=audio"
```

## activity summary

```bash
curl -s "http://SCREENPIPE_IP:3030/activity-summary?start_time=2024-01-15T10:00:00Z&end_time=2024-01-15T18:00:00Z"
```

## list meetings

```bash
curl -s "http://SCREENPIPE_IP:3030/meetings?limit=20"
```

Replace SCREENPIPE_IP with the IP of the machine running screenpipe. If the machines aren’t on the same network, use Tailscale to create a private network between them.

option 2: push data to the OpenClaw machine over SSH

Use screenpipe’s built-in remote sync to push your ~/.screenpipe/ directory to the OpenClaw machine over SFTP. No screenpipe-cloud account needed — just SSH access to your server.

⚠️ clipboard sensitivity: Remote sync includes clipboard events and content by default. If you’re syncing to a less-trusted machine (VPS, shared server), disable clipboard capture first with --disable-clipboard-capture to avoid syncing passwords, API keys, or other sensitive data that flows through your clipboard.

On the laptop (or any machine recording):

# one-shot push (excludes clipboard)
npx -y screenpipe@latest sync remote now \
  --host openclaw.example.com \
  --user ubuntu \
  --key-path ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 \
  --remote-path /home/ubuntu/.screenpipe \
  --disable-clipboard-capture

# verify SSH first if you want
npx -y screenpipe@latest sync remote test --host ... --user ... --key-path ... --remote-path ...

# auto-discover candidate hosts from ~/.ssh/config
npx -y screenpipe@latest sync remote discover

Run that on a cron / launchd / systemd timer for continuous sync:

# crontab -e — every 15 minutes (without clipboard)
*/15 * * * * npx -y screenpipe@latest sync remote now \
  --host openclaw.example.com --user ubuntu \
  --key-path /home/me/.ssh/id_ed25519 --remote-path /home/ubuntu/.screenpipe \
  --disable-clipboard-capture

Or set env vars instead of flags: SCREENPIPE_REMOTE_HOST, SCREENPIPE_REMOTE_USER, SCREENPIPE_REMOTE_KEY, SCREENPIPE_REMOTE_PATH. On the OpenClaw machine, point its skill at the synced directory or run a local screenpipe pointing to the same data dir — OpenClaw can then query localhost:3030 as if the data were captured locally.

The old Settings → Cloud sync flow is being phased out in favor of explicit remote sync setups. Use npx -y screenpipe@latest sync remote for new setups where you control the destination.

available MCP tools

When connected via MCP (same machine setup), OpenClaw gets access to these tools:

Tool	Description
search-content	Search screen text (accessibility-first with OCR fallback), audio transcriptions, user input. Supports time range, app, window, and speaker filters.
activity-summary	Lightweight overview of app usage, audio speakers, and recent texts for a time range (~200 tokens).
search-elements	Search structured UI elements (buttons, links, text fields) from the accessibility tree.
frame-context	Get full accessibility tree, URLs, and text for a specific frame.
list-meetings	List detected meetings with duration, app, and attendees.
export-video	Export screen recordings as MP4 for a time range.

The MCP server also provides resources (screenpipe://context for current time, screenpipe://guide for search strategy) and prompts (search-recent, find-in-app, meeting-notes).

example prompts

Once configured, message OpenClaw from any chat app:

“what was I reading about yesterday afternoon?”
“find the slack message from john about the deployment”
“what code was I looking at in cursor this morning?”
“summarize my meetings from last week”
“what tabs did I have open when researching that bug?”
“when did I last see the budget spreadsheet?”
“what did I copy to clipboard recently?”
“show me what buttons I clicked in Figma today”

build a second brain (automation)

the prompts above answer questions on demand. to have OpenClaw proactively segment your workflows, summarize your processes, and keep a living memory of you — like the digital clone pipe, but inside OpenClaw — paste the prompt from build a second brain into OpenClaw and let it run on a schedule. prefer to run it inside the screenpipe app instead of OpenClaw? do the same thing as a pipe — npx -y screenpipe@latest pipe install <path> && npx -y screenpipe@latest pipe enable <name> (bunx works too).

troubleshooting

MCP not connecting?

Test the server: npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx screenpipe-mcp
Check screenpipe is running: curl http://localhost:3030/health

remote machine can’t reach screenpipe?

Check Tailscale is connected: tailscale status
Check SSH tunnel is up: curl http://localhost:3030/health on the remote
Make sure screenpipe is running on your computer

no results from queries?

Verify screenpipe is running: curl http://localhost:3030/health
Ensure screenpipe has screen recording permissions

​quick setup

​same machine (manual)

​MCP

​custom skill (alternative)

​different machines

​recommended: selective sync + one-command setup

​option 1: query screenpipe’s REST API directly

​option 2: push data to the OpenClaw machine over SSH

​available MCP tools

​example prompts

​build a second brain (automation)

​troubleshooting

quick setup

same machine (manual)

MCP

custom skill (alternative)

different machines

recommended: selective sync + one-command setup

option 1: query screenpipe’s REST API directly

option 2: push data to the OpenClaw machine over SSH

available MCP tools

example prompts

build a second brain (automation)

troubleshooting