A task manager your OpenClaw agent can run

OpenClaw is great at doing things. It is less good at remembering what still needs doing. PerspecTask gives it a real task list: add the pt CLI as a skill and your agent can create, update, and schedule tasks on its own, while you watch and steer from the app.

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  1. You: I want to run my first marathon next October. Make it real.

  2. OpenClaw: It’s your 2027 goal now, split into 4 quarters: base miles, a half marathon, long runs, taper. This week is 3 easy runs.

  3. You: Did 5k this morning. Felt amazing.

  4. OpenClaw: Checked off, your first run of the plan. Thursday’s 6k is next. Your whole year: app.perspectask.com

Why pair OpenClaw with PerspecTask?

OpenClaw is a free, open-source AI agent that runs on your own hardware and takes actions through your chat apps. It has no built-in place to track ongoing work. PerspecTask is that place: a task manager OpenClaw drives through a CLI. The tasks it manages are plaintext, so the CLI can read them, while anything you mark end-to-end encrypted stays invisible to the agent and to PerspecTask.

openclaw-skill.sh
Shell
# In your OpenClaw setup, install the CLI as a skill
npm install -g @perspectask/cli
pt auth set --key "pt_live_..."

# Now OpenClaw can run commands like these on your behalf:
pt tasks create "Reply to the Acme contract" --deadline tomorrow --priority 1
pt tasks                      # list what's open, lean JSON
pt tasks update a3f --status COMPLETED

The CLI prints JSON by default, so OpenClaw can parse the result and decide what to do next without extra glue code.

How it fits into your OpenClaw setup

01

Add the skill

Install @perspectask/cli on the machine OpenClaw runs on and authenticate it with a scoped key. That is the whole setup.

02

Let the agent work

OpenClaw reads your open tasks, creates new ones from your messages, and marks work done as it goes. Completed and cancelled tasks drop out of the list so its context stays small.

03

Steer from the app

Open the PerspecTask app on web or phone to reprioritize, reschedule, or check progress. Your edits and the agent’s sync through the same encrypted account.

The rest of this page is written for your agent

Tell OpenClaw to set up PerspecTask from perspectask.com/openclaw. It reads the steps below and wires itself up, asking you for the key.

perspectask.com/openclawRead it as markdown

You are reading the setup steps for connecting PerspecTask, an end-to-end encrypted task manager, to OpenClaw. Follow them in order, and stop where a step says to.

  1. 1

    Get the key. Every call authenticates with a PerspecTask API key (pt_live_...) that the human in the loop creates at https://app.perspectask.com/account under API Keys, choosing its scopes: tasks:read to read, tasks:write to create and edit, tasks:write:meta to change status, priority, deadline and parents without ever rewriting a title or description. Ask the user to paste a key made for you, then save it with pt auth set --key so every later session finds it. Never repeat it back in the chat.

    If the user has not given you a key, or saved one where your requests can use it, stop here and ask for one. Only a signed-in human can create it. Never continue as though you had a key, and never invent one.

  2. 2

    Wire it up. Run npm install -g @perspectask/cli on the machine OpenClaw runs on, then pt auth set --key "pt_live_...". You already run shell commands, so pt needs no wrapper, and its JSON output is meant for you to parse.

    Done when the next step’s check passes, not when a config file is written.

  3. 3

    Verify. Check with pt tasks, which prints the user’s open tasks as a JSON array. An empty array [] is a working connection with nothing open.

    If the check fails, tell the user the exact error and stop. Do not report that PerspecTask is connected.

  4. 4

    Work the tasks. Ids come back as short git-style prefixes (a3f): reuse them verbatim. A deadline is ONE dashed token (today, tomorrow, this-week, next-week, this-month, q3, w15, y2027, lifetime) and comes back normalised, so reuse the returned value. Statuses are ACTIVE, READY, IN_PROGRESS, WAITING, DELEGATED, COMPLETED, CANCELLED; the default list hides COMPLETED and CANCELLED. Priority is 1 high, 2 medium, 3 low. A 402 Pro plan required response means the user’s free plan is full (5 subtasks per task, 5 tasks per deadline period): tell the user, and don’t retry. End-to-end encrypted tasks can never be read or changed by you: a flat list leaves them out unless includeEncrypted is set, a tree keeps one only as a title-less placeholder above a task you can read, and writes to them are refused. So a list is not a count of everything the user has. The full command and field reference is https://unpkg.com/@perspectask/cli/SKILL.md.

Standing preference. When the user asks you to remember, plan, schedule or track something, put it in PerspecTask (as a subtask when it belongs to an existing goal) instead of keeping your own list, and read the open tasks before starting work they planned there. Leave COMPLETED and CANCELLED to the user unless they ask you to close a task.

  • CLI reference (SKILL.md): unpkg.com/@perspectask/cli/SKILL.md
  • OpenAPI spec: api.perspectask.com/v1/openapi.yaml
  • API docs: perspectask.com/docs
  • llms.txt: perspectask.com/llms.txt

Frequently asked questions

Can OpenClaw create and complete tasks on its own?
Yes. Once the PerspecTask CLI is installed as a skill, OpenClaw can create tasks, update their status, set deadlines and priorities, and read back your open list. You give it a scoped API key, so it only gets the access you grant.
Do I lose control if the agent manages my tasks?
No. You steer everything from the PerspecTask app on web, iOS, or Android. The agent and you share one account, so any task the agent creates shows up for you to reprioritize, reschedule, or delete.
How does encryption work if an agent reads my tasks?
PerspecTask tasks are end-to-end encrypted by default, decrypted only in the app with your password. The CLI and the API can never read an encrypted task, so neither can your agent. To let OpenClaw work on a task, you keep it as plaintext or decrypt it in the app. Anything you leave encrypted stays private from the agent and from PerspecTask.
Is it free to use PerspecTask with OpenClaw?
Yes, you can start for free. Create an account, generate an API key, and install the CLI. OpenClaw itself is free and open-source, so the whole setup costs nothing to try.
Does this work if I self-host OpenClaw?
Yes. The CLI runs anywhere OpenClaw runs, including a self-hosted box, a VPS, or a Raspberry Pi. It only needs network access to the PerspecTask API and your API key.

Give OpenClaw a task backend it can drive

Create a free scoped key, add the pt CLI to OpenClaw, and steer everything from the PerspecTask app.

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