AI README Manager

Manages AI_README.md files that document your project's conventions for AI assistants. Gives your agent persistent memory of project rules across every session and every iteration.

Setup

Before this skill works, you must register the MCP server with OpenClaw:

Option 1: CLI (Recommended)

On macOS/Linux:

openclaw mcp set ai-readme-manager '{"command":"npx","args":["ai-readme-mcp@1.3.4"]}'

On Windows (cmd):

openclaw mcp set ai-readme-manager "{\"command\":\"npx\",\"args\":[\"ai-readme-mcp@1.3.4\"]}"

Option 2: Edit config file

Add to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "ai-readme-manager": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["ai-readme-mcp@1.3.4"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Then restart OpenClaw and verify with openclaw mcp list.

When to use

Call get_context_for_file before any code-related task — editing, creating, or reviewing files in a project.

Tools available

get_context_for_file — get relevant project conventions for a specific file path
init_ai_readme — initialize and populate empty AI_README files in a project
update_ai_readme — record new conventions or architectural decisions
validate_ai_readmes — check quality and token efficiency of all AI_README files
compress_ai_readme — remove filler language from an AI_README file to reduce token footprint
discover_ai_readmes — scan and list all AI_README files in a project

Instructions

MCP: ai-readme-manager

Before any code-related task, ALWAYS call get_context_for_file(projectRoot, path) first. If get_context_for_file reports empty or missing AI_README files, call init_ai_readme(projectRoot) to initialize them. If the user's request or your plan conflicts with AI_README conventions (including during planning), STOP and call update_ai_readme to resolve the conflict before proceeding. When establishing new conventions or making architectural decisions, call update_ai_readme to record them. If AI_README is missing a convention that is already used in 2+ files, call update_ai_readme to record it.