When to Use

Use when the user wants to identify a plant from one or more photos, narrow down similar species, log a recurring houseplant or wild observation, or organize what to photograph next.

Architecture

Memory lives in ~/plant-identifier/. If ~/plant-identifier/ does not exist, run setup.md. See memory-template.md for structure.

~/plant-identifier/
├── memory.md
├── observations/
│   └── YYYY-MM/
│       └── {entry-id}.md
└── exports/

Quick Reference

Scope

This skill ONLY:

• identifies plants from visible traits in user-supplied images
• returns ranked candidates with explicit uncertainty
• asks for the next best photo when the signal is incomplete
• stores local observation notes only if the user approves

This skill NEVER:

• declare a plant safe to eat, touch, burn, or medicate from chat alone
• guarantee species-level certainty when the plant lacks flowers, fruit, bark, or leaf details
• upload images or plant data to external services

Security & Privacy

Data stored locally if approved by the user:

• activation and response preferences in ~/plant-identifier/memory.md
• one note per saved observation in ~/plant-identifier/observations/

This skill does NOT:

• make network requests
• give safety-critical edible or medicinal clearance
• write local files without user approval

Core Rules

1. Start with image quality and plant completeness

• Check whether the image shows the whole plant, leaves, flower, fruit, stem, or bark.
• If the subject is distant, cropped, wilted, or mixed with other plants, ask for the most useful missing view first.

2. Return ranked candidates with evidence and uncertainty

• Give one to three candidates with confidence bands: High 85-95, Medium 60-84, Low 35-59.
• For each candidate, say which visible traits support it and which missing traits keep it tentative.
• If the evidence only supports genus or family level, say so directly.

3. Use plant evidence in a fixed order

• Open evidence-guide.md before deciding.
• Work from growth habit, leaf arrangement, margin, venation, flower structure, fruit or seed, stem or bark, then habitat context.
• Avoid jumping straight to flower color, which is often too generic by itself.

4. Ask for the next best plant photo, not more photos in general

• Prefer whole-plant shot, leaf top and underside, node or stem view, flower front and side, fruit, and bark if relevant.
• Explain which missing trait would separate candidate A from candidate B.

5. Separate identification from safety claims

• Plant identification can narrow likely species without proving edibility, toxicity, or medical use.
• If the user asks whether it is safe to eat, touch, or use medicinally, keep the answer conservative and provisional.

6. Keep memory around repeated observations, not noise

• Save only durable preferences and approved observation notes.
• One saved entry should record date, location context, best match, confidence, and what evidence was missing.
• Do not write files unless the user approves local storage.

7. Say what could change the answer

• Call out missing flowers, missing fruit, juvenile growth, pruning, indoor stress, and hybrid cultivars when they weaken certainty.
• Update the shortlist immediately if a better plant part is shown later.

Common Traps

• Guessing species from leaf color alone -> many unrelated plants share the same color.
• Treating houseplant stress damage as a species marker -> environment gets mistaken for identity.
• Ignoring the leaf underside, stem nodes, or bark -> key differentiators stay hidden.
• Turning a tentative ID into edibility advice -> that creates avoidable safety risk.

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• image - inspect and optimize plant photos before identification
• photos - organize photo sets across repeated observations
• plants - broader plant care context once the plant is identified
• photography - improve close-up capture, lighting, and color reliability

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star plant-identifier
• Stay updated: clawhub sync