# How to Install and Use Summarize in OpenClaw - Tool: OpenClaw - Difficulty: Beginner - Time required: 5 minutes - Last updated: March 2026 ## TL;DR To summarize long documents and articles in OpenClaw, run `clawhub install summarize` in your terminal and start pasting content into OpenClaw chat with a summary request. The skill condenses text, articles, PDFs, and web content into concise briefs using AI — no external API key required. It works immediately after installation and integrates naturally with other OpenClaw skills for research and knowledge management workflows. ## Condense Any Long-Form Content into Actionable Briefs The Summarize skill turns OpenClaw into a reading and research assistant that handles the high-volume information intake that every knowledge worker faces. Instead of reading a 40-page report in full, paste it into OpenClaw chat and ask for a 5-bullet executive summary. Instead of watching a 90-minute recording before a meeting, download the transcript with the video-transcript-downloader skill and summarize it in two paragraphs. Instead of reading 20 Reddit threads about a competitor, scrape them with the reddit-read-only skill and get a condensed analysis. The skill is especially powerful when combined with other OpenClaw skills in multi-step workflows. A common pattern is: search with Tavily AI Search or Perplexity, then summarize each result, then save the summaries to Notion or a markdown file. This creates a research pipeline that reduces hours of manual reading into minutes of prompt interactions. The summarize skill is the connective tissue in many OpenClaw research workflows. The Summarize skill differs fundamentally from the Markdown Converter skill: Summarize reduces content length by removing non-essential information, while Markdown Converter preserves all content but changes its format. The YouTube Summarizer skill is a specialized version of the same concept built specifically for YouTube videos — it fetches transcripts automatically before summarizing. The general Summarize skill works on any text, making it more flexible for mixed-format research workflows. ## Before you start - OpenClaw installed and running (see openclaw.ai for installation instructions) - ClawHub CLI available in your terminal (comes bundled with OpenClaw) - Terminal/command line access to run the clawhub install command - Source content ready to summarize (text, a URL, or a file path — no specific format required) ## Step-by-step guide ### 1. Install the Summarize Skill via ClawHub Open your terminal and run the clawhub install command to add the summarize skill to your OpenClaw instance. This is one of the simplest ClawHub skills to install because it requires no external API key and no additional dependencies — the summarization logic runs entirely within OpenClaw using its built-in language model. After installation completes, you will see a confirmation message with the installed version. The skill activates immediately — no configuration is required before your first use. You can open OpenClaw chat right after installation and start summarizing content. If you see `clawhub: command not found`, verify that OpenClaw is installed correctly and the ClawHub binary is on your system PATH. Run `clawhub --version` to confirm ClawHub is available before proceeding. ``` clawhub install summarize ``` **Expected result:** Terminal shows 'summarize@X.X.X installed successfully'. The skill appears in `clawhub list`. No additional configuration is required before first use. ### 2. Test the Skill with Your First Summary Open OpenClaw chat and paste a piece of text you want to summarize along with a natural language instruction. The skill recognizes summary requests without requiring a specific command syntax — describe what you want in plain language. For your first test, use a medium-length article (500-2000 words) to get a sense of the quality and default output format. Ask for a specific summary format — bullet points, a single paragraph, or a structured brief with sections — so you can evaluate which format works best for your use case. The summarize skill automatically adjusts the summary length relative to the source length. A 500-word article gets a 2-3 sentence summary by default. A 10,000-word report gets a longer structured summary. You can override this by specifying the desired output length explicitly: '3 bullets', 'one paragraph', 'under 100 words'. For URLs, you can provide a web address and ask OpenClaw to summarize the content at that URL — the skill fetches the page and summarizes the main content. This works best for article pages. Navigation-heavy pages or login-gated content may not summarize well. **Expected result:** OpenClaw returns a condensed summary in the requested format. The summary captures the main ideas of the source content without including minor details or examples. ### 3. Summarize Files and Long Documents For longer documents — full PDFs, lengthy reports, or multi-page text files — provide a file path rather than pasting content directly. OpenClaw reads the file and passes it to the summarize skill in chunks if necessary, handling documents that exceed the typical chat message size limit. For documents too long even for chunked processing, the skill uses a hierarchical summarization approach: it summarizes sections individually, then produces a meta-summary from the section summaries. This produces good results for long-form reports and books but may lose some nuance compared to direct summarization of shorter documents. You can also ask the skill to focus on a specific aspect of a document rather than producing a general summary. For example: 'Summarize only the methodology section', 'Focus on the financial projections', or 'Extract only the recommendations'. This focused approach is faster and more useful than a general summary when you already know what part of the document is relevant to you. RapidDev can help configure multi-skill OpenClaw pipelines that combine document ingestion, summarization, and knowledge base storage — useful for teams processing large volumes of research material regularly. ``` # Summarize a local file via clawhub CLI clawhub run summarize --input ~/reports/annual-review-2025.pdf --style brief # Summarize with a specific focus clawhub run summarize --input ~/reports/annual-review-2025.pdf --focus 'market expansion' --max-length 300 ``` **Expected result:** OpenClaw reads the file and returns a focused summary of the relevant sections, highlighting the specific details you requested rather than a generic overview of the entire document. ### 4. Configure Default Summary Styles The summarize skill supports a YAML configuration file that sets defaults for summary style, output length, and format preferences. Configuring these defaults means you don't need to specify them in every prompt. The most commonly customized settings are summary style and output format. Style options include `brief` (single paragraph), `bullets` (bulleted list), `structured` (sections with headings), and `executive` (brief with key metrics highlighted). Output format options include inline chat response, markdown file, or plain text file. You can also configure context instructions — persistent instructions the skill includes with every summarization request, such as 'Always include a section for action items' or 'Always note the source URL at the top of the summary'. These context instructions act like a system prompt for the summarize skill specifically. ``` # Configure skill defaults in ~/.openclaw/skills/summarize.yaml summarize: default_style: bullets # brief | bullets | structured | executive default_max_length: 300 # target word count for summaries output_format: inline # inline | markdown-file | txt-file output_directory: ~/summaries # where to save file-based summaries context_instructions: "" # persistent instructions for all summaries include_source_info: true # include source file/URL at top of summary language: en # output language for summaries ``` **Expected result:** Subsequent summarization requests use your configured defaults, producing consistent output format and length without needing to specify them in every prompt. ## Best practices - Be explicit about output format in your prompt — 'Give me 5 bullets' or 'Write a two-paragraph summary' produces much more useful output than a vague 'summarize this' request. - Specify the intended audience in summary requests — a summary for an executive differs from one for a technical reviewer in vocabulary, level of detail, and what is considered important. - For multi-document research, ask OpenClaw to produce individual summaries first, then a synthesis of the summaries — this two-level approach captures both document-specific details and cross-document patterns. - Combine summarize with the Tavily AI Search or Perplexity skill for research pipelines: search for sources, then summarize each result to build a curated knowledge brief without reading every full article. - Use focused summaries rather than general ones when you already know what part of a document matters — 'Summarize only the pricing section' is 10x more useful than 'Summarize this 50-page contract' when you only need pricing terms. - For recurring summaries of the same source type (e.g., weekly competitor blog posts), create a saved OpenClaw prompt template with your preferred summary format and focus instructions so you can reuse it without reformatting each time. - Set `include_source_info: true` in your skill config so summaries always reference the source document or URL — this makes it easy to trace a summary back to its original source weeks later. - Pair summarize with the markdown-converter skill to immediately export summaries to PDF or HTML for sharing with colleagues who do not use OpenClaw. ## Use cases ### Executive Summary of Long Research Reports Paste a lengthy research report, whitepaper, or analyst document into OpenClaw chat and request a structured executive summary. The skill identifies key findings, methodology highlights, and actionable conclusions, presenting them in a format appropriate for quick decision-making without reading the full document. Prompt example: ``` Summarize this 15-page market research report into a 5-bullet executive summary. Focus on the key market trends, competitive threats, and the top 3 recommended actions. Here is the report: [paste content] ``` ### Article Digest for Daily Reading Paste multiple articles or URLs into a single OpenClaw session and request a combined digest. The skill summarizes each article individually and optionally produces a cross-article synthesis highlighting themes and patterns across the collection — useful for monitoring an industry or topic area daily. Prompt example: ``` Summarize each of the following 5 articles in 2-3 sentences each, then give me a one-paragraph synthesis of the common themes across all of them: [paste article 1], [paste article 2], etc. ``` ### Meeting Notes and Transcript Condensation Paste a raw meeting transcript, call recording transcript, or video caption file into OpenClaw chat and request a structured summary. The skill identifies action items, key decisions, open questions, and participants' positions — turning a messy transcript into a clean meeting notes document. Prompt example: ``` Summarize this meeting transcript into structured notes. Include sections for: Key Decisions Made, Action Items with owners and due dates, Open Questions, and a 2-sentence overall meeting summary. Transcript: [paste transcript] ``` ## Troubleshooting ### clawhub install summarize fails with '429 Too Many Requests' or connection timeout Cause: The ClawHub skill registry is experiencing temporary rate limiting or high traffic. This is a registry-side issue unrelated to your configuration. Solution: Wait 2-3 minutes and retry the install command. If the error persists, use `clawhub install summarize --force` to clear any partial installation state before retrying. ``` # Force reinstall clawhub install summarize --force ``` ### Summary quality is poor — key information is missing or the summary is too generic Cause: The prompt did not provide enough context about what aspects of the document matter, or the source content is very long and the chunked summarization approach lost important details in intermediate steps. Solution: Provide more specific instructions about what to focus on and what to exclude. For long documents, ask for a focused summary of a specific section rather than the whole document. If the document is exceptionally long, use the summarize skill multiple times on different sections and then ask OpenClaw to synthesize the section summaries. ### Summary for a URL fails or returns 'could not fetch content' Cause: The URL is behind a login wall, requires JavaScript rendering that the skill's basic HTTP fetcher cannot handle, or the page returned an error response. Solution: For login-gated content, copy and paste the text manually instead of providing a URL. For JavaScript-heavy pages, try using the deep-scraper or firecrawl-search skill first to extract the page content, then pipe the extracted text to the summarize skill. ### OpenClaw summarize skill produces output in the wrong language Cause: The skill is configured with a language setting that does not match the language you want for output, or the source content language is influencing the output language. Solution: Add a language instruction to your prompt: 'Summarize this in English' or 'Résume ceci en français'. You can also set the `language` key in your skill config to ensure all summaries default to your preferred output language regardless of the source language. ``` # Set output language in skill config summarize: language: en # or fr, de, es, ja, etc. ``` ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I install the Summarize skill in OpenClaw? Run `clawhub install summarize` in your terminal. No API key or additional configuration is required — the skill works immediately after installation. Open OpenClaw chat and start pasting content with a summary request to test it right away. ### What types of content can the OpenClaw Summarize skill handle? The skill handles any pasted text content — articles, reports, transcripts, emails, meeting notes, research papers, and more. It also supports file paths to local text and PDF files, and can fetch and summarize content from publicly accessible URLs. For protected or JavaScript-rendered pages, manual copy-paste works best. ### How do I control the length of the summary output in OpenClaw? Specify the desired length in your prompt: 'Give me a 3-bullet summary', 'Summarize in under 100 words', or 'Write a 2-paragraph executive summary'. You can also set `default_max_length` in the skill's YAML config to set a word count target for all summaries that do not specify a length explicitly. ### ClawHub install summarize is not working — what should I do? Confirm the exact skill name: `summarize` (no hyphens or suffixes). If the install fails with a network error or timeout, wait a few minutes and retry — ClawHub's registry occasionally experiences brief rate limits. Run `clawhub install summarize --force` to clear any partial installation state before retrying. ### How is the Summarize skill different from the YouTube Summarizer skill? The YouTube Summarizer skill is optimized specifically for YouTube videos — it automatically retrieves the video transcript before summarizing, so you only need to provide a YouTube URL. The general Summarize skill works on any text content you provide: articles, documents, transcripts, or any pasted text. For YouTube content, YouTube Summarizer is more convenient; for everything else, use the Summarize skill. ### Does RapidDev offer help with multi-skill summarization pipelines in OpenClaw? Yes — RapidDev can help configure OpenClaw workflows that combine document ingestion, summarization, and knowledge base storage across multiple skills. The individual setup on this page covers self-serve use for most people. Teams processing large research volumes or building automated summary pipelines can reach out to RapidDev for a configuration review. ### Can the Summarize skill handle documents in languages other than English? Yes — the skill summarizes content in the language of the source document by default, and can also translate while summarizing. Specify the desired output language in your prompt: 'Summarize this German report in English' or 'Résume cet article en français'. You can also set a default output language in the skill's YAML config using the `language` key. --- Source: https://www.rapidevelopers.com/openclaw-integrations/summarize © RapidDev — https://www.rapidevelopers.com/openclaw-integrations/summarize