Optimise lobster workflow

[hollow lake]

I want to optimise a lobster workflow, here is the prompt I use to execute it

Call the OpenClaw tool named lobster directly.

Use this exact tool payload:
{
"action": "run",
"pipeline": "/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft.lobster",
"timeoutMs": 600000,
"maxStdoutBytes": 512000
}

If this fails, tell me the exact lobster tool error. Do not try to work around it with shell or the standalone Lobster CLI.

Email me the output

And here is the lobster file itself

name: sql_lead_drafts_email_output

steps:

• id: read_leads
  command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql_leads.md

• id: build_llm_request
  command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js
  stdin: $read_leads.stdout

• id: draft_email
  command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js
  stdin: $build_llm_request.stdout

• id: normalize_email
  command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/normalize-email.js
  stdin: $draft_email.stdout

• id: final_output
  command: cat
  stdin: $normalize_email.stdout

It sometimes gets confused about emailing the output so first of all I want to change it to write the output to a file so that I can just tell it to email the file instead

[quartz maple]

To help others find answers, you can mark your question as solved via Right click solution message -> Apps -> ✅ Mark Solution

[fallen zinc]

Yep — make the Lobster pipeline persist the normalized output as its final artifact, then your agent prompt only has to email that file.

I’d change the last step from:

  - id: final_output
    command: cat
    stdin: $normalize_email.stdout

to something like:

  - id: write_email_output
    command: sh -c 'cat > /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.md && echo /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.md'
    stdin: $normalize_email.stdout

  - id: final_output
    command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.md

That gives you both:

• a stable file at /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.md
• stdout still containing the final email body, in case you want to inspect the Lobster result

Then simplify the agent prompt to:

Call the OpenClaw tool named lobster directly.

Use this exact tool payload:

{
  "action": "run",
  "pipeline": "/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft.lobster",
  "timeoutMs": 600000,
  "maxStdoutBytes": 512000
}

If this fails, tell me the exact lobster tool error. Do not try to work around it with shell or the standalone Lobster CLI.

Email me the file `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.md` as an attachment.

Small extra improvement: if this runs often, use a timestamped filename so old outputs don’t get overwritten. But for “latest draft” workflows, the fixed path is simpler and usually better.

[hollow lake]

I have some scripts as part of this workflow, here is the one that creates the email, it works just fine but how do I change it to that it consistently creates the same HTML format each time

let leads = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
leads += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
const llmTimeoutMs = Number(process.env.LLM_TASK_TIMEOUT_MS || "180000");
const maxTokens = Number(process.env.LLM_TASK_MAX_TOKENS || "8000");

const lines = [
"You will receive a Markdown leads file.",
"Draft one HTML email containing:",
"1. A concise summary of each lead.",
"2. Details of the lead including original job posting, main contact details",
"3. A tailored outreach draft for each lead.",
"In every outreach draft, mention that we can offer the lead a free health check of their SQL estate.",
"Explain that the health check will highlight where money can be saved, including SQL licensing, and identify any performance issues they may have.",
"Keep each lead summary under 80 words.",
"Keep each outreach draft under 200 words.",
"Output only structured JSON with subject and html.",
"The html must be the email body only.",
"Do not include markdown code fences.",
"Do not include a style block.",
"Use only basic HTML tags such as b, i, br, p, ul, li, and table."
];

const req = {
prompt: lines.join(String.fromCharCode(10)),
thinking: "low",
timeoutMs: llmTimeoutMs,
maxTokens,
input: {
leads_markdown: leads
},
schema: {
type: "object",
properties: {
subject: { type: "string" },
html: { type: "string" }
},
required: ["subject", "html"],
additionalProperties: false
}
};

process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(req));
});

[fallen zinc]

Best fix: don’t ask the LLM to invent the HTML layout. Ask it for structured lead data, then render the HTML yourself from a fixed template.

Right now this line still gives the model creative freedom:

"Draft one HTML email containing:"

Even with a schema, html is just a free-form string, so the model can vary the layout each run.

I’d change the request schema to return normalized lead objects, e.g.:

schema: {
  type: "object",
  properties: {

    subject: { type: "string" },
    leads: {
      type: "array",
      items: {
        type: "object",
        properties: {
          company: { type: "string" },
          contact: { type: "string" },
          job_posting: { type: "string" },
          summary: { type: "string" },
          outreach: { type: "string" }
        },
        required: ["company", "contact", "job_posting", "summary", "outreach"],
        additionalProperties: false
      }

    }
  },
  required: ["subject", "leads"],
  additionalProperties: false
}

Then add a separate render step/script that turns that JSON into the exact same HTML every time:

function escapeHtml(s = "") {
  return String(s)
    .replaceAll("&", "&")
    .replaceAll("<", "&lt;")
    .replaceAll(">", "&gt;")

    .replaceAll('"', """);
}

function renderEmail(data) {
  const rows = data.leads.map((lead, i) => `
    <h2>Lead ${i + 1}: ${escapeHtml(lead.company)}</h2>
    <table border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0">
      <tr><td><b>Contact</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.contact)}</td></tr>
      <tr><td><b>Job posting</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.job_posting)}</td></tr>
      <tr><td><b>Summary</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.summary)}</td></tr>
      <tr><td><b>Outreach draft</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.outreach).replaceAll("
", "<br>")}</td></tr>
    </table>
    <br>
  `).join("

");

  return {
    subject: data.subject,
    html: `<p><b>SQL lead drafts</b></p>
${rows}`
  };
}

So the Lobster flow becomes:

- build_llm_request
- draft_email          # now returns subject + leads[] JSON

- render_email_html    # deterministic template
- normalize_email
- write_email_output

If you want the smaller change, keep your current script but make the prompt much stricter by including an exact template. That helps, but it still won’t be as consistent as rendering the HTML outside the LLM. The deterministic renderer is the clean lobster-claw move here 🦞

[hollow lake]

Ok, so please tell me how to add the extra step

[fallen zinc]

Add it in three small pieces:

1. Change the LLM output to return data, not finished HTML

In your current script, replace the prompt lines that say it should output subject and html with subject and leads, and change the schema.

Use this schema shape:

schema: {
  type: "object",
  properties: {
    subject: { type: "string" },
    leads: {
      type: "array",
      items: {

        type: "object",
        properties: {
          company: { type: "string" },
          contact: { type: "string" },
          job_posting: { type: "string" },
          summary: { type: "string" },
          outreach: { type: "string" }
        },
        required: ["company", "contact", "job_posting", "summary", "outreach"],
        additionalProperties: false
      }
    }
  },
  required: ["subject", "leads"],
  additionalProperties: false

}

And change the prompt text to something like:

"Output only structured JSON with subject and leads.",
"Each lead must contain company, contact, job_posting, summary, and outreach.",
"Do not output HTML. The HTML will be rendered by a separate script.",

2. Create a new render script

Create this file:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js

with:

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const data = JSON.parse(input);

  function escapeHtml(s = "") {
    return String(s)
      .replaceAll("&", "&")
      .replaceAll("<", "&lt;")
      .replaceAll(">", "&gt;")
      .replaceAll('"', "&quot;");
  }

  const leadHtml = data.leads.map((lead, i) => `
<h2>Lead ${i + 1}: ${escapeHtml(lead.company)}</h2>
<table border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0">
  <tr><td><b>Contact</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.contact)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Job posting</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.job_posting)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Summary</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.summary)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Outreach draft</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.outreach).replaceAll("

", "<br>")}</td></tr>
</table>
<br>`).join("
");

  const output = {
    subject: data.subject,
    html: `<p><b>SQL lead drafts</b></p>
${leadHtml}`
  };

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(output));
});

3. Add the extra Lobster step

Change your .lobster file from this:

 - id: normalize_email
   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/normalize-email.js
   stdin: $draft_email.stdout

to this:

 - id: render_email_html
   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js
   stdin: $draft_email.stdout

 - id: normalize_email

   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/normalize-email.js
   stdin: $render_email_html.stdout

So the flow becomes:

read_leads
build_llm_request
draft_email
render_email_html
normalize_email
final_output

That means the LLM decides the words, but your script controls the exact HTML structure every time.

[hollow lake]

Can you give me the changes to the current script in full

[fallen zinc]

Yep — here’s the full replacement for your current request-building script.

This version makes the LLM return structured data only: subject plus leads[]. The HTML gets created later by the extra render step, so the formatting stays consistent.

let leads = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  leads += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const llmTimeoutMs = Number(process.env.LLM_TASK_TIMEOUT_MS || "180000");
  const maxTokens = Number(process.env.LLM_TASK_MAX_TOKENS || "8000");

  const lines = [

    "You will receive a Markdown leads file.",
    "Extract and draft content for one SQL lead email.",
    "Output only structured JSON with subject and leads.",
    "Do not output HTML.",
    "Do not include markdown code fences.",
    "The HTML email body will be rendered by a separate deterministic script.",
    "Each lead must contain:",
    "- company",
    "- contact",
    "- job_posting",
    "- summary",
    "- outreach",
    "For each lead, create a concise summary under 80 words.",
    "For each lead, include details of the original job posting and main contact details.",
    "For each lead, create a tailored outreach draft under 200 words.",

    "In every outreach draft, mention that we can offer the lead a free health check of their SQL estate.",
    "Explain that the health check will highlight where money can be saved, including SQL licensing, and identify any performance issues they may have.",
    "Keep the wording professional, clear, and suitable for a business development email."
  ];

  const req = {
    prompt: lines.join(String.fromCharCode(10)),
    thinking: "low",
    timeoutMs: llmTimeoutMs,
    maxTokens,
    input: {
      leads_markdown: leads
    },
    schema: {
      type: "object",

      properties: {
        subject: {
          type: "string"
        },
        leads: {
          type: "array",
          items: {
            type: "object",
            properties: {
              company: {
                type: "string"
              },
              contact: {
                type: "string"
              },

              job_posting: {
                type: "string"
              },
              summary: {
                type: "string"
              },
              outreach: {
                type: "string"
              }
            },
            required: [
              "company",
              "contact",
              "job_posting",
              "summary",

              "outreach"
            ],
            additionalProperties: false
          }
        }
      },
      required: ["subject", "leads"],
      additionalProperties: false
    }
  };

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(req));
});

Then your new render step should consume the output of draft_email, turn subject + leads[] into { subject, html }, and pass that into your existing normalize-email.js.

[hollow lake]

I ran it but openclaw reported this issue

The lobster pipeline failed with this error:

SyntaxError: Invalid or unexpected token in /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js at line 23.

The issue is a broken string — the .replaceAll("\n has an unescaped newline inside a double-quoted string literal. The code is trying to replace literal newlines in the outreach text but the newline character isn't properly escaped (should be \n or use a template/backtick string).

[fallen zinc]

Ah yep — that’s from Discord/Markdown eating the escape sequence when you copied it. Sorry, that’s exactly the kind of tiny JS string landmine that’s annoying.

Use this safer version of render-email-html.js. It avoids " " entirely by using a regex:

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const data = JSON.parse(input);

  function escapeHtml(s = "") {

    return String(s)
      .replaceAll("&", "&")
      .replaceAll("<", "&lt;")
      .replaceAll(">", "&gt;")
      .replaceAll('"', "&quot;");
  }

  function withLineBreaks(s = "") {
    return escapeHtml(s).replace(/\r?
/g, "<br>");
  }

  const leadHtml = data.leads.map((lead, i) => `
<h2>Lead ${i + 1}: ${escapeHtml(lead.company)}</h2>
<table border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0">

  <tr><td><b>Contact</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.contact)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Job posting</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.job_posting)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Summary</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.summary)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Outreach draft</b></td><td>${withLineBreaks(lead.outreach)}</td></tr>
</table>
<br>`).join("");

  const output = {
    subject: data.subject,
    html: `<p><b>SQL lead drafts</b></p>${leadHtml}`
  };

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(output));
});

The important fixed bit is this:

.replace(/\r?
/g, "<br>")

That replaces real newline characters without needing a fragile quoted newline string.

[hollow lake]

openclaw found some more issues
[13/05/2026 06:38] DBA Lead Scout: The lobster pipeline failed with this error:

SyntaxError: Invalid regular expression: missing /
at /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js:19

The issue is in render-email-html.js at line 19 — there's a broken regex (missing closing /). The escapeHtml function's .replace() call has an incomplete regular expression pattern.

Let me take a look at that file to fix it.
[13/05/2026 06:38] DBA Lead Scout: The problem is clear — the regex on line 19 got split across lines during file creation. \r?\n was interpreted as a literal newline instead of staying on one line. Let me fix it.
[13/05/2026 06:38] DBA Lead Scout: Fixed. Now let me re-run the lobster pipeline.
[13/05/2026 06:38] DBA Lead Scout: The regex is fixed now, but the pipeline's JSON output doesn't include a leads array — the render-email-html.js script expects data.leads but the pipeline is producing something different. Let me check the pipeline and the output file.
[13/05/2026 06:38] DBA Lead Scout: Now I see the issue. The normalize-email.js script expects the llm-task output to have a details.json field, but the render-email-html.js script expects data.leads. The pipeline flow is:

1. build-llm-request.js → builds an LLM request with schema expecting {subject, leads: [...]}
2. invoke-llm-task.js → calls the LLM, returns the raw llm-task response
3. normalize-email.js → extracts details.json from the llm-task response
4. render-email-html.js → expects data.leads but normalize-email.js outputs {subject, contentType, html} where html is json.html — but the schema says the LLM should output {subject, leads: [...]}, not {subject, html}

The normalize-email.js is looking for json.html but the LLM schema asks for json.leadssomething. Let me check what the actual llm-task output looks like. Let me trace through the pipeline step by step.

[fallen zinc]

Yep, that diagnosis makes sense. The step order I suggested was slightly wrong for your existing scripts — sorry. Your draft_email step is not outputting the clean { subject, leads } JSON directly; it’s outputting the wrapper from invoke-llm-task.js.

So the clean fix is:

1. draft_email calls the LLM and returns the wrapped LLM task result
2. add a new script that extracts details.json
3. render_email_html turns { subject, leads: [...] } into { subject, html }
4. normalize_email can run after that if you still need its output shape

Your pipeline should be this order:

 - id: read_leads
   command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql_leads.md

 - id: build_llm_request

   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js
   stdin: $read_leads.stdout

 - id: draft_email
   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js
   stdin: $build_llm_request.stdout

 - id: extract_llm_json
   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js
   stdin: $draft_email.stdout

 - id: render_email_html
   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js
   stdin: $extract_llm_json.stdout

 - id: normalize_email
   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/normalize-email.js
   stdin: $render_email_html.stdout

 - id: final_output
   command: cat
   stdin: $normalize_email.stdout

Create this new file:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const result = JSON.parse(input);
  const json = result?.details?.json;

  if (!json || typeof json !== "object") {
    throw new Error("LLM task output did not contain details.json");
  }

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(json));
});

And use this version of render-email-html.js — no regex, no fragile newline escape:

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const data = JSON.parse(input);

  if (!Array.isArray(data.leads)) {
    throw new Error("Expected input JSON to contain a leads array");
  }

  function escapeHtml(s = "") {
    return String(s)
      .replaceAll("&", "&")
      .replaceAll("<", "&lt;")
      .replaceAll(">", "&gt;")
      .replaceAll('"', "&quot;");
  }

  function withLineBreaks(s = "") {
    return escapeHtml(s).split(String.fromCharCode(10)).join("<br>");
  }

  const leadHtml = data.leads.map((lead, i) => `
<h2>Lead ${i + 1}: ${escapeHtml(lead.company)}</h2>
<table border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0">

  <tr><td><b>Contact</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.contact)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Job posting</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.job_posting)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Summary</b></td><td>${escapeHtml(lead.summary)}</td></tr>
  <tr><td><b>Outreach draft</b></td><td>${withLineBreaks(lead.outreach)}</td></tr>
</table>
<br>`).join("");

  const output = {
    subject: data.subject || "SQL lead drafts",
    html: `<p><b>SQL lead drafts</b></p>${leadHtml}`
  };

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(output));
});

Key correction: render_email_html should receive the extracted details.json, not the raw draft_email output.

[hollow lake]

It failed with this error

The lobster pipeline failed with this exact error:

workflow command failed (1): /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js:16
And use this version of render-email-html.js — no regex, no fragile newline escape:
^^^

SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier 'use'

Node.js v22.22.2

There's a syntax error in extract-llm-json.js at line 16 — it looks like a comment or text fragment ("And use this version of render-email-html.js — no regex, no fragile newline escape:") was accidentally left inside the JavaScript code, causing a parse failure.

[fallen zinc]

Yep — that means some of my explanatory text got pasted into extract-llm-json.js. Replace the whole file with only this:

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const result = JSON.parse(input);
  const json = result && result.details && result.details.json;

  if (!json || typeof json !== "object") {
    throw new Error("LLM task output did not contain details.json");
  }

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(json));
});

Nothing before it, nothing after it — especially not the sentence starting “And use this version…”.

Then keep render-email-html.js as a separate file. The pipeline should call them as two separate steps:

 - id: extract_llm_json
   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js
   stdin: $draft_email.stdout

 - id: render_email_html

   command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js
   stdin: $extract_llm_json.stdout

If you want the safest way to create the file without accidentally copying prose, use a heredoc:

cat > /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js <<'EOF'
let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {

  const result = JSON.parse(input);
  const json = result && result.details && result.details.json;

  if (!json || typeof json !== "object") {
    throw new Error("LLM task output did not contain details.json");
  }

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(json));
});
EOF

[hollow lake]

I got this message
The lobster pipeline failed with this error:

Error: LLM task output did not contain details.json

The script /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js expected the LLM task to produce a details.json file in its output, but it didn't. This is a pipeline-level failure — the LLM step didn't return the expected structured output.

[fallen zinc]

That means invoke-llm-task.js is returning a different JSON shape than I assumed. So don’t hard-code details.json yet — make the extractor handle the common shapes and print a useful error if none match.

Replace extract-llm-json.js with this:

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const result = JSON.parse(input);

  const candidates = [
    result && result.details && result.details.json,

    result && result.json,
    result && result.output && result.output.json,
    result && result.result && result.result.json,
    result && result.result,
    result
  ];

  const json = candidates.find(value => {
    return value &&
      typeof value === "object" &&
      typeof value.subject === "string" &&
      Array.isArray(value.leads);
  });

  if (!json) {

    const topLevelKeys = result && typeof result === "object"
      ? Object.keys(result)
      : [];

    throw new Error(
      "Could not find structured LLM JSON with { subject, leads }. " +
      "Top-level keys were: " + topLevelKeys.join(", ") + ". " +
      "First 1000 chars of raw output: " + input.slice(0, 1000)
    );
  }

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(json));
});

This does two things:

• succeeds if the LLM result is already { subject, leads }, or wrapped in one of a few likely places
• if it still fails, the error will show the actual top-level keys and the first chunk of the real draft_email output

After that run, if it still errors, paste the new error here — especially the “Top-level keys were…” part. That will tell us exactly what shape invoke-llm-task.js is producing, then we can make the extractor precise instead of guessing. 🦞

[hollow lake]

I got this error
The lobster pipeline failed with this error:

Error: Could not find structured LLM JSON with { subject, leads }. Top-level keys were: ok, result.

The underlying LLM call did produce valid content (a subject line and leads array), but the extract-llm-json.js post-processor expected the raw output to be a JSON object with subject and leads keys at the top level. Instead, the LLM returned a nested structure wrapped in { "ok": true, "result": { "content": [...] } }, so the extractor couldn't find the expected keys.

The fix would be to update extract-llm-json.js to unwrap the { ok, result } envelope before looking for subject and leads, or to adjust the LLM prompt so it outputs the flat { subject, leads } structure directly.

[fallen zinc]

Good, now we know the real wrapper shape: { ok, result }, with the useful payload inside result.content.

Replace extract-llm-json.js with this more robust version:

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const root = JSON.parse(input);

  function isLeadJson(value) {
    return value &&

      typeof value === "object" &&
      typeof value.subject === "string" &&
      Array.isArray(value.leads);
  }

  function tryParseJson(value) {
    if (typeof value !== "string") return null;

    try {
      return JSON.parse(value);
    } catch {
      return null;
    }
  }

  function findLeadJson(value) {
    if (isLeadJson(value)) return value;

    const parsed = tryParseJson(value);
    if (parsed) {
      const found = findLeadJson(parsed);
      if (found) return found;
    }

    if (Array.isArray(value)) {
      for (const item of value) {
        const found = findLeadJson(item);
        if (found) return found;
      }
    }

    if (value && typeof value === "object") {
      for (const key of Object.keys(value)) {
        const found = findLeadJson(value[key]);
        if (found) return found;
      }
    }

    return null;
  }

  const json = findLeadJson(root);

  if (!json) {
    const topLevelKeys = root && typeof root === "object"

      ? Object.keys(root)
      : [];

    throw new Error(
      "Could not find structured LLM JSON with { subject, leads }. " +
      "Top-level keys were: " + topLevelKeys.join(", ") + ". " +
      "First 1500 chars of raw output: " + input.slice(0, 1500)
    );
  }

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(json));
});

This recursively searches through the wrapper, including result.content, and also parses any JSON strings it finds. So whether the LLM output is nested as an object or stored as text inside content[], it should still extract the first valid { subject, leads: [...] } object.

If this works, the next step is to simplify it later once you know the exact stable path — but for now this should unblock the workflow.

[hollow lake]

I got this output

[13/05/2026 06:59] DBA Lead Scout: The lobster pipeline ran but returned an error status — it couldn't find details.json in the LLM-task output. However, the pipeline did produce content (the HTML draft with 3 leads: Cambridge & Counties Bank, Sephora UK, and Castle Water). The output file should have been written. Let me check if it exists and then email it.
[13/05/2026 07:00] DBA Lead Scout: The output file wasn't written — the lobster pipeline errored out before saving. The pipeline generated the lead content (3 leads) but failed because it couldn't find details.json in the LLM-task output, so it never persisted the file.

Here's what happened:

Lobster error: workflow command failed (1): Could not find details.json in llm-task output.

The pipeline did produce HTML content with 3 SQL leads (Cambridge & Counties Bank, Sephora UK, Castle Water) but crashed before writing the output file, so there's nothing to email.

[fallen zinc]

That error is coming from your old normalize-email.js, not from the new extractor.

normalize-email.js still expects the raw LLM-task wrapper and looks for details.json. But after the new extract_llm_json + render_email_html steps, the data is already clean:

{ "subject": "...", "html": "..." }

So the simplest fix is: remove normalize_email from this pipeline and write the rendered output directly to a file.

Use this pipeline shape:

name: sql_lead_drafts_email_output

steps:

  - id: read_leads
    command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql_leads.md

  - id: build_llm_request
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js
    stdin: $read_leads.stdout

  - id: draft_email
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js
    stdin: $build_llm_request.stdout

  - id: extract_llm_json
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js
    stdin: $draft_email.stdout

  - id: render_email_html
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js
    stdin: $extract_llm_json.stdout

  - id: write_output
    command: sh -c 'cat > /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.json && echo /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.json'
    stdin: $render_email_html.stdout

  - id: final_output
    command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.json

Then tell OpenClaw to email:

Email me the file `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.json` as an attachment.

If you specifically need an .html file instead of JSON, say so and I’ll give you a tiny write-html-file.js step that extracts only the html field and writes sql-leads-draft-output.html.

[hollow lake]

I want the output to be HTML which becomes the body of the email, rather than be an attachment

[fallen zinc]

Got it — then don’t save the final JSON as the thing to email. Save the rendered html field to an .html file, and tell OpenClaw to use that file’s contents as the email body.

Add this script:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/write-email-html-file.js

const fs = require("fs");

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {

  const data = JSON.parse(input);

  if (!data || typeof data.html !== "string") {
    throw new Error("Expected input JSON to contain an html string");
  }

  const bodyPath = "/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html";
  const subjectPath = "/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-subject.txt";

  fs.writeFileSync(bodyPath, data.html, "utf8");
  fs.writeFileSync(subjectPath, data.subject || "SQL lead drafts", "utf8");

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({
    subject: data.subject || "SQL lead drafts",
    htmlFile: bodyPath,

    subjectFile: subjectPath
  }));
});

Then make the end of the Lobster pipeline this:

  - id: render_email_html
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js
    stdin: $extract_llm_json.stdout

  - id: write_email_html_file
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/write-email-html-file.js
    stdin: $render_email_html.stdout

  - id: final_output
    command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html

So the pipeline now finishes by printing the actual HTML body, and also persists it here:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html

Then update your OpenClaw prompt to say:

Call the OpenClaw tool named lobster directly.

Use this exact tool payload:
{
  "action": "run",
  "pipeline": "/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft.lobster",
  "timeoutMs": 600000,
  "maxStdoutBytes": 512000
}

If this fails, tell me the exact lobster tool error. Do not try to work around it with shell or the standalone Lobster CLI.

After it succeeds, email me using:
- subject from `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-subject.txt`
- HTML body from `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html`

Do not send the HTML file as an attachment. Use the file contents as the email body.

Important bit: remove normalize_email from this version of the pipeline, because that script is still looking for the old details.json wrapper and causing the failure.

[hollow lake]

can you give me the full version of the pipeline

[fallen zinc]

Yep — here’s the full .lobster pipeline version with the deterministic HTML render and HTML-file write step, and with normalize_email removed.

name: sql_lead_drafts_email_output

steps:
  - id: read_leads
    command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql_leads.md

  - id: build_llm_request
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js
    stdin: $read_leads.stdout

  - id: draft_email
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js
    stdin: $build_llm_request.stdout

  - id: extract_llm_json
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js
    stdin: $draft_email.stdout

  - id: render_email_html
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js
    stdin: $extract_llm_json.stdout

  - id: write_email_html_file
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/write-email-html-file.js
    stdin: $render_email_html.stdout

  - id: final_output
    command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html

This expects these scripts to exist:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/write-email-html-file.js

And it writes these files:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-subject.txt

Then your OpenClaw prompt should say to use the .html file contents as the email body, not as an attachment.

[hollow lake]

That worked, so if I want to change the formatting, which files do I need to change

[fallen zinc]

Nice, glad it worked 🎉

For formatting, the main file to change is:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js

That controls the actual HTML structure: headings, table layout, labels, ordering, spacing, <p>, <br>, etc.

The other files have different jobs:

build-llm-request.js

Change this if you want different content from the LLM — e.g. shorter summaries, different tone, extra fields like pain_points, recommended_service, priority, etc.

extract-llm-json.js

Usually don’t touch this. It just unwraps the LLM result.

write-email-html-file.js

Change this only if you want different output filenames, or if you want to wrap the final HTML in a full document like <html><body>...</body></html>.

sql-leads-draft.lobster

Change this if you add/remove/reorder pipeline steps.

So the rule of thumb is:

• Change layout/HTML formatting → render-email-html.js
• Change what text/data gets generated → build-llm-request.js
• Change output file paths → write-email-html-file.js
• Change workflow order → .lobster file

If you want consistent formatting, keep as much as possible in render-email-html.js and avoid asking the LLM to produce layout.

[hollow lake]

ok, so can you make some suggestions to change the format of the email, at the moment it looks quite plain, I would prefer a more corporate look to it

[fallen zinc]

Absolutely. Since this is an email body, I’d keep it “corporate” using old-school email-safe HTML: tables, inline styles, restrained colours, clear sections. Avoid CSS classes/style blocks because email clients are fussy.

A good corporate format would be:

• a branded header bar: “SQL Lead Drafts”
• a short intro paragraph
• one bordered card/table per lead
• muted label column: Company, Contact, Job posting, Summary
• outreach draft in a lightly shaded box
• consistent spacing and typography
• optional footer note with generation date/source

For example, change render-email-html.js so each lead renders more like this:

<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #1f2937; background: #f3f4f6; padding: 20px;">

  <tr>
    <td align="center">
      <table width="720" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d5db;">
        <tr>
          <td style="background: #0f172a; color: #ffffff; padding: 18px 24px; font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;">
            SQL Lead Drafts
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td style="padding: 20px 24px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">
            <p style="margin: 0 0 16px 0;">Below are the latest SQL lead summaries and tailored outreach drafts.</p>

            <!-- repeat one lead card per lead -->
          </td>
        </tr>

      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

For each lead card, I’d use something like:

<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border: 1px solid #e5e7eb; margin: 0 0 18px 0;">
  <tr>
    <td style="background: #f9fafb; padding: 12px 16px; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; color: #111827;">
      Lead 1: Company Name
    </td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td style="padding: 14px 16px;">
      <p><b>Contact:</b> Contact details</p>
      <p><b>Job posting:</b> Job posting details</p>
      <p><b>Summary:</b> Summary text</p>
      <div style="background: #eff6ff; border-left: 4px solid #2563eb; padding: 12px 14px; margin-top: 12px;">
        <b>Outreach draft</b><br><br>
        Outreach text here
      </div>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

Design options I’d recommend:

1. Conservative corporate — navy header, white cards, grey borders. Safest for banking/enterprise prospects.
2. Consultancy report style — title block, numbered lead cards, summary table at the top. Best if you want it to feel like an internal sales report.
3. Sales action style — each lead has “Why relevant”, “Suggested angle”, “Outreach draft”, and “Next action”. Best if the recipient is going to act on the leads quickly.

My recommendation: go with option 2 — a polished internal sales report format. It’ll look more professional without becoming too flashy or email-client-fragile.

[hollow lake]

so can you give me the file in full

[fallen zinc]

Yep — replace the whole contents of:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js

with this:

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {

  const data = JSON.parse(input);

  if (!Array.isArray(data.leads)) {
    throw new Error("Expected input JSON to contain a leads array");
  }

  function escapeHtml(s = "") {
    return String(s)
      .replaceAll("&", "&")
      .replaceAll("<", "&lt;")
      .replaceAll(">", "&gt;")
      .replaceAll('"', "&quot;");
  }

  function withLineBreaks(s = "") {

    return escapeHtml(s)
      .split(String.fromCharCode(13)).join("")
      .split(String.fromCharCode(10)).join("<br>");
  }

  function renderLeadCard(lead, index) {
    const company = escapeHtml(lead.company || "Unknown company");
    const contact = withLineBreaks(lead.contact || "Not specified");
    const jobPosting = withLineBreaks(lead.job_posting || "Not specified");
    const summary = withLineBreaks(lead.summary || "Not specified");
    const outreach = withLineBreaks(lead.outreach || "Not specified");

    return `
<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border: 1px solid #e5e7eb; margin: 0 0 18px 0; background: #ffffff;">
  <tr>

    <td style="background: #f8fafc; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; padding: 14px 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
      <div style="font-size: 12px; color: #64748b; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.04em; margin-bottom: 4px;">Lead ${index + 1}</div>
      <div style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; font-weight: bold; color: #0f172a;">${company}</div>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td style="padding: 16px 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #1f2937; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">
      <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="margin: 0 0 14px 0;">
        <tr>
          <td width="130" valign="top" style="padding: 6px 12px 6px 0; color: #475569; font-weight: bold; font-size: 13px;">Contact</td>
          <td valign="top" style="padding: 6px 0; color: #111827; font-size: 13px;">${contact}</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td width="130" valign="top" style="padding: 6px 12px 6px 0; color: #475569; font-weight: bold; font-size: 13px;">Job posting</td>
          <td valign="top" style="padding: 6px 0; color: #111827; font-size: 13px;">${jobPosting}</td>

        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td width="130" valign="top" style="padding: 6px 12px 6px 0; color: #475569; font-weight: bold; font-size: 13px;">Summary</td>
          <td valign="top" style="padding: 6px 0; color: #111827; font-size: 13px;">${summary}</td>
        </tr>
      </table>

      <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="background: #eff6ff; border-left: 4px solid #2563eb; margin: 12px 0 0 0;">
        <tr>
          <td style="padding: 13px 15px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #1e293b; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.55;">
            <div style="font-weight: bold; color: #1d4ed8; margin-bottom: 8px;">Outreach draft</div>
            ${outreach}
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>

    </td>
  </tr>
</table>`;
  }

  const leadCards = data.leads.map(renderLeadCard).join("");
  const subject = data.subject || "SQL lead drafts";

  const html = `
<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="background: #f3f4f6; margin: 0; padding: 20px 0;">
  <tr>
    <td align="center" style="padding: 0 12px;">
      <table width="720" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d5db;">
        <tr>
          <td style="background: #0f172a; color: #ffffff; padding: 20px 24px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">

            <div style="font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.25; font-weight: bold;">SQL Lead Drafts</div>
            <div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; color: #cbd5e1; margin-top: 4px;">Generated lead summaries and tailored outreach drafts</div>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td style="padding: 22px 24px 8px 24px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #1f2937; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">
            <p style="margin: 0 0 16px 0;">Below are the latest SQL lead summaries, contact/job-posting context, and suggested outreach drafts.</p>
            ${leadCards}
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td style="background: #f8fafc; border-top: 1px solid #e5e7eb; padding: 14px 24px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #64748b; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4;">
            Prepared for internal review. Please verify contact details and job-posting context before sending outreach.
          </td>
        </tr>

      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>`;

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({
    subject,
    html
  }));
});

That gives you a navy corporate header, one clean card per lead, structured details, and a highlighted outreach section — all using email-safe inline styles.

[hollow lake]

At the moment the prompt to execute this is quite long, is there a way to store this prompt somewhere so that I can just issue a prompt like 'Email the leads file to me'

[fallen zinc]

Yes — the clean OpenClaw way is to store it as a standing order in that agent’s workspace, usually in AGENTS.md.

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/automation/standing-orders

Add something like this to the AGENTS.md for the agent that receives your “Email the leads file to me” request:

## Standing order: Email SQL leads

When I say "Email the leads file to me", "send me the leads email", or similar:

1. Call the OpenClaw tool named `lobster` directly.
2. Use this exact payload:

{
  "action": "run",

  "pipeline": "/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft.lobster",
  "timeoutMs": 600000,
  "maxStdoutBytes": 512000
}

3. If the lobster tool fails, report the exact lobster tool error.
4. Do not work around lobster failures with shell or the standalone Lobster CLI.
5. If lobster succeeds, email me using:
   - subject from `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-subject.txt`
   - HTML body from `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html`
6. Do not attach the HTML file. Use its contents as the email body.

Then your prompt can just be:

Email the leads file to me

Best place is the specific agent workspace for “DBA Lead Scout”, not global memory, because this is an operational instruction with exact file paths and tool behavior.

[hollow lake]

I've noticed that it always seems to hesitate when emailing using agentmail, is this normal, here is the output

[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: Now let me send the email using the AgentMail API.
[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: The API path might differ. Let me check the scripts directory for the actual send script.
[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: Let me execute the lobster pipeline first, then read the subject and body files.
[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: Pipeline succeeded. Now let me read the subject line and the HTML body file.
[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: Now I need to check if the agentmail skill is available for sending the email.
[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: Now let me check if there's an API key configured and send the email via the AgentMail API.
[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: Good, the API key is set. Let me first list inboxes to find the right one to send from, then send the email.
[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: Now let me send the email using the AgentMail API.
[13/05/2026 07:26] DBA Lead Scout: The API path might differ. Let me check the scripts directory for the actual send script.
[13/05/2026 07:27] DBA Lead Scout: Done. Here's what happened:

1. Lobster pipeline ran successfully — generated 12 SQL leads with contact details, job posting links, summaries, and tailored outreach drafts.
2. Email sent via AgentMail

[fallen zinc]

Yes — that’s fairly normal when the agent doesn’t have a fixed “known-good” email procedure. It’s doing discovery every time:

• checking whether AgentMail exists
• checking whether the API key is set
• listing inboxes
• guessing/verifying the send path
• looking for scripts

That’s useful the first time, but annoying once the workflow is proven.

The fix is to add the AgentMail send procedure to the same standing order, so it stops rediscovering. Add something like this after the Lobster section:

### Email delivery procedure

After the Lobster pipeline succeeds:

1. Read the subject from:
   `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-subject.txt`

2. Read the HTML body from:
   `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html`

3. Send the email via AgentMail using the already-configured AgentMail setup.

4. Do not re-check whether AgentMail exists unless the send fails.

5. Do not list inboxes unless the configured sender/inbox fails.

6. Do not search the scripts directory unless AgentMail sending fails.

7. On success, report only:
   - Lobster pipeline succeeded
   - email sent

8. On failure, report the exact AgentMail error.

Even better: if there is a specific working AgentMail script/command/API call, put that exact path/API shape in the standing order too. That removes nearly all hesitation.

The repeated “API path might differ” line means the agent still doesn’t know the canonical AgentMail send route. Give it one fixed route and tell it not to rediscover unless it fails.

[hollow lake]

If I make changes to agents.md, do I need to restart the gateway?

[fallen zinc]

Usually no gateway restart needed.

AGENTS.md is loaded at the start of a session, so changes are picked up on the next fresh session/run. For your case, after editing it, do one of these:

• start a new chat/thread/session, or
• send /reset / /new in that agent conversation if you want it to reload cleanly

A gateway restart is only worth doing if you’re debugging something weird, changing actual OpenClaw config, or changing service/env state — not just editing AGENTS.md.

Docs note: AGENTS.md is “loaded at the start of every session”: https://docs.openclaw.ai/concepts/agent-workspace

[hollow lake]

is there a difference between /reset and /new

[fallen zinc]

Yes — small but useful difference.

/new starts a new session. Use this when you want a clean conversation/context so the agent reloads workspace instructions like AGENTS.md fresh.

/reset is mostly an alias for starting/resetting the session, but there’s also:

/reset soft

That keeps the current transcript but drops reused backend session IDs and reruns startup/system-prompt loading in-place.

For your AGENTS.md change, I’d use:

/new

Then say:

Email the leads file to me

That gives the least ambiguity: fresh session, fresh instructions loaded. Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/slash-commands

[fallen zinc]

Do you mean you want to change the input leads Markdown file that the pipeline reads?

That file is currently:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql_leads.md

So yes — to change which leads appear in the email, edit that Markdown file. The pipeline starts with:

- id: read_leads
  command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql_leads.md

If you want to change the email wording/tone generated from the leads, edit:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js

If you want to change the visual email format/layout, edit:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js

So: leads/content source → sql_leads.md; generation instructions → build-llm-request.js; corporate HTML look → render-email-html.js.

[hollow lake]

I want to change the email, in the leads markdown at the end there is a summary containing the following info

Lead number, Company, Found date, Score, Sector, Contact Found

Can you add this summary at the start of the email, also each lead should contain sector details

[fallen zinc]

Yes — you need to change two places:

1. build-llm-request.js so the LLM extracts the summary fields from the Markdown
2. render-email-html.js so the email renders a summary table at the top and includes sector in each lead card

In build-llm-request.js, add these fields to each lead:

lead_number: { type: "string" },
found_date: { type: "string" },
score: { type: "string" },
sector: { type: "string" },
contact_found: { type: "string" },

And update the required list to:

required: [
  "lead_number",
  "company",
  "found_date",
  "score",
  "sector",
  "contact_found",
  "contact",
  "job_posting",
  "summary",
  "outreach"
]

Also add prompt lines like:

"At the end of the Markdown there is a summary table/list containing lead number, company, found date, score, sector, and contact found.",
"Extract those summary fields for each lead and include them in the matching lead object.",
"Each lead must contain lead_number, company, found_date, score, sector, contact_found, contact, job_posting, summary, and outreach.",
"Include sector details for each lead.",

Then replace render-email-html.js with this version:

let input = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  input += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {
  const data = JSON.parse(input);

  if (!Array.isArray(data.leads)) {
    throw new Error("Expected input JSON to contain a leads array");
  }

  function escapeHtml(s = "") {
    return String(s)
      .replaceAll("&", "&")
      .replaceAll("<", "&lt;")
      .replaceAll(">", "&gt;")
      .replaceAll('"', "&quot;");
  }

  function withLineBreaks(s = "") {
    return escapeHtml(s)
      .split(String.fromCharCode(13)).join("")
      .split(String.fromCharCode(10)).join("<br>");
  }

  function renderLeadSummaryTable(leads) {
    const rows = leads.map((lead, index) => `
      <tr>
        <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #111827;">${escapeHtml(lead.lead_number || String(index + 1))}</td>
        <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #111827; font-weight: bold;">${escapeHtml(lead.company || "Unknown company")}</td>
        <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #111827;">${escapeHtml(lead.found_date || "Not specified")}</td>
        <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #111827;">${escapeHtml(lead.score || "Not specified")}</td>
        <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #111827;">${escapeHtml(lead.sector || "Not specified")}</td>
        <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #111827;">${escapeHtml(lead.contact_found || "Not specified")}</td>

      </tr>`).join("");

    return `
<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border: 1px solid #dbeafe; margin: 0 0 22px 0; background: #ffffff;">
  <tr>
    <td style="background: #eff6ff; padding: 13px 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #1d4ed8; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px solid #dbeafe;">
      Lead Summary
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td style="padding: 0;">
      <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;">
        <tr style="background: #f8fafc;">
          <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #475569; font-weight: bold;">#</td>
          <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #475569; font-weight: bold;">Company</td>

          <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #475569; font-weight: bold;">Found date</td>
          <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #475569; font-weight: bold;">Score</td>
          <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #475569; font-weight: bold;">Sector</td>
          <td style="padding: 9px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; color: #475569; font-weight: bold;">Contact found</td>
        </tr>
        ${rows}
      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>`;
  }

  function renderLeadCard(lead, index) {
    const company = escapeHtml(lead.company || "Unknown company");
    const leadNumber = escapeHtml(lead.lead_number || String(index + 1));

    const sector = withLineBreaks(lead.sector || "Not specified");
    const contact = withLineBreaks(lead.contact || "Not specified");
    const jobPosting = withLineBreaks(lead.job_posting || "Not specified");
    const summary = withLineBreaks(lead.summary || "Not specified");
    const outreach = withLineBreaks(lead.outreach || "Not specified");

    return `
<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border: 1px solid #e5e7eb; margin: 0 0 18px 0; background: #ffffff;">
  <tr>
    <td style="background: #f8fafc; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e7eb; padding: 14px 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
      <div style="font-size: 12px; color: #64748b; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.04em; margin-bottom: 4px;">Lead ${leadNumber}</div>
      <div style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; font-weight: bold; color: #0f172a;">${company}</div>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>

    <td style="padding: 16px 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #1f2937; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">
      <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="margin: 0 0 14px 0;">
        <tr>
          <td width="130" valign="top" style="padding: 6px 12px 6px 0; color: #475569; font-weight: bold; font-size: 13px;">Sector</td>
          <td valign="top" style="padding: 6px 0; color: #111827; font-size: 13px;">${sector}</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td width="130" valign="top" style="padding: 6px 12px 6px 0; color: #475569; font-weight: bold; font-size: 13px;">Contact</td>
          <td valign="top" style="padding: 6px 0; color: #111827; font-size: 13px;">${contact}</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td width="130" valign="top" style="padding: 6px 12px 6px 0; color: #475569; font-weight: bold; font-size: 13px;">Job posting</td>
          <td valign="top" style="padding: 6px 0; color: #111827; font-size: 13px;">${jobPosting}</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>

          <td width="130" valign="top" style="padding: 6px 12px 6px 0; color: #475569; font-weight: bold; font-size: 13px;">Summary</td>
          <td valign="top" style="padding: 6px 0; color: #111827; font-size: 13px;">${summary}</td>
        </tr>
      </table>

      <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="background: #eff6ff; border-left: 4px solid #2563eb; margin: 12px 0 0 0;">
        <tr>
          <td style="padding: 13px 15px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #1e293b; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.55;">
            <div style="font-weight: bold; color: #1d4ed8; margin-bottom: 8px;">Outreach draft</div>
            ${outreach}
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>

</table>`;
  }

  const summaryTable = renderLeadSummaryTable(data.leads);
  const leadCards = data.leads.map(renderLeadCard).join("");
  const subject = data.subject || "SQL lead drafts";

  const html = `
<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="background: #f3f4f6; margin: 0; padding: 20px 0;">
  <tr>
    <td align="center" style="padding: 0 12px;">
      <table width="720" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d5db;">
        <tr>
          <td style="background: #0f172a; color: #ffffff; padding: 20px 24px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
            <div style="font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.25; font-weight: bold;">SQL Lead Drafts</div>

            <div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; color: #cbd5e1; margin-top: 4px;">Generated lead summaries and tailored outreach drafts</div>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td style="padding: 22px 24px 8px 24px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #1f2937; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">
            <p style="margin: 0 0 16px 0;">Below are the latest SQL lead summaries, contact/job-posting context, sector details, and suggested outreach drafts.</p>
            ${summaryTable}
            ${leadCards}
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td style="background: #f8fafc; border-top: 1px solid #e5e7eb; padding: 14px 24px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #64748b; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4;">
            Prepared for internal review. Please verify contact details and job-posting context before sending outreach.
          </td>
        </tr>

      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>`;

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({
    subject,
    html
  }));
});

The important dependency: the LLM output must now include sector, plus the summary fields, otherwise the table will show “Not specified”. If it does, the render step will place the summary table at the top and sector inside every lead.

[hollow lake]

Can you give me build-llm-request.js in full

[fallen zinc]

Yep — replace the whole contents of:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js

with this:

let leads = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  leads += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {

  const llmTimeoutMs = Number(process.env.LLM_TASK_TIMEOUT_MS || "180000");
  const maxTokens = Number(process.env.LLM_TASK_MAX_TOKENS || "8000");

  const lines = [
    "You will receive a Markdown leads file.",
    "Extract and draft content for one SQL lead email.",
    "Output only structured JSON with subject and leads.",
    "Do not output HTML.",
    "Do not include markdown code fences.",
    "The HTML email body will be rendered by a separate deterministic script.",
    "",
    "At the end of the Markdown there is a summary containing these fields:",
    "- Lead number",
    "- Company",
    "- Found date",

    "- Score",
    "- Sector",
    "- Contact Found",
    "",
    "Extract those summary fields for each lead and include them in the matching lead object.",
    "Each lead must contain:",
    "- lead_number",
    "- company",
    "- found_date",
    "- score",
    "- sector",
    "- contact_found",
    "- contact",
    "- job_posting",
    "- summary",

    "- outreach",
    "",
    "For each lead, create a concise summary under 80 words.",
    "For each lead, include details of the original job posting and main contact details.",
    "For each lead, include sector details using the sector field from the Markdown summary.",
    "For each lead, create a tailored outreach draft under 200 words.",
    "In every outreach draft, mention that we can offer the lead a free health check of their SQL estate.",
    "Explain that the health check will highlight where money can be saved, including SQL licensing, and identify any performance issues they may have.",
    "Keep the wording professional, clear, and suitable for a business development email.",
    "If a field is missing from the Markdown, use 'Not specified' rather than guessing."
  ];

  const req = {
    prompt: lines.join(String.fromCharCode(10)),
    thinking: "low",

    timeoutMs: llmTimeoutMs,
    maxTokens,
    input: {
      leads_markdown: leads
    },
    schema: {
      type: "object",
      properties: {
        subject: {
          type: "string"
        },
        leads: {
          type: "array",
          items: {
            type: "object",

            properties: {
              lead_number: {
                type: "string"
              },
              company: {
                type: "string"
              },
              found_date: {
                type: "string"
              },
              score: {
                type: "string"
              },
              sector: {
                type: "string"

              },
              contact_found: {
                type: "string"
              },
              contact: {
                type: "string"
              },
              job_posting: {
                type: "string"
              },
              summary: {
                type: "string"
              },
              outreach: {
                type: "string"

              }
            },
            required: [
              "lead_number",
              "company",
              "found_date",
              "score",
              "sector",
              "contact_found",
              "contact",
              "job_posting",
              "summary",
              "outreach"
            ],
            additionalProperties: false

          }
        }
      },
      required: ["subject", "leads"],
      additionalProperties: false
    }
  };

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(req));
});

This makes the LLM output the extra fields your renderer now expects, especially sector, plus the summary-table fields from the end of the Markdown.

[hollow lake]

Its failing but openclaw is not really telling me why

[fallen zinc]

Yep — at this point I’d make the pipeline leave breadcrumbs after each stage, so even if OpenClaw gives you a vague failure you can inspect exactly which step produced bad output.

Add tee debug steps between the important stages:

name: sql_lead_drafts_email_output

steps:
  - id: read_leads
    command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql_leads.md

  - id: build_llm_request
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js
    stdin: $read_leads.stdout

  - id: debug_llm_request

    command: tee /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-llm-request.json
    stdin: $build_llm_request.stdout

  - id: draft_email
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js
    stdin: $debug_llm_request.stdout

  - id: debug_draft_email
    command: tee /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-draft-email.json
    stdin: $draft_email.stdout

  - id: extract_llm_json
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/extract-llm-json.js
    stdin: $debug_draft_email.stdout

  - id: debug_extracted_json
    command: tee /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-extracted-json.json
    stdin: $extract_llm_json.stdout

  - id: render_email_html
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/render-email-html.js
    stdin: $debug_extracted_json.stdout

  - id: debug_rendered_email
    command: tee /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-rendered-email.json
    stdin: $render_email_html.stdout

  - id: write_email_html_file
    command: node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/write-email-html-file.js
    stdin: $debug_rendered_email.stdout

  - id: final_output
    command: cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html

Then if it fails, ask OpenClaw/DBA Lead Scout to report:

Tell me which Lobster step failed, and show the contents or first 2000 characters of the latest debug file that was successfully written:
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-llm-request.json
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-draft-email.json
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-extracted-json.json
/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-rendered-email.json

My guess: the new stricter schema is causing the LLM wrapper to return a different shape or a schema failure, probably around the new summary fields. These debug files will show whether the break is at LLM request, LLM response, extraction, rendering, or file writing.

[hollow lake]

openclaw said this

[13/05/2026 08:24] DBA Lead Scout: Let me check the debug files to find which step failed and what the latest successful output was.
[13/05/2026 08:25] DBA Lead Scout: Only the first debug file exists — the pipeline failed at step 3 (debug_llm_request), which is just a tee to write that file. So the build_llm_request step (step 2) likely failed, or the pipeline errored before step 3 completed. Let me read the debug file and also check the lobster scripts for clues.
[13/05/2026 08:25] DBA Lead Scout: Now I can see the pipeline flow. The debug-llm-request.json was successfully written (step 3). The pipeline failed at step 4 (draft_email), which runs invoke-llm-task.js. Let me check that script and also see if there's a more recent version of the output HTML file that was already generated from a previous successful run.
[13/05/2026 08:25] DBA Lead Scout: The pipeline failed at step 4 (draft_email), which calls invoke-llm-task.js to invoke the llm-task tool. This script makes an HTTP call to the OpenClaw gateway's /tools/invoke endpoint. The error "workflow command failed (1)" means the step exited with code 1 — likely the llm-task tool call failed (maybe the gateway was restarting or the tool wasn't available).

[fallen zinc]

That’s still not enough evidence from DBA Lead Scout — “likely gateway restarting” is a guess. The next useful move is to capture stderr from invoke-llm-task.js, because that’s where the real LLM/tool error should be.

Change just the draft_email step to this:

  - id: draft_email
    command: sh -c 'node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js 2> /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-draft-email-stderr.txt'
    stdin: $debug_llm_request.stdout

Then rerun it. If it fails, ask DBA Lead Scout to show:

cat /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-draft-email-stderr.txt

Also keep this debug file from the previous successful step:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-llm-request.json

The failure is probably one of these:

• the LLM/tool call rejected the new schema
• invoke-llm-task.js cannot reach the gateway/tool endpoint
• the tool returned an error but the script only exits 1 without surfacing it
• the request JSON is malformed or too strict for the LLM-task wrapper

But we need the stderr text before changing the schema again. Otherwise we’re just poking the lobster with a stick 🦞

[hollow lake]

This is what is in that file
{"ok":false,"error":{"type":"tool_error","message":"tool execution failed"}}

[fallen zinc]

That file confirms the failing step is the llm-task tool call, but the current invoke-llm-task.js is only surfacing the generic wrapper error:

{"ok":false,"error":{"type":"tool_error","message":"tool execution failed"}}

So the next fix is to make invoke-llm-task.js print the full raw response from the Gateway/tool call before it exits. Right now it’s hiding the useful part.

In invoke-llm-task.js, look for the bit that handles a failed response, probably something like:

if (!result.ok) {
  console.error(JSON.stringify(result));
  process.exit(1);
}

Change it to something more verbose:

if (!result.ok) {
  console.error("llm-task failed");
  console.error(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
  process.exit(1);
}

If the script uses fetch, also log the HTTP status and raw body before parsing JSON:

const text = await response.text();

if (!response.ok) {

  console.error("Gateway HTTP status:", response.status, response.statusText);
  console.error("Gateway raw response:");
  console.error(text);
  process.exit(1);
}

const result = JSON.parse(text);

if (!result.ok) {
  console.error("Tool response was not ok:");
  console.error(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
  process.exit(1);
}

Then rerun with your stderr capture:

  - id: draft_email
    command: sh -c 'node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js 2> /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-draft-email-stderr.txt'
    stdin: $debug_llm_request.stdout

My hunch: the new schema is being rejected by llm-task, but we need the raw response to know whether it’s schema shape, token limit, model/tool availability, or something else. The current error is too generic to fix safely.

[hollow lake]

This is what is in the file

let s = "";
process.stdin.on("data", c => s += c);
process.stdin.on("end", async () => {
const args = JSON.parse(s);

const port = process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT || "18789";
const baseUrl = process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_URL || http://127.0.0.1:${port};
const token = process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN || process.env.SHARED_GATEWAY_TOKEN || "";

const headers = { "content-type": "application/json" };
if (token) headers.authorization = Bearer ${token};
const res = await fetch(${baseUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")}/tools/invoke, {
method: "POST",
headers,
body: JSON.stringify({
tool: "llm-task",
action: "json",
args
})
});

const text = await res.text();
if (!res.ok) {
console.error(text);
process.exit(1);
}

process.stdout.write(text);
});

[fallen zinc]

Perfect — that script explains why the error is vague. It only prints the response body when the HTTP status is non-OK, but it doesn’t add context, and it doesn’t explicitly handle an OpenClaw tool response like { "ok": false, ... }.

Replace invoke-llm-task.js with this fuller debug version:

let s = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  s += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", async () => {
  try {
    const args = JSON.parse(s);

    const port = process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT || "18789";

    const baseUrl = process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_URL || `http://127.0.0.1:${port}`;
    const token = process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN || process.env.SHARED_GATEWAY_TOKEN || "";
    const url = `${baseUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")}/tools/invoke`;

    const headers = { "content-type": "application/json" };
    if (token) headers.authorization = `Bearer ${token}`;

    const payload = {
      tool: "llm-task",
      action: "json",
      args
    };

    const res = await fetch(url, {
      method: "POST",

      headers,
      body: JSON.stringify(payload)
    });

    const text = await res.text();

    if (!res.ok) {
      console.error("Gateway HTTP request failed");
      console.error("URL:", url);
      console.error("Status:", res.status, res.statusText);
      console.error("Raw response:");
      console.error(text);
      process.exit(1);
    }

    let parsed;
    try {
      parsed = JSON.parse(text);
    } catch (err) {
      console.error("Gateway returned non-JSON response");
      console.error("Raw response:");
      console.error(text);
      process.exit(1);
    }

    if (parsed && parsed.ok === false) {
      console.error("llm-task tool returned ok=false");
      console.error(JSON.stringify(parsed, null, 2));
      process.exit(1);
    }

    process.stdout.write(text);
  } catch (err) {
    console.error("invoke-llm-task.js failed before/during request");
    console.error(err && err.stack ? err.stack : String(err));
    process.exit(1);
  }
});

Then rerun with your stderr capture still in place. The important part we need next is whatever appears under:

llm-task tool returned ok=false

If it still only says:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "type": "tool_error",
    "message": "tool execution failed"
  }
}

then the underlying llm-task tool itself is swallowing details, and I’d temporarily simplify the schema back down to confirm whether the new required summary fields are what triggered it.

[hollow lake]

This is the error

Gateway HTTP request failed
URL: http://127.0.0.1:18789/tools/invoke
Status: 500 Internal Server Error
Raw response:
{"ok":false,"error":{"type":"tool_error","message":"tool execution failed"}}

But checking in the openclaw logs I can see this:

08:42:01
warn
tools-invoke
tool execution failed: Error: LLM JSON did not match schema: /leads/0/lead_number must be string; /leads/1/lead_number must be string; /leads/2/lead_number must be string; /leads/3/lead_number must be string; /leads/4/lead_number must be string; /leads/5/lead_number must be string; /leads/6/lead_number must be string; /leads/7/lead_number must be string; /leads/8/lead_number must be string; /leads/9/lead_number must be string; /leads/10/lead_number must be string; /leads/11/lead_number must be string
08:42:01
debug
tools: lobster failed stack:
Error: workflow command failed (1): sh -c 'node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js 2> /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-draft-email-stderr.txt'
at throwOnErrorEnvelope (/home/admin/.openclaw/npm/node_modules/@openclaw/lobster/dist/index.js:175:9)
at /home/admin/.openclaw/npm/node_modules/@openclaw/lobster/dist/index.js:276:20
08:42:01
error
[tools] lobster failed: workflow command failed (1): sh -c 'node /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/invoke-llm-task.js 2> /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/debug-draft-email-stderr.txt' raw_params={"action":"run","pipeline":"/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft.lobster","timeoutMs":600000,"maxStdoutBytes":512000}

[fallen zinc]

Great catch — now we have the real cause.

The LLM is returning lead_number as a number, e.g.:

"lead_number": 1

but the schema says it must be a string:

"lead_number": "1"

So the tool rejects the whole response before the pipeline can continue.

In build-llm-request.js, change this:

lead_number: {
  type: "string"
},

to this:

lead_number: {
  anyOf: [
    { type: "string" },
    { type: "number" }
  ]
},

I’d also loosen score and contact_found, because those are likely to become numbers/booleans at some point too:

score: {
  anyOf: [
    { type: "string" },
    { type: "number" }
  ]
},
contact_found: {
  anyOf: [
    { type: "string" },
    { type: "boolean" }
  ]
},

Your renderer is already fine because escapeHtml() does:

return String(s)

so it can safely render numbers and booleans.

Optional prompt improvement: add this line too:

"Lead number and score may be returned as numbers. Contact found may be returned as true or false.",

That should stop this schema failure without weakening the useful structure of the output.

[hollow lake]

In the actual leads file the column names are as follows

Company
Found
Score
Sector
Contact Found

[fallen zinc]

Perfect — then update the naming in the prompt so the LLM maps the Markdown columns correctly.

In build-llm-request.js, use this wording:

"At the end of the Markdown there is a summary table with these columns:",
"- #",
"- Company",
"- Found",
"- Score",
"- Sector",
"- Contact Found",
"",
"Map the summary table columns into each lead object as follows:",
"- # -> lead_number",
"- Company -> company",

"- Found -> found_date",
"- Score -> score",
"- Sector -> sector",
"- Contact Found -> contact_found",

And because #, Score, and Contact Found may naturally come back as numbers/booleans, loosen those schema fields like this:

lead_number: {
  anyOf: [
    { type: "string" },
    { type: "number" }
  ]
},

found_date: {
  type: "string"
},
score: {
  anyOf: [
    { type: "string" },
    { type: "number" }
  ]
},
sector: {
  type: "string"
},
contact_found: {
  anyOf: [
    { type: "string" },

    { type: "boolean" }
  ]
},

So the schema field names can stay as:

lead_number
company
found_date
score
sector
contact_found

The LLM just needs the explicit mapping from your actual Markdown headers. The renderer does not need changing — it already reads those normalized field names.

[hollow lake]

Can you give me the file in full

[fallen zinc]

Yep — replace the whole contents of:

/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/lobster-scripts/build-llm-request.js

with this:

let leads = "";

process.stdin.on("data", c => {
  leads += c;
});

process.stdin.on("end", () => {

  const llmTimeoutMs = Number(process.env.LLM_TASK_TIMEOUT_MS || "180000");
  const maxTokens = Number(process.env.LLM_TASK_MAX_TOKENS || "8000");

  const lines = [
    "You will receive a Markdown leads file.",
    "Extract and draft content for one SQL lead email.",
    "Output only structured JSON with subject and leads.",
    "Do not output HTML.",
    "Do not include markdown code fences.",
    "The HTML email body will be rendered by a separate deterministic script.",
    "",
    "At the end of the Markdown there is a summary table with these columns:",
    "- #",
    "- Company",
    "- Found",

    "- Score",
    "- Sector",
    "- Contact Found",
    "",
    "Map the summary table columns into each lead object as follows:",
    "- # -> lead_number",
    "- Company -> company",
    "- Found -> found_date",
    "- Score -> score",
    "- Sector -> sector",
    "- Contact Found -> contact_found",
    "",
    "Each lead must contain:",
    "- lead_number",
    "- company",

    "- found_date",
    "- score",
    "- sector",
    "- contact_found",
    "- contact",
    "- job_posting",
    "- summary",
    "- outreach",
    "",
    "For each lead, create a concise summary under 80 words.",
    "For each lead, include details of the original job posting and main contact details.",
    "For each lead, include sector details using the Sector column from the Markdown summary table.",
    "For each lead, create a tailored outreach draft under 200 words.",
    "In every outreach draft, mention that we can offer the lead a free health check of their SQL estate.",
    "Explain that the health check will highlight where money can be saved, including SQL licensing, and identify any performance issues they may have.",

    "Keep the wording professional, clear, and suitable for a business development email.",
    "If a field is missing from the Markdown, use 'Not specified' rather than guessing.",
    "Lead number and score may be returned as numbers. Contact found may be returned as true or false."
  ];

  const req = {
    prompt: lines.join(String.fromCharCode(10)),
    thinking: "low",
    timeoutMs: llmTimeoutMs,
    maxTokens,
    input: {
      leads_markdown: leads
    },
    schema: {
      type: "object",

      properties: {
        subject: {
          type: "string"
        },
        leads: {
          type: "array",
          items: {
            type: "object",
            properties: {
              lead_number: {
                anyOf: [
                  { type: "string" },
                  { type: "number" }
                ]
              },

              company: {
                type: "string"
              },
              found_date: {
                type: "string"
              },
              score: {
                anyOf: [
                  { type: "string" },
                  { type: "number" }
                ]
              },
              sector: {
                type: "string"
              },

              contact_found: {
                anyOf: [
                  { type: "string" },
                  { type: "boolean" }
                ]
              },
              contact: {
                type: "string"
              },
              job_posting: {
                type: "string"
              },
              summary: {
                type: "string"
              },

              outreach: {
                type: "string"
              }
            },
            required: [
              "lead_number",
              "company",
              "found_date",
              "score",
              "sector",
              "contact_found",
              "contact",
              "job_posting",
              "summary",
              "outreach"

            ],
            additionalProperties: false
          }
        }
      },
      required: ["subject", "leads"],
      additionalProperties: false
    }
  };

  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(req));
});

The key fixes are:

• maps your real Markdown columns: #, Company, Found, Score, Sector, Contact Found

• allows lead_number and score to be numbers
• allows contact_found to be a boolean

That should avoid the schema failure you saw.

[hollow lake]

It seems to be working but now it hesitates to send the email
[13/05/2026 09:15] DBA Lead Scout: Roger, let me run the leads pipeline and send you the email.
[13/05/2026 09:15] DBA Lead Scout: Pipeline ran successfully. Now let me grab the subject line and send the email.

[fallen zinc]

That hesitation usually means the agent still has one fuzzy part: how exactly to send via AgentMail.

The Lobster side is now deterministic, but the email side probably still says something vague like “send via AgentMail”. So the agent pauses to inspect/read/decide instead of just doing the known send path.

Add a stricter delivery section to AGENTS.md, for example:

### DBA leads email delivery

When the user asks "Email the leads file to me" or similar:

1. Run the Lobster pipeline exactly as configured.
2. After the pipeline succeeds, read:
   - subject: `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-subject.txt`
   - HTML body: `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html`
3. Send the email immediately using the known AgentMail method.

4. Do not inspect directories, list inboxes, check scripts, or rediscover AgentMail configuration unless the send fails.
5. Do not narrate intermediate steps like "now let me grab the subject".
6. On success, reply only: "Pipeline succeeded and email sent."
7. On failure, report the exact AgentMail error.

But the best fix is to make line 3 exact. For example, if there is a working script/API call, write it into the standing order explicitly:

Use this exact send script/API route: ...
Use this exact sender/inbox: ...
Use this exact recipient: ...

Right now “Pipeline ran successfully. Now let me grab the subject line…” is not a failure — it’s the agent thinking aloud because the email-send procedure is under-specified. Give it one canonical AgentMail route and tell it not to rediscover unless that route errors.

[hollow lake]

I can see this in the logs

09:12:05
warn
diagnostic
liveness warning: reasons=event_loop_delay interval=30s eventLoopDelayP99Ms=120.5 eventLoopDelayMaxMs=3227.5 eventLoopUtilization=0.397 cpuCoreRatio=0.42 active=2 waiting=0 queued=1 phase=channels.telegram.start-account recentPhases=channels.whatsapp.is-configured:33ms,channels.whatsapp.is-configured:0ms,channels.whatsapp.is-configured:0ms,channels.whatsapp.is-configured:0ms,channels.whatsapp.is-configured:1ms,channels.whatsapp.is-configured:1ms work=[active=agent:lead-scout:telegram:direct:6938637819(processing/tool_call,q=1,age=9s last=tool🦞started)|agent:main:explicit:llm-task-1778659916943(processing/model_call,q=0,age=7s last=model_call:started) queued=agent:lead-scout:telegram:direct:6938637819(processing/tool_call,q=1,age=9s last=tool🦞started)]

[fallen zinc]

That log is a liveness warning, not necessarily the email-send failure.

What it says in plain English:

• the Gateway event loop had a delay spike: max ~3.2s, p99 ~120ms
• CPU wasn’t maxed: cpuCoreRatio=0.42
• there were 2 active jobs:
  • lead-scout ... tool🦞started → your Lobster pipeline
  • main ... llm-task ... model_call → the nested LLM call from inside the pipeline
• one item was queued for the same lead-scout session
• Gateway happened to be in channels.telegram.start-account phase at that moment

So this is consistent with “the agent pauses while Lobster/LLM work is running”, not necessarily AgentMail being broken.

Two things I’d check next:

1. First, what version are you on?

openclaw --version

2. If this warning repeats a lot, run:

openclaw status --all

and look for channel startup/reconnect loops, especially Telegram/WhatsApp. If Telegram isn’t needed for this workflow, disabling or fixing that account startup may reduce noise.

The key clue is tool🦞started + llm-task model_call: your Lobster workflow is doing an LLM call through the Gateway, so a short delay there is expected. I’d only worry if the warning keeps repeating for minutes, the queue grows, or the email never sends.

[hollow lake]

This is my standing order, please update

Standing order: Email SQL leads

When I say "Email the leads file to me", "send me the leads email", or similar:

1. Call the OpenClaw tool named lobster directly.
2. Use this exact payload:
   {
   "action": "run",
   "pipeline": "/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft.lobster",
   "timeoutMs": 600000,
   "maxStdoutBytes": 512000
   }
3. If the lobster tool fails, report the exact lobster tool error.
4. Do not work around lobster failures with shell or the standalone Lobster CLI.
5. If lobster succeeds, email me using:
   • subject from /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-subject.txt
   • HTML body from /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html
6. Do not attach the HTML file. Use its contents as the email body.

[fallen zinc]

Yep — replace that standing order with this tightened version:

## Standing order: Email SQL leads

When I say "Email the leads file to me", "send me the leads email", or similar, execute this workflow without rediscovering the process.

### 1. Run the Lobster pipeline

Call the OpenClaw tool named `lobster` directly.

Use this exact payload:

{
  "action": "run",
  "pipeline": "/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft.lobster",

  "timeoutMs": 600000,
  "maxStdoutBytes": 512000
}

If the lobster tool fails:
- report the exact lobster tool error
- do not work around the failure with shell
- do not use the standalone Lobster CLI
- do not continue to email delivery

### 2. Read the generated email files

If Lobster succeeds, read:

- subject from `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-subject.txt`

- HTML body from `/home/admin/.openclaw/workspace-dba-scout/sql-leads-draft-output.html`

The HTML file contents must be used as the email body.
Do not send the HTML file as an attachment.

### 3. Send the email

Send the email to me via the configured AgentMail setup.

Do not rediscover AgentMail configuration during normal successful runs:
- do not inspect directories
- do not search for scripts
- do not list inboxes
- do not check whether AgentMail exists
- do not check API keys unless sending fails

Use the known working AgentMail sending method from this agent/workspace.

### 4. Progress reporting

Do not narrate routine intermediate steps such as:
- "Now let me grab the subject"
- "Now I need to check AgentMail"
- "The API path might differ"

Only report the final result.

On success, reply exactly:

Pipeline succeeded and email sent.

On AgentMail failure, report the exact AgentMail error.

If you know the exact AgentMail sender/inbox or send script/API route, add it under section 3. That’ll remove the last bit of hesitation completely.

[hollow lake]

I can often see openclaw thinking out loud, is that from openclaw or the model itself

[fallen zinc]

Usually it’s the model, not OpenClaw’s hidden internals.

There are a few different things that can look like “thinking out loud”:

1. Model narration — messages like “Now let me check…” or “I’ll grab the subject…” are generated by the model as normal assistant text. That’s what you’re seeing in your Lead Scout logs.

2. OpenClaw tool/status updates — things like tool started/finished, approval prompts, errors, or task status can come from OpenClaw/runtime plumbing.

3. Reasoning/verbose modes — if enabled, OpenClaw can show more execution detail. You can check with /status, and usually reduce chatter with:

/verbose off
/reasoning off

But for your specific “hesitation” lines, the best fix is the standing order instruction you added: “Do not narrate routine intermediate steps; only report final result.”

Important distinction: visible “let me…” text is not hidden chain-of-thought. It’s just the model choosing to narrate its workflow unless instructed not to.