Fix clw-prompt-invalid: Invalid Prompt Configuration in OpenClaw CLI

1. Symptoms

When executing OpenClaw commands, you may encounter the clw-prompt-invalid error with various manifestations depending on the nature of the invalid prompt configuration. The error typically appears immediately after running a command that relies on prompt templates or user input scaffolding.

Common symptoms include:

• Command execution halts with exit code 1 and no further action is taken
• Error message displays immediately after invoking any command that uses prompt interpolation
• Partial output may appear before the error is thrown, showing a truncated stack trace
• The CLI becomes unresponsive or fails to initialize the prompt engine

A typical error message looks like this:

[OpenClaw] ERROR: clw-prompt-invalid
Prompt configuration at line 24 contains invalid template variable: ${user_input}
Valid syntax requires {variable} format with curly braces.

Run 'openclaw doctor' to diagnose configuration issues.

Or in verbose mode:

[OpenClaw] ERROR: clw-prompt-invalid
  └─ Context: loading prompt template 'deployment-prompt.yaml'
  └─ Location: ~/.openclaw/templates/deployment-prompt.yaml:45
  └─ Cause: Mismatched placeholder syntax. Found ${...} but expected {...}
  └─ Suggestion: Update template to use {var} instead of ${var}

Stack trace:
  at PromptLoader.ParseTemplate (prompt-loader.ts:127)
  at TemplateEngine.load (template-engine.ts:43)
  at CommandRunner.execute (command-runner.ts:89)

The error may also occur silently in CI/CD environments where OpenClaw is used for automated deployments, causing pipelines to fail without clear indication of the root cause.

2. Root Cause

The clw-prompt-invalid error occurs when OpenClaw’s prompt template parser encounters syntax that does not conform to the expected template variable format. OpenClaw uses a specific curly brace syntax for variable interpolation: {variableName} rather than the shell-style ${variableName} or other formats.

Root causes typically include:

1. Mismatched Template Syntax: The most common cause. Users familiar with shell scripting or other templating engines (like Mustache ${variable}) attempt to use those patterns in OpenClaw templates, which expects {variable} format.

2. Unescaped Special Characters: Characters like { or } appearing in literal text without proper escaping can confuse the parser, especially when they appear in regex patterns or JSON payloads within prompts.

3. Missing Required Variables: Templates that reference variables not provided in the context object will fail validation during the loading phase.

4. Corrupted Template Files: YAML or JSON template files with syntax errors can cause the parser to enter an invalid state before reaching template variable validation.

5. Version Mismatch: Templates created for older OpenClaw versions may use deprecated syntax that is no longer supported in newer versions.

6. Nested Variable References: Attempting to use nested or compound variable names like {user.{env}.name} without proper escaping.

7. Empty Template Blocks: Templates with empty { } placeholder blocks or whitespace-only variable names like { } will fail validation.

The OpenClaw prompt engine uses a deterministic finite automaton (DFA) parser that expects strict adherence to its template grammar. When it encounters unexpected syntax, it immediately throws clw-prompt-invalid with context about the exact location and nature of the violation.

3. Step-by-Step Fix

Step 1: Identify the Problematic Template File

First, determine which template file is causing the issue. Run the OpenClaw doctor command to get a comprehensive diagnostic:

openclaw doctor --verbose

The output will indicate the specific template file and line number causing the error:

Scanning configuration files...
[✓] config.yaml loaded successfully
[✗] deployment-prompt.yaml - INVALID
  └─ Line 45: invalid variable syntax
  └─ Expected: {variableName}
  └─ Found: ${variableName}

Run 'openclaw config validate' for detailed information.

Step 2: Locate and Inspect the Template

Find the template file in your configuration directory:

# Linux/macOS
cat ~/.openclaw/templates/deployment-prompt.yaml

# Windows
type %USERPROFILE%\.openclaw\templates\deployment-prompt.yaml

Step 3: Fix the Template Syntax

Common syntax errors and their corrections:

Before:

# Incorrect shell-style variable syntax
prompt: "Deploying to ${environment} cluster ${cluster_id}"
options:
  - name: "Environment"
    value: "${USER_INPUT}"
    type: "string"

After:

# Correct OpenClaw curly brace syntax
prompt: "Deploying to {environment} cluster {cluster_id}"
options:
  - name: "Environment"
    value: "{userInput}"
    type: "string"

Before:

# Incorrect nested variable with shell syntax
context:
  deploy_script: "./scripts/deploy-{env}.sh"
  api_key: "${OPENCLAW_API_KEY}"

After:

# Correct syntax with escaped curly braces for literals
context:
  deploy_script: "./scripts/deploy-{env}.sh"
  api_key: "{openclawApiKey}"
  literal_brace: "Use \{literal\} with backslash to escape"

Before:

# Empty placeholder (invalid)
validation:
  required_fields: ["name", "{ }", "email"]

After:

# Properly named placeholders
validation:
  required_fields: ["name", "{fieldName}", "email"]

Step 4: Validate the Fixed Template

After making corrections, validate the template syntax:

openclaw config validate --template ~/.openclaw/templates/deployment-prompt.yaml

Expected output for a valid template:

Validating template: deployment-prompt.yaml
[✓] YAML syntax valid
[✓] Template variables parsed successfully
[✓] All required variables present in context
[✓] No deprecated syntax detected

Template validation: PASSED

Step 5: Test the Command

Run the original command that triggered the error to confirm the fix:

openclaw deploy --env production --template deployment-prompt.yaml

4. Verification

After applying the fix, verify that the error is resolved through multiple approaches:

Basic Verification

Run the command that previously failed:

openclaw deploy --env staging

Expected output (no clw-prompt-invalid error):

[OpenClaw] INFO: Loading deployment configuration...
[OpenClaw] INFO: Validating template variables...
[OpenClaw] INFO: Prompt engine initialized successfully
? Deploy to staging environment? (y/N)

Automated Verification Script

Create a test script to verify template validity programmatically:

#!/bin/bash
# verify-template.sh

TEMPLATE_FILE="${1}"
echo "Validating template: $TEMPLATE_FILE"

if openclaw config validate --template "$TEMPLATE_FILE" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "✓ Template validation passed"
    exit 0
else
    echo "✗ Template validation failed"
    openclaw config validate --template "$TEMPLATE_FILE" 2>&1
    exit 1
fi

Run the verification:

chmod +x verify-template.sh
./verify-template.sh ~/.openclaw/templates/deployment-prompt.yaml

CI/CD Pipeline Verification

For automated pipelines, add template validation as a pre-flight check:

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
jobs:
  validate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Install OpenClaw
        run: npm install -g @openclaw/cli
      - name: Validate templates
        run: |
          for template in templates/*.yaml; do
            openclaw config validate --template "$template"
          done
      - name: Deploy
        run: openclaw deploy --env production

Log Analysis

Check OpenClaw logs for any lingering issues:

# View recent OpenClaw logs
openclaw logs --last 50 --level debug

# Search for any prompt-related warnings
openclaw logs --search "prompt" --level warn

5. Common Pitfalls

When resolving the clw-prompt-invalid error, watch out for these common mistakes:

Pitfall 1: Mixing Template Systems

Users sometimes copy templates from other systems (Terraform, Jinja2, Mustache) that use different syntax. OpenClaw specifically requires {variable} format—never ${variable} or {{variable}}.

Pitfall 2: Forgetting to Escape Literal Curly Braces

If your template contains literal curly braces (such as JSON object notation), you must escape them:

Before:

context:
  json_output: "{ \"key\": \"value\" }"

After:

context:
  json_output: "\{ \"key\": \"value\" \}"

Pitfall 3: Environment Variable Confusion

OpenClaw variables are not shell environment variables. You cannot directly reference $HOME or $PATH inside OpenClaw templates—only variables passed through the context object or defined in .openclaw.yaml.

Pitfall 4: Whitespace in Variable Names

Variables like { user input } with internal whitespace are invalid. Use camelCase or snake_case:

# Invalid
prompt: "Hello {user name}, welcome"

# Valid
prompt: "Hello {userName}, welcome"

Pitfall 5: Incomplete Template Upgrades

When upgrading OpenClaw versions, some templates may use deprecated syntax. Always run openclaw migrate after upgrading:

openclaw upgrade
openclaw migrate --dry-run  # Preview changes
openclaw migrate             # Apply migrations

Pitfall 6: Network Blocked Template Downloads

If your template references remote templates via !include directives, network issues can cause cryptic parse failures. Use offline mode for reliability:

openclaw deploy --offline --template ./local-template.yaml

Pitfall 7: Case Sensitivity

Variable names are case-sensitive. {UserName} and {username} are treated as different variables:

# These are NOT the same
userName: "{UserName}"    # Reference to {UserName}
username: "{username}"    # Reference to {username}

6. Related Errors

The clw-prompt-invalid error often appears alongside or is confused with these related errors:

For clw-config-parse-error, ensure your YAML files use proper indentation:

# Validate YAML syntax
python3 -c "import yaml; yaml.safe_load(open('template.yaml'))"

For clw-template-missing, verify template paths:

# Check template directory structure
ls -la ~/.openclaw/templates/

For clw-context-invalid, ensure your context object matches template requirements:

Before (missing context):

openclaw deploy  # Will fail if template requires {environment}

After (providing context):

openclaw deploy --context '{"environment": "staging", "clusterId": "us-east-1"}'

Understanding these related errors helps distinguish between pure syntax issues (clw-prompt-invalid) and structural/configuration problems (clw-config-parse-error, clw-context-invalid).

For additional support, consult the OpenClaw Template Reference documentation or run openclaw help templates for inline guidance.