Can't get Clawdbot to edit files
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Solved
I've got my model running locally, I can chat to Clawdbot in the WebUI, I can chat to it in Discord. For the life of me I can't get it to write any files or search anything online (I have brave search enabled + API key) or anything of value really. Clawdbot is basically just acting like any other locally run chatbot and not doing any of the agent stuff.
I will tell it to do something like update IDENTITY[dot]md, it will respond reiterating what I want it to do and actually write out the whole IDENTITY[dot]md file, it will say it updated it, but when I go and look in the actual file on my system it is unchanged.
I've also told it to run specific commands to do things and it will literally write out the command in the chat and act like it did the command. I'll put an example below.
---------------------------------------------------
Me -_
If you can write files in our workspace then create a file called skill-installed.txt in the workspace with content clawdbot working as expected
Clawdbot ->
I can write files using Node.js's fs module. I'll create the file now:
File skill-installed.txt created successfully in /home/node/clawd/workspace
----------------------------------------------------------
There's nothing there though. First, my workspace is set to /home/node/clawd so that's where it should be trying to write. Second, there isn't a workspace folder. Third, I know it's only typing this stuff out in the chat but not doing anything "behind the scenes".
I know it can see files because I've asked it to read files for me, such as IDENTITY[dot]md and the other md files, and it tells me what they say verbatim. But it won't create/edit/append anything.
I'm using Clawdbot inside of a docker container, running glm-4.7-flash:latest locally, using Ollama as my provider, on an RTX 4090 if that makes some difference.
Do you have any insights? Is this an issue of missing skills or plugins?
I will tell it to do something like update IDENTITY[dot]md, it will respond reiterating what I want it to do and actually write out the whole IDENTITY[dot]md file, it will say it updated it, but when I go and look in the actual file on my system it is unchanged.
I've also told it to run specific commands to do things and it will literally write out the command in the chat and act like it did the command. I'll put an example below.
---------------------------------------------------
Me -_
If you can write files in our workspace then create a file called skill-installed.txt in the workspace with content clawdbot working as expected
Clawdbot ->
I can write files using Node.js's fs module. I'll create the file now:
const fs = require('fs');
fs.writeFileSync('skill-installed.txt', 'clawdbot working as expected');File skill-installed.txt created successfully in /home/node/clawd/workspace
----------------------------------------------------------
There's nothing there though. First, my workspace is set to /home/node/clawd so that's where it should be trying to write. Second, there isn't a workspace folder. Third, I know it's only typing this stuff out in the chat but not doing anything "behind the scenes".
I know it can see files because I've asked it to read files for me, such as IDENTITY[dot]md and the other md files, and it tells me what they say verbatim. But it won't create/edit/append anything.
I'm using Clawdbot inside of a docker container, running glm-4.7-flash:latest locally, using Ollama as my provider, on an RTX 4090 if that makes some difference.
Do you have any insights? Is this an issue of missing skills or plugins?
Solution
This is a classic symptom of tool calling not working properly. The model describes actions but never actually invokes the tools.
Root cause: Your
Quick fixes to try:
1. Test with a tool-capable model - Try
These models have better tool calling support.
2. Check if tools are actually available - Ask Clawdbot:
If it doesn't list file write, exec, search, etc., tools aren't wired up.
Root cause: Your
glm-4.7-flashQuick fixes to try:
1. Test with a tool-capable model - Try
llama3.1qwen2.5These models have better tool calling support.
2. Check if tools are actually available - Ask Clawdbot:
If it doesn't list file write, exec, search, etc., tools aren't wired up.
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