Lobster

Contribute: Source code & PRs welcome at github.com/guwidoe/lobster-skill

Workflow runtime for AI agents — typed pipelines with approval gates.

CLI Location

# Set alias (adjust path to your install location)
LOBSTER="node /home/molt/clawd/tools/lobster/bin/lobster.js"

# Or install globally: npm install -g @clawdbot/lobster
# Then use: lobster '<pipeline>'

Quick Reference

# Run pipeline (human mode - pretty output)
$LOBSTER '<pipeline>'

# Run pipeline (tool mode - JSON envelope for integration)
$LOBSTER run --mode tool '<pipeline>'

# Run workflow file
$LOBSTER run path/to/workflow.lobster

# Resume after approval
$LOBSTER resume --token "<token>" --approve yes|no

# List commands/workflows
$LOBSTER commands.list
$LOBSTER workflows.list

Core Commands

| Command | Purpose |

|---------|---------|

| exec --json --shell "cmd" | Run shell, parse stdout as JSON |

| where 'field=value' | Filter objects |

| pick field1,field2 | Project fields |

| head --n 5 | Take first N items |

| sort --key field --desc | Sort items |

| groupBy --key field | Group by key |

| dedupe --key field | Remove duplicates |

| map --wrap key | Transform items |

| template --text "{{field}}" | Render templates |

| approve --prompt "ok?" | Halt for approval |

| diff.last --key "mykey" | Compare to last run (stateful) |

| state.get key / state.set key | Read/write persistent state |

| json / table | Render output |

Built-in Workflows

# Monitor PR for changes (stateful - remembers last state)
$LOBSTER "workflows.run --name github.pr.monitor --args-json '{\"repo\":\"owner/repo\",\"pr\":123}'"

# Monitor PR and emit message only on change
$LOBSTER "workflows.run --name github.pr.monitor.notify --args-json '{\"repo\":\"owner/repo\",\"pr\":123}'"

Approval Flow (Tool Mode)

When a pipeline hits approve, it returns:

{
  "status": "needs_approval",
  "requiresApproval": {
    "prompt": "Send 3 emails?",
    "items": [...],
    "resumeToken": "eyJ..."
  }
}

To continue:

$LOBSTER resume --token "eyJ..." --approve yes

Example Pipelines

# List recent PRs, filter merged, show as table
$LOBSTER 'exec --json --shell "gh pr list --repo owner/repo --json number,title,state --limit 20" | where "state=MERGED" | table'

# Get data, require approval, then process
$LOBSTER run --mode tool 'exec --json --shell "echo [{\"id\":1},{\"id\":2}]" | approve --prompt "Process these?" | pick id | json'

# Diff against last run (only emit on change)
$LOBSTER 'exec --json --shell "gh pr view 123 --repo o/r --json state,title" | diff.last --key "pr:o/r#123" | json'

Workflow Files (.lobster)

YAML/JSON files with steps, conditions, and approval gates:

name: pr-review-reminder
steps:
  - id: fetch
    command: gh pr list --repo ${repo} --json number,title,reviewDecision
  - id: filter
    command: jq '[.[] | select(.reviewDecision == "")]'
    stdin: $fetch.stdout
  - id: notify
    command: echo "PRs needing review:" && cat
    stdin: $filter.stdout
    approval: required

Run: $LOBSTER run workflow.lobster --args-json '{"repo":"owner/repo"}'

Clawdbot Integration

Lobster can call Clawdbot tools via clawd.invoke:

$LOBSTER 'clawd.invoke --tool message --action send --args-json "{\"target\":\"123\",\"message\":\"hello\"}"'

Requires CLAWD_URL and CLAWD_TOKEN environment variables.

State Directory

Lobster stores state in ~/.lobster/state/ by default. Override with LOBSTER_STATE_DIR.