ClawdBot UI Development

Complete guide for building the ClawdBot Control Panel - a PyQt6 desktop app for managing ClawdBot gateway, plugins, and settings.

Tech Stack

• UI Framework: PyQt6
• Package Manager: UV (uv add, uv run)
• Python: 3.11+
• Platforms: Windows + macOS

Architecture

clawdbot-ui/
├── pyproject.toml
├── main.py                   # Entry point
├── src/
│   ├── app.py                # Application setup
│   ├── ui/
│   │   ├── window.py         # Main window (all pages in one file)
│   │   ├── terminal.py       # Log viewer widget
│   │   ├── command_dialog.py # Modal command runner
│   │   └── styles.py         # Dark theme CSS
│   ├── core/
│   │   ├── process.py        # Background process runner
│   │   └── version.py        # Version checking (GitHub API)
│   └── utils/
│       └── platform.py       # Platform detection
└── .agent/skills/            # 9 skills

Navigation Structure

4 Pages (tabs in sidebar):

1. Dashboard - Gateway control, version info, logs
2. ClawdHub - Plugin manager + Skills Management
3. Terminal - Run any command with admin privileges
4. Settings - Version display, maintenance operations

Sidebar Features:

• Brand section (logo, title, version)
• Quick Links (Skills, Docs) - open external URLs
• Status panel - gateway status + quick stop button

Dashboard Page

Main landing page for ClawdBot - manages gateway lifecycle and displays real-time logs.

Features

Gateway Control Card

Service Status Indicator

• Green "● Running" when gateway active
• Gray "● Stopped" when inactive
• Yellow "● Not Installed" when ClawdBot missing

Control Buttons (all 110px width)

• Start Service: Starts gateway (visible when stopped)
• Stop Service: Stops gateway (visible when running)
• Open Gateway: Opens http://127.0.0.1:18789 (visible when running)
• Open UI: Gets dashboard URL with token via clawdbot dashboard, opens in browser (visible when running)

Installation Management

Install ClawdBot (green button)

• Platform-specific install command
• Progress shown in terminal

Update Available

• Shows when newer version detected
• Format: "Update to vX.X.X"

Uninstall (red outline button)

• Runs clawdbot uninstall --all --yes
• Opens in CommandDialog

Service Logs Terminal

• Real-time streaming from gateway process
• ANSI color support
• Auto-scroll (pauseable)
• Copy Logs button (100px × 28px)
• Log dividers (━━━━━━━) after each command for clarity

Key Methods:

_on_start()           # Start gateway
_on_stop()            # Stop gateway
_on_open_gateway()    # Open http://127.0.0.1:18789
_on_open_ui()         # Get token, open dashboard
_on_install()         # Install ClawdBot
_on_update()          # Update ClawdBot
_copy_logs()          # Copy terminal to clipboard

ClawdHub Page

Plugin and skills manager for ClawdBot.

Features

ClawdHub CLI Management

Installation Status (auto-detected)

• "Checking..." on load
• "Installed (v1.2.3)" or "Not installed"

Action Buttons (fixed widths)

• [Install] (green) → npm install -g clawdhub undici
• [Update] (white) → npm update -g clawdhub undici
• [Uninstall] (red) → npm uninstall -g clawdhub

Skills Management Card

Skill Count Display: "X skills installed"

• Auto-updates after successful installation
• Counts folders in {user_home}/clawd/skills/

Open Skills Folder Button (140px)

• Opens skills folder in File Explorer/Finder
• Creates folder if doesn't exist
• Path: C:\Users\{username}\clawd\skills\ (Windows)

Install Skills Card

Input Field

• Placeholder: spotify or self-improving-agent
• Auto-prepends clawdhub install
• Press Enter or click Install (80px × 36px)

Example Skills:

spotify
youtube
self-improving-agent

ClawdHub Logs

• Separate terminal from Dashboard
• Real-time output
• Copy Logs button
• Min height: 150px

Key Methods:

_on_install_clawdhub()     # Install ClawdHub
_on_update_clawdhub()      # Update ClawdHub
_on_uninstall_clawdhub()   # Remove ClawdHub
_check_clawdhub()          # Detect install status
_on_run_clawdhub_cmd()     # Install skill (auto-prepends clawdhub install)
_on_open_skills_folder()   # Open skills folder

Terminal Page

Run any command with admin privileges - general-purpose command execution.

Features

Run Command Card

Input Field

• Placeholder: clawdbot configure or npm --version
• No auto-prefix - runs exactly what you type
• Press Enter or click Execute (90px × 36px)

Admin Execution (Windows)

• Uses PowerShell with Start-Process -Verb RunAs
• macOS: Uses osascript for admin privileges
• Linux: Uses sudo -S

Terminal Output

Buttons:

• Copy Logs (100px × 28px) - copy all output
• Clear Logs (100px × 28px) - clear terminal

Output Features:

• Real-time streaming
• Auto-scroll to bottom
• Command echo: $ clawdbot configure
• Completion: ✓ Command completed successfully or ✗ Command failed
• Separator: ━━━━━━ after each command

Key Methods:

_on_execute_terminal_cmd()    # Execute command with admin
_on_terminal_cmd_finished()   # Handle completion
_copy_terminal_logs()         # Copy output to clipboard
_clear_terminal_logs()        # Clear terminal

Settings Page

Configuration and maintenance operations.

Features

About ClawdBot Card

Version Information (auto-updated)

Version: v2026.1.24-3
Latest: v2026.1.24-3
Gateway: Running on port 18789

Maintenance Card

Action Buttons

• Check for Updates (auto-width) → clawdbot update
• Reset (80px) → clawdbot reset --yes
• Uninstall (100px, red) → clawdbot uninstall --all --yes

All open in CommandDialog for progress display.

Key Methods:

_on_update()      # Update ClawdBot
_on_reset()       # Reset workspace/config
_on_uninstall()   # Remove ClawdBot

Styling System

File: src/ui/styles.py

Button Styles

All buttons use fixed widths for consistency:

# actionBtn - White with black text
padding: 6px 14px
font-size: 12px
font-weight: 500

# dangerBtn - Red outline (matches actionBtn size)
background: transparent
color: #f85149
border: 1px solid #f85149
padding: 6px 14px
font-size: 12px

# primaryBtn - Cyan/teal
background: #00bfa5
color: #000000

# successBtn - Green
background: #22c55e
color: #000000

Dark Theme Colors

Background: #0a0f1a
Sidebar: #0f1419
Cards: #1a2535
Borders: #2a3545
Text: #ffffff / #b0b8c4 / #6b7280
Success: #22c55e
Error: #ef4444
Warning: #f59e0b

Platform-Specific Commands

Windows

["powershell", "-Command", "clawdbot gateway"]

macOS/Linux

["clawdbot", "gateway"]

Platform detection via is_windows() utility.

Key Patterns

Thread Safety

# ✅ Thread-safe
signal.emit(data)

# ❌ NOT thread-safe from worker thread
widget.setText(x)

Process Management

# Store runner as class variable
self.gateway_runner = ProcessRunner(cmd)
self.gateway_runner.output.connect(self.terminal.log)
self.gateway_runner.start()

Graceful Shutdown

def closeEvent(self, event):
    if self.gateway_runner:
        self.gateway_runner.stop()
        self.gateway_runner.wait(3000)
    event.accept()

Log Dividers

After each command completion:

self.terminal.log("━" * 60)

Makes logs more readable when multiple commands run.

File Organization

Why window.py is NOT split:

• Heavy state sharing across pages (self.terminal, self.version_status, etc.)
• Dashboard actions update Settings display
• Clear organization with create*_page() methods
• Splitting would require complex SharedState class

What IS separate:

• terminal.py - Reusable widget
• command_dialog.py - Reusable modal
• styles.py - Centralized styling

Development Tips

1. Button sizing: Always use setFixedWidth() for uniform appearance
2. Visibility: Toggle with setVisible() based on state
3. Threading: Store ProcessRunner as class variable to prevent crashes
4. Updates: Call checkversion() after all install/update/uninstall ops
5. Logs: Add dividers after command completion for readability