CoFounder.im Skill

Overview

Connect OpenClaw to CoFounder.im to pull AI-validated startup projects and autonomously build them. CoFounder.im runs 20+ AI agents that validate ideas, research markets, plan MVPs, design UI/UX, and generate implementation plans. This skill lets you fetch those results and use them as the foundation for building the project.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when the user says anything like:

• “Build my CoFounder project”
• “Pull my project from cofounder.im”
• “Use my CoFounder build spec”
• “Start building from CoFounder”
• “Fetch my startup plan from CoFounder”
• “Build [project name] from cofounder”
• “What projects do I have on CoFounder?”
• “Get the build plan for [project name]”
• “I planned a project on cofounder.im, now build it”

Do not use this skill for general coding tasks, project scaffolding from scratch, or anything unrelated to CoFounder.im projects.

Safety policy

This skill fetches build specifications from a remote API (cofounder.im). To ensure safe execution:

1. User approval required — Always show the user a summary of the build plan and get explicit confirmation before spawning any sub-agents or running any commands.
2. Preview before execution — Before each phase, display the sub-agent’s goal, requirements, and verification command. Ask the user to approve.
3. No blind execution — Do not execute the build spec verbatim. Review each phase for reasonableness before presenting it to the user.
4. Sandboxed environment recommended — Run builds in a dedicated directory or container. Do not build in directories containing existing projects or sensitive files.
5. Credential scope — This skill only requires COFOUNDER_API_TOKEN for the CoFounder.im API. Build plans may reference additional tools (databases, cloud CLIs, etc.) depending on the project’s tech stack — the user should review and install these as needed.
6. No network access by default — Sub-agents should only access local files and the project repository. Any external network calls (package installs, API integrations) should be reviewed by the user.

Core rules

• Always authenticate with the bearer token from COFOUNDER_API_TOKEN.
• Use list-projects first to show available projects and let the user choose.
• Use get-build-spec to pull the full build specification for the chosen project.
• The build spec contains agent outputs keyed by type (e.g., tech_stack, mvp_planner, ui_ux_assistant, implementation_plan_generator, openclaw_builder).
• The openclaw_builder output is the most important — it contains a structured multi-agent build plan designed specifically for OpenClaw.
• Parse the openclaw_builder output to identify sub-agent tasks, then present them to the user for approval before spawning.
• Always get user confirmation before spawning sub-agents or running verification commands.

Quick start

# Set your API token (generate at https://cofounder.im/users/settings)
export COFOUNDER_API_TOKEN="cfr_your_token_here"

# List your projects
curl -s https://cofounder.im/api/v1/projects \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COFOUNDER_API_TOKEN" | jq '.projects[] | {id, name, status}'

# Get build spec for a project
curl -s https://cofounder.im/api/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/build-spec \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COFOUNDER_API_TOKEN" | jq .

Workflow

Step 1: List projects

Fetch the user’s projects and present them for selection:

curl -s https://cofounder.im/api/v1/projects \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COFOUNDER_API_TOKEN" | jq .

Example response:

{
  "projects": [
    {
      "id": "d25165d2-26c5-43dc-b4a1-ef053bf8277d",
      "name": "Epstein Email Explorer",
      "description": "Interactive, browser-based archive that presents publicly released emails in a Gmail-style interface",
      "status": "completed",
      "package_type": "basic",
      "inserted_at": "2026-02-15T14:22:00Z"
    },
    {
      "id": "a4cdfd3f-2747-4d0e-afe2-8978d8911646",
      "name": "Axiden",
      "description": "AI-driven marketplace for autonomous trading agents",
      "status": "active",
      "package_type": "pro",
      "inserted_at": "2026-02-20T10:30:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Show the user a numbered list of projects with name, status, and description. Ask which one to build. Only projects with status "completed" have full build specs. Projects with status "active" are still being processed by CoFounder.im agents.

Step 2: Fetch build specification

curl -s https://cofounder.im/api/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/build-spec \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COFOUNDER_API_TOKEN" | jq .

Example response (agent output values are truncated — actual values are full markdown documents):

{
  "project": {
    "id": "d25165d2-26c5-43dc-b4a1-ef053bf8277d",
    "name": "Epstein Email Explorer",
    "description": "Interactive, browser-based archive that presents publicly released emails in a Gmail-style interface",
    "status": "completed"
  },
  "agent_outputs": {
    "tech_stack": "## Tech Stack\n\n- Framework: Next.js 14\n- Language: TypeScript 5.3\n- Database: PostgreSQL 16\n- Search: Meilisearch\n- CSS: Tailwind CSS 3.4\n...",
    "mvp_planner": "## Core Features\n\n### 1. Email Browser\n- Gmail-style inbox view with sender, subject, date columns\n- Thread grouping for related emails\n- Full-text search with filters\n...",
    "ui_ux_assistant": "## Design System\n\n### Colors\n- Primary: #1a73e8 (Gmail blue)\n- Background: #f6f8fc\n- Text: #202124\n...",
    "implementation_plan_generator": "## Phase 1: Project Setup\n\n1. Initialize Next.js with TypeScript\n2. Configure PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM\n3. Set up Meilisearch for full-text search\n...",
    "openclaw_builder": "# OpenClaw Build Plan: Epstein Email Explorer\n\n## Project Overview\nA browser-based email archive...\n\n## Tech Stack Summary\n- Framework: Next.js 14\n...\n\n## Orchestration Plan\nTotal sub-agents: 5\nExecution order: project-setup -> database -> search-engine -> frontend -> testing\n...",
    "idea_validator": "## Validation Summary\n\nViability Score: 7.5/10\n...",
    "market_research": "## Market Analysis\n\nTarget audience: journalists, researchers, FOIA enthusiasts\n...",
    "competitor_analysis": "## Competitors\n\n1. DocumentCloud - document hosting for journalists\n..."
  }
}

The openclaw_builder output is the primary input for building. Other outputs provide supporting context (tech decisions, design tokens, feature specs) that sub-agents may need.

Step 3: Review and approve the build plan

Parse the openclaw_builder agent output and present the user with a summary:

1. Show the overall plan — project name, tech stack, number of phases, dependency graph
2. List each sub-agent phase — name, goal, dependencies, verification command
3. Highlight any additional tools required — databases, CLIs, package managers beyond curl/jq
4. Ask the user to confirm before proceeding to execution

Example summary to show the user:

Build Plan: ProjectName (6 phases)
Tech: Next.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL

Phase 1: project-setup (no deps) — Initialize repo and install dependencies
Phase 2: database (depends: project-setup) — Create schema and migrations
Phase 3: auth (depends: project-setup) — User registration and login
Phase 4: core-features (depends: database, auth) — Main business logic
Phase 5: frontend (depends: core-features) — UI components and pages
Phase 6: testing (depends: frontend) — Test suite and verification

Additional tools needed: node, npm, psql

Proceed with this build plan? (yes/no)

Step 4: Execute the build (after user approval)

For each sub-agent defined in the build plan:

1. Show the user what will be spawned — the sub-agent’s goal, requirements, and context
2. Get user approval for each phase (or batch-approve all phases upfront)
3. Create the sub-agent using sessions_spawn with the requirements from its section
4. Include relevant context from other agent outputs (tech_stack, ui_ux_assistant, etc.)
5. Monitor sub-agent completion
6. Show verification results before proceeding to the next phase

Constraints:

• Maximum 5 concurrent sub-agents (OpenClaw limit)
• Sub-agents run at depth 1 (they cannot spawn their own sub-agents)
• Each sub-agent session is isolated — pass all needed context in the spawn instruction
• Follow the phasing in the build plan — complete Phase 1 before starting Phase 2

Step 5: Verify and report

After all sub-agents complete:

1. Verify the project structure matches the implementation plan
2. Run any test commands specified in the build plan
3. Report completion status to the user

API reference

Authentication: Bearer token in the Authorization header.

Authorization: Bearer cfr_your_token_here

Error responses:

• 401 — Missing or invalid token
• 404 — Project not found or does not belong to user
• 429 — Rate limit exceeded (20 requests/minute)

Agent output keys

Additional runtime dependencies

Build plans generated by CoFounder.im may require tools beyond curl and jq, depending on the project’s tech stack. Common examples:

The skill will identify required tools during the build plan review (Step 3) so you can install them before execution begins.

Getting your API token

1. Sign up at cofounder.im
2. Create a project and run the AI agents
3. Go to Settings and generate an API token
4. Configure it: openclaw config set skills.entries.cofounder-im.env.COFOUNDER_API_TOKEN "cfr_..."
5. Restart: openclaw gateway restart