claw-apply/SKILL.md

name, description

name

description

claw-apply

Automated job search and application for LinkedIn and Wellfound. Searches for matching roles hourly, applies automatically every 6 hours using Playwright + Kernel stealth browsers. Handles LinkedIn Easy Apply multi-step modals and Wellfound applications. Self-learning — asks you via Telegram when it hits an unknown question, saves your answer, and never asks again. Retries failed applications automatically. Preview mode lets you review the queue before applying.

claw-apply

Automated job search and application. Finds matching roles on LinkedIn and Wellfound, applies automatically, and learns from every unknown question.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Kernel account — stealth browsers + bot detection bypass (required)
• Kernel CLI: npm install -g @onkernel/cli — see kernel/skills for CLI + auth guidance
• Telegram bot for notifications (BotFather)
• Anthropic API key (optional — enables AI-enhanced keyword generation)
• OpenClaw (optional — enables auto-scheduling via setup.mjs)

Note: Playwright is installed automatically via npm install as a library for browser connectivity. You don't need to install it globally or manage browsers yourself — Kernel handles all browser execution.

Setup

1. Install

git clone https://github.com/MattJackson/claw-apply.git
cd claw-apply
npm install

2. Kernel: proxy + auth sessions

# Log in to Kernel
kernel login

# Create a residential proxy (US recommended for LinkedIn/Wellfound)
kernel proxies create --type residential --country US --name "claw-apply-proxy"
# Note the proxy ID from output

# Create managed auth connections (one per platform)
kernel auth connections create --profile-name "LinkedIn-YourName" --domain linkedin.com
# Note the connection ID from output

kernel auth connections create --profile-name "WellFound-YourName" --domain wellfound.com
# Note the connection ID from output

# Trigger initial login flows (opens a browser URL to complete auth)
kernel auth connections login <linkedin-connection-id>
kernel auth connections login <wellfound-connection-id>

3. Configure

cp config/settings.example.json config/settings.json
cp config/profile.example.json config/profile.json
cp config/search_config.example.json config/search_config.json

settings.json — fill in:

• notifications.telegram_user_id — your Telegram user ID
• notifications.bot_token — Telegram bot token from BotFather
• kernel.proxy_id — proxy ID from step 2
• kernel.profiles.linkedin — profile name e.g. LinkedIn-YourName
• kernel.profiles.wellfound — profile name e.g. WellFound-YourName
• kernel.connection_ids.linkedin — connection ID from step 2
• kernel.connection_ids.wellfound — connection ID from step 2

profile.json — your name, email, phone, resume path, work authorization, salary targets

search_config.json — keywords, platforms, location filters, salary filters, exclusions

4. Create .env

Create a .env file in the project root (gitignored — never commit this):

KERNEL_API_KEY=your_kernel_api_key
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key   # optional, for AI keywords

5. Verify

node setup.mjs

Setup will:

• Validate all config files
• Write .env (mode 600) if API keys are set
• Send a Telegram test message
• Test LinkedIn + Wellfound logins

6. Schedule with PM2

PM2 is a Node.js process manager that runs the searcher and applier as proper system daemons — no SIGTERM issues, survives reboots.

# Install PM2
npm install -g pm2

# Start both jobs (searcher runs immediately + hourly; applier stopped by default)
pm2 start ecosystem.config.cjs
pm2 stop claw-applier   # keep applier off until you're ready

# Survive reboots
pm2 save
pm2 startup             # follow the printed command (requires sudo)

PM2 manages the processes but does not schedule them — scheduling is handled by system cron. This ensures a running searcher is never killed mid-run. If it's already running, the cron invocation hits the lockfile and exits immediately.

Add to crontab (crontab -e):

0 * * * * cd /path/to/claw-apply && node job_searcher.mjs >> /tmp/claw-searcher.log 2>&1
0 */6 * * * cd /path/to/claw-apply && node job_applier.mjs >> /tmp/claw-applier.log 2>&1

PM2 cheatsheet:

pm2 list                        # show all processes + status
pm2 logs claw-searcher          # tail searcher logs
pm2 logs claw-applier           # tail applier logs
pm2 start claw-searcher         # run searcher now
pm2 start claw-applier          # run applier now
pm2 stop claw-applier           # stop applier mid-run

7. Run manually

node job_searcher.mjs            # search now
node job_applier.mjs --preview   # preview queue without applying
node job_applier.mjs             # apply now
node status.mjs                  # show queue + run status

How it works

Search — runs your keyword searches on LinkedIn and Wellfound, paginates through results, inline-classifies each job (Easy Apply vs external ATS), filters exclusions, deduplicates, and queues new jobs. First run searches 90 days back; subsequent runs search 2 days.

Apply — picks up queued jobs sorted by priority (Easy Apply first), opens stealth browser sessions, fills forms using your profile + learned answers, and submits. Auto-refreshes Kernel auth sessions if login expires. Retries failed jobs (default 2 retries).

Learn — on unknown questions, messages you on Telegram. You reply, the answer is saved to answers.json with regex pattern matching, and the job is retried next run.

Lockfile — prevents parallel runs. If searcher is running, a second invocation exits immediately.

File structure

claw-apply/
├── job_searcher.mjs           Search agent
├── job_applier.mjs            Apply agent
├── setup.mjs                  Setup wizard + cron registration
├── status.mjs                 Queue + run status report
├── lib/
│   ├── browser.mjs            Kernel stealth browser factory
│   ├── session.mjs            Auth session refresh via Kernel API
│   ├── linkedin.mjs           LinkedIn search + Easy Apply
│   ├── wellfound.mjs          Wellfound search + apply
│   ├── form_filler.mjs        Form filling with pattern matching
│   ├── queue.mjs              Job queue + config management
│   ├── keywords.mjs           AI-enhanced keyword generation
│   ├── lock.mjs               PID lockfile + graceful shutdown
│   ├── notify.mjs             Telegram notifications
│   ├── search_progress.mjs    Per-platform search resume tracking
│   ├── constants.mjs          Shared constants + ATS patterns
│   └── apply/
│       ├── index.mjs          Handler registry
│       ├── easy_apply.mjs     LinkedIn Easy Apply (full)
│       ├── wellfound.mjs      Wellfound apply (full)
│       ├── greenhouse.mjs     Greenhouse (stub)
│       ├── lever.mjs          Lever (stub)
│       ├── workday.mjs        Workday (stub)
│       ├── ashby.mjs          Ashby (stub)
│       └── jobvite.mjs        Jobvite (stub)
├── config/
│   ├── *.example.json         Templates (committed)
│   └── *.json                 Your config (gitignored)
└── data/                      Runtime data (gitignored, auto-managed)

answers.json — self-learning Q&A

When the applier can't answer a question, it messages you on Telegram. Your reply is saved and reused forever:

[
  { "pattern": "quota attainment", "answer": "1.12" },
  { "pattern": "years.*enterprise", "answer": "5" },
  { "pattern": "1.*10.*scale", "answer": "9" }
]

Patterns are matched case-insensitively and support regex. First match wins.

ATS support

Platform	Status
LinkedIn Easy Apply	✅ Full
Wellfound	✅ Full
Greenhouse	🚧 Stub
Lever	🚧 Stub
Workday	🚧 Stub
Ashby	🚧 Stub
Jobvite	🚧 Stub

External ATS jobs are queued and classified — stubs will be promoted to full implementations based on usage data.