Lesson 10 — OpenClaw Summarize Skill: One-Command Summaries of Any Web Page, PDF, or YouTube Video (2026)

Goal: Install the Summarize Skill so OpenClaw can summarize any web page, PDF document, YouTube video, or audio file with a single command.

What Is the Summarize Skill?

Summarize is ClawHub's #2 most downloaded Skill (221k downloads). Built on the summarize CLI tool, it supports the following content types:

Key advantage: No API Key required — it runs on the models you've already configured in OpenClaw, at zero extra cost.

Step 1: Install the Dependency CLI Tool

The Summarize Skill depends on the summarize CLI. Install it first:

npm install -g @steipete/summarize-cli

Verify the installation:

summarize --version
# Should output a version number like 1.2.0

Step 2: Install the Skill

In WebChat or Telegram, send:

/install @steipete/summarize

Verify:

pnpm openclaw skills list
# summarize should appear in the list

Step 3: Summarize a Web Page

Send any URL with a summarize instruction:

Summarize this article for me: https://example.com/article

Or use the slash command:

/summarize https://example.com/article

Sample output:

Key Points

1. OpenClaw's native MCP support lets it connect to 500+ tools, making it the self-hosted AI framework with the broadest integration
2. The new version reduced latency by 40%, mainly from gateway-layer optimizations
3. The team plans to release native Windows support in Q2

Conclusion: This is a developer-experience-focused release with solid upgrade value for production environments.

Step 4: Summarize a Local PDF

Pass the PDF path to AI:

Summarize this PDF: ~/Downloads/report.pdf

Or summarize an online PDF (pass the URL directly):

/summarize https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.12345

Ideal use cases:

• Quickly skim an academic paper to decide if it's worth reading in full
• Extract key clauses from a contract or report
• Compress lengthy technical documentation into action points

Step 5: Summarize a YouTube Video

Just send the YouTube link:

/summarize https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxx

The Skill will automatically extract video captions (supports English and other languages) and generate a structured summary.

What about videos without captions?

If a video has no captions, the Skill will first transcribe the audio using Whisper before summarizing (requires the Whisper Skill from Lesson 23).

Step 6: Summarize Image Content

Send an image path or URL:

What does this screenshot say? Give me a summary: ~/Desktop/meeting-screenshot.png

Good for:

• Quickly reading content from phone screenshots saved to your desktop
• Extracting table or chart content from scanned PDFs
• Pulling information out of product manual images

Step 7: Summarize an Audio File

/summarize ~/Downloads/meeting-recording.mp3

The Skill will transcribe first, then summarize, outputting:

1. Main meeting topics
2. Key decisions and conclusions
3. Action item list

Customizing the Summary Style

You can add specific requirements to your instructions:

Summarize this English article in English with just 3 core points, each no more than 20 words:
https://example.com/article

Summarize this PDF, focusing on extracting numbers and data: ~/report.pdf

Turn this YouTube video into a short social-media-style post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxx

FAQ

Can OpenClaw summarize PDFs? How?

Yes. After installing the Summarize Skill, just send the PDF's local path (like ~/Downloads/file.pdf) or the URL of an online PDF to AI with "summarize this PDF." No extra API Key needed — it runs on your already-configured model.

What formats does the Summarize Skill support?

Web pages (any URL), PDFs (local and online), YouTube videos (auto-extracts captions), images (PNG/JPG/GIF), and audio (mp3/wav/m4a). For videos without captions, you need the Whisper Skill to transcribe first.

Can I control the summary length?

Yes — specify it in your instructions, like "summarize in 3 bullet points," "under 200 words," or "a version I can read in 5 minutes." The Skill will honor your requirements.

Is there a word or page count limit for summarization?

The limit comes from your configured model's context window. MiniMax M2.1 supports a 200K token context, which covers most web articles and PDF reports. For extremely long content (like an entire book), we recommend summarizing chapter by chapter.

Will it automatically translate non-English content?

No automatic translation, but you can request it: Summarize this French article in English. AI will both summarize and translate.

Can it summarize a PDF that's not on the internet?

Yes — just send the local file path like ~/Desktop/file.pdf. No uploading to any cloud service; all processing happens locally.

Example Workflows

Daily information digest (with Lesson 06 scheduled tasks):

# Auto-summarize 3 subscribed articles every morning at 8 and push to Telegram
/summarize https://news.ycombinator.com
/summarize https://github.com/trending

Automatic meeting minutes:

Convert this meeting recording into meeting minutes with: decisions, action items, owners:
~/Recordings/weekly-sync.mp3

Quick paper screening:

Tell me if this paper is worth reading in depth, focusing on methodology and experimental conclusions:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.12345

Next Steps

• Lesson 11 — Use Skill Vetter to do a security check before installing Skills
• Lesson 13 — Use the Gog Skill to automatically send summary results to Gmail or Google Docs