taxclaw

// Extract, store, and export tax documents (W-2, 1099-DA, all 1099 variants, K-1) using AI. Local-first — your documents never leave your machine. Web UI at localhost:8421.

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updated:March 4, 2026

SKILL.mdreadonly

SKILL.md Frontmatter

nametaxclaw

version0.1.0-beta

descriptionExtract, store, and export tax documents (W-2, 1099-DA, all 1099 variants, K-1) using AI. Local-first — your documents never leave your machine. Web UI at localhost:8421.

argument-hintopen TaxClaw, extract my 1099, parse this tax form, process my W-2

allowed-toolsBash, Read, Write

requirespython3, pip

optionalollama (for local model mode)

taxclaw

Local-first AI tax document extraction skill for OpenClaw.

🔐 Security & Permissions Manifest

TaxClaw declares the following permissions transparently. Review before installing.

Permission	What & Why	Default
Read filesystem	Reads uploaded PDF/image files you provide	Required
Write filesystem	Stores extracted data at `~/.local/share/taxclaw/` and config at `~/.config/taxclaw/`	Required
Network (local only)	Binds to `localhost:8421` only — no external network access in default mode	Required
Network (cloud AI)	Only if you explicitly enable cloud mode in config + acknowledge privacy warning	Opt-in only
Credentials	None read or stored — no API keys required in local-only mode	N/A
Sensitive data	Tax documents stay on your machine. Nothing is sent externally in default (Ollama) mode	Local-only

TaxClaw does NOT:

Exfiltrate documents, fields, or extracted data
Read files outside of paths you explicitly provide to ingest
Phone home, send telemetry, or contact external servers (default mode)
Store or transmit SSN, EIN, or account numbers to any third party

If you enable cloud mode (Claude): A mandatory privacy warning is displayed. You must explicitly set cloud_acknowledged: true in config before processing begins.

Audit this skill: Source code is fully open at github.com/DougButdorf/TaxClaw (MIT License). Read it before you install it.

Setup

bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/setup.sh

Config

Config lives at:

~/.config/taxclaw/config.yaml

Default is local-first (Ollama on your machine). If you enable cloud mode, TaxClaw will refuse to run until you explicitly acknowledge the privacy warning in config.

Start web UI

bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/start.sh
# Open: http://localhost:8421

CLI usage

# Ingest a document
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw \
  ingest path/to/document.pdf --filer doug --year 2025

# List documents
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw list

# Export (wide CSV by default)
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw export --id <doc-id>

# Export long CSV
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw export --id <doc-id> --format long

# Export JSON
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw export --id <doc-id> --format json

# Start server
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw serve

Trigger phrases (OpenClaw agent)

"extract my tax document"
"parse this 1099" / "read this W-2"
"open TaxClaw" / "start taxclaw"
"process my tax forms"
"show my tax documents"