DenchClaw Tips: 10 Things You Might Not Know

Most people install DenchClaw, set up a few objects, and start using it like a traditional CRM — clicking through the UI to add entries, manually updating fields, maybe asking the agent a question occasionally.

That workflow misses most of what DenchClaw can do. After spending time with the platform and watching how the community uses it, here are 10 things most users don't discover until much later. Learn them now.

1. You Can Query Your CRM Like a Database — Because It Is One#

DenchClaw stores everything in a local DuckDB file. That's not just an implementation detail — it means you can ask SQL-level questions in plain English.

Instead of filtering dropdown by dropdown, just ask:

"Show me all leads with company size over 50 employees who came from LinkedIn and haven't been contacted in 21 days"

The agent translates this to a DuckDB query and shows you the result instantly. No filter UI required.

You can also run raw SQL if you prefer: "Run this SQL query: SELECT * FROM v_people WHERE status = 'Lead' ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 10"

Tip: Build a library of your most useful queries as saved views. Once you've found a useful filter combination, tell the agent: "Save this as a view called 'Hot LinkedIn Leads'"

2. Entry Documents Are Unlimited Rich-Text Notes#

Every entry in DenchClaw — every person, company, deal — has its own document. Most users never find this.

Click into any entry in the UI and look for the "Document" tab or ask the agent: "Open the document for Acme Corp."

This is a full markdown editor linked to that entry in DuckDB. Use it for:

• Meeting notes and call transcripts
• Account plan and strategic notes
• Proposal drafts and document fragments
• Running log of all interactions

The agent can write to these documents too. After a call: "Add a note to Sarah Chen's entry: 'March 25 - called re: renewal. She's interested in Enterprise tier, needs pricing by April 1.'"

3. Action Fields Are Buttons That Run Code#

Most users know about text, number, date, and relation fields. Few know about Action fields — the most powerful field type.

An action field adds a button to every row in your table. When you click it, it runs a script. That script gets the full entry data as environment variables and can do anything: send an email, post to Slack, enrich from an API, update the entry, trigger a webhook.

Real-world examples:

• An "Enrich" button that calls the Clearbit API and fills in company data
• A "Send Follow-Up" button that drafts a Gmail follow-up based on the contact's history
• A "Book Meeting" button that creates a Calendly link and emails it to the contact

Ask the agent to create one: "Add an action field called 'Send Introduction Email' that drafts a personalized email to this contact using their name, company, and our standard intro template."

4. Telegram Is Your CRM's Best Interface#

The web UI at localhost:3100 is clean and powerful, but Telegram is where DenchClaw becomes magical.

Connect DenchClaw to Telegram (instructions in the setup guide) and you have full CRM access from your phone, in a chat interface that feels natural. After every meeting, coffee, or call — add notes, update statuses, create new entries, all without opening a browser.

The killer pattern: after any customer interaction, immediately send a voice note or quick text to your DenchClaw Telegram bot. The agent parses it and updates the right records. Zero manual data entry overhead.

"Just met James Liu at Stripe. Head of partnerships. Very interested in our API. Follow up in 3 days."

The agent creates a people entry for James, links him to Stripe, sets a follow-up reminder for 3 days from now.

5. Views Are Saved Filters with Superpowers#

Most CRM users create one filter, use it for a week, and then rebuild it from scratch. DenchClaw's views are permanent, named filters that live in your .object.yaml file.

Tell the agent to create views for your most common workflows:

• "Save a view called 'Follow Up Today' showing all contacts with follow-up date = today"
• "Create a view called 'Enterprise Pipeline' showing deals with company size > 500, status not Closed"
• "Make a view called 'Stale Leads' for people who haven't been contacted in 30 days"

These views appear in the sidebar under their object. Click once to switch context. The kanban view uses the same filter system — so "Enterprise Pipeline Kanban" is just one more view.

6. The Agent Remembers Your Preferences Across Sessions#

Unlike a chatbot that starts fresh each conversation, DenchClaw's agent maintains persistent memory in ~/.openclaw-dench/workspace/MEMORY.md and daily memory files.

Tell the agent things you want it to remember:

• "Remember that I prefer follow-ups within 3 days of initial contact"
• "Remember that I call deal value 'ARR' not 'contract value' in my pipeline"
• "Remember to always link new people to their company when I add them"

The agent updates its memory files and maintains these preferences across all future sessions. It learns your workflow.

7. You Can Build a Dashboard App in Minutes#

The App Builder is one of DenchClaw's most powerful features and one of the least used by new users.

Ask the agent: "Build me a dashboard that shows my total pipeline value by stage, top 5 deals, and lead conversion rate this month."

The agent builds a self-contained HTML/CSS/JS app in your workspace that:

• Queries your DuckDB in real time
• Uses Chart.js to render the charts
• Auto-refreshes on a configurable interval
• Appears as a tab in your DenchClaw sidebar

No code, no deploy, no external dependencies. A live analytics app in your local CRM in under 5 minutes.

8. Scheduled Alerts Are Free and Take 30 Seconds to Set Up#

DenchClaw supports cron-based alerts via Telegram. You don't need Zapier or any external automation tool.

"Every weekday at 8am, check my pipeline and message me on Telegram with: deals closing this week, follow-ups due today, and any at-risk accounts"

"Every Sunday at 6pm, send me a summary of the week: deals won, new leads, and pipeline value change vs. last Sunday"

"Alert me if any deal worth over $50k has been in the same stage for more than 7 days"

These take 30 seconds to set up. The agent writes the cron job configuration and it runs automatically every day.

9. The Browser Agent Uses Your Existing Logins#

DenchClaw copies your Chrome profile, which means the browser agent is authenticated on every site you use.

This has huge practical implications:

• Import your HubSpot contacts: "Log into HubSpot and export all contacts from this month"
• Enrich from LinkedIn: "Check LinkedIn for the current title and company for the 5 people in my stale leads view"
• Pull from Apollo: "Go to Apollo.io and find contact info for the 3 companies in my active pipeline"

No API keys. No OAuth. No developer setup. Just "go to [website] and do [task]" — because you're already logged in.

Note: Use browser automation for personal productivity workflows, not automated mass actions that would violate platform terms of service.

10. You Can Export Everything Anytime — It's Just DuckDB#

Your DenchClaw data lives in a .duckdb file on your filesystem. This means:

1. You can export to CSV any time: "Export all people entries to a CSV file"
2. You can query it with any DuckDB client — DBeaver, Python, R, whatever you use for data analysis
3. You can back it up with Time Machine or any file-based backup
4. You can version control it with git (or use git for the markdown documents)

There's no vendor lock-in, no data portability tax, no export limits. Your CRM data is a file that you own, on your machine, accessible to any tool that speaks SQL or DuckDB.

Frequently Asked Questions#

How do I find features I don't know about yet?#

Ask the agent: "What are some DenchClaw features I might not be using?" or "Show me some example things I can ask you to do." The agent knows the full feature set and will surface what's relevant to your current setup.

Can I share these tips with my team?#

Yes — if your team uses DenchClaw, point them to this article and the full setup guide. The most common onboarding failure mode is people treating DenchClaw like a traditional CRM form-filler rather than an AI-first platform.

Are there more advanced tips?#

10 More DenchClaw Tips for Power Users covers the next level: keyboard shortcuts, SQL views, custom skill creation, multi-agent workflows, and more.

How do I access the Telegram integration?#

After installing DenchClaw, ask the agent: "Help me set up Telegram." It will walk you through creating a Telegram bot and connecting it to your DenchClaw instance. Takes about 5 minutes.

What if the agent doesn't understand my query?#

Try to be more specific. Instead of "show me leads," try "show me all people with Status = Lead, sorted by created date, newest first." Natural language parsing improves with more specific intent. You can also fall back to raw SQL for precision queries.

Ready to try DenchClaw? Install in one command: npx denchclaw. Full setup guide →