Using OpenClaw's PDF Skill for Contracts, Reports, and Forms

More Than Text Extraction

Most people think PDF skill means extract text. That's just the start. OpenClaw's PDF skill handles: text and table extraction (OCR-capable), semantic analysis (find all liability clauses), form detection and filling, document comparison, and batch processing.

Contract Analysis Workflow

Our most-used pattern at SFD Lab: vendor contract review. Upload contract → run standard analysis prompt (parties, term, payment, termination, liability caps, governing law) → compare against standard terms → flag non-standard clauses for human review. 30 minutes of careful reading becomes 3 minutes plus spot-check.

Report Summarization

Long reports are perfect candidates. The key is prompt design: ask for executive summary, key data points, action items, and red flags. Structured output makes multi-report comparison easy.

Form Processing at Scale

We process supplier onboarding forms: PDF skill extracts fields → Python validates and normalizes → bulk database insert. Error rate dropped from ~5% (manual entry) to ~0.5% (automated plus spot-check).

Gotchas

PDFs are inconsistent. Scanned documents need OCR (adds latency). Multi-column layouts confuse extractors. For critical documents, always validate before acting on AI output.