Presets

Presets are role-based configurations that bundle plugins, workspaces, tools, and safety settings for common DevOps roles. Instead of configuring everything manually, select a preset to get a curated setup in one step. Presets can be selected during the setup wizard or applied later via CLI.

Key concept: Presets compose plugins. They do NOT replace plugins or profiles. The hierarchy is:

• Presets select plugins (which plugins to install)
• Plugins bundle skills and tools (what capabilities to add)
• Profiles configure environments (how safely to operate)

Available Presets

xops.bot ships with three built-in presets covering the most common DevOps roles.

Preset	Plugins	Workspaces	Tools	Safety
DevOps Starter	kubernetes, docker, aws	k8s-agent, rca-agent, finops-agent	kubectl, docker, aws	Standard
SRE	kubernetes, observability	k8s-agent, rca-agent, incident-agent	kubectl, promtool, logcli, jaeger	Standard
Platform Engineer	terraform, aws, kubernetes	platform-agent, k8s-agent, finops-agent	terraform, ansible, aws, kubectl	Standard

DevOps Starter

For general DevOps engineers working with containers and cloud. Covers Kubernetes operations, Docker container management, and AWS cloud operations. This preset installs three plugins (kubernetes, docker, aws) giving you six skills across three workspaces. The recommended starting point for most users.

SRE

For Site Reliability Engineers focused on observability and incident response. Covers metrics queries (Prometheus via promtool), log analysis (Loki via logcli), distributed tracing (Jaeger), and structured incident investigation. Installs the kubernetes and observability plugins, giving you access to incident analysis, incident response, root cause analysis, and observability RCA skills.

Platform Engineer

For platform engineers managing infrastructure as code. Covers Terraform workflows, Ansible configuration management, AWS cloud operations, and Kubernetes cluster management. Installs three plugins (terraform, aws, kubernetes) across three workspaces including the FinOps agent for cost optimization.

Selecting a Preset in the Wizard

When you run the setup wizard, the first step prompts you to choose a role preset:

$ bun run xopsbot/wizard/index.ts

  ? Choose a role preset
  > DevOps Starter     (kubectl, docker, aws | Standard safety)
    SRE                (kubectl, promtool, logcli, jaeger | Standard safety)
    Platform Engineer  (terraform, ansible, aws, kubectl | Standard safety)
    Custom             (Choose everything manually)

How preset selection works:

• Selecting a preset pre-populates workspaces, tools, and safety mode in subsequent wizard steps. You can modify any of these defaults before finishing -- presets suggest, they do not lock.
• Selecting "Custom" gives the manual wizard flow where you choose everything yourself (same as before presets existed).
• After you complete the wizard, the preset's plugins are automatically installed and the active-preset marker is written.

The wizard is a 6-step flow when using presets: preset selection, workspaces, channels, tools, safety, and provider.

Managing Presets via CLI

Listing presets

bun run xopsbot/cli/preset.ts list

Example output:

Presets

  > devops               DevOps Starter (active)
    General DevOps: Kubernetes, Docker, and AWS with Standard safety mode
    Plugins: kubernetes, docker, aws  |  Tools: kubectl, docker, aws

    sre                  SRE
    Observability and incident response: metrics, logs, traces with Standard safety mode
    Plugins: kubernetes, observability  |  Tools: kubectl, promtool, logcli, jaeger

    platform-engineer    Platform Engineer
    Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, Ansible, and AWS with Standard safety mode
    Plugins: terraform, aws, kubernetes  |  Tools: terraform, ansible, aws, kubectl

The > indicator marks the currently active preset.

Viewing preset details

bun run xopsbot/cli/preset.ts show sre

Example output:

SRE
Observability and incident response: metrics, logs, traces with Standard safety mode

  Plugins:    kubernetes, observability
  Workspaces: k8s-agent, rca-agent, incident-agent
  Tools:      kubectl, promtool, logcli, jaeger
  Safety:     standard

Applying a preset

bun run xopsbot/cli/preset.ts apply platform-engineer

When you apply a preset, the system:

1. Installs all preset plugins -- Each plugin in the preset is installed via pluginInstall (idempotent -- already-installed plugins are skipped).
2. Writes the active-preset marker -- Records the preset name in ~/.xopsbot/active-preset so CLI commands know which preset is active.

A restart of the OpenClaw gateway is needed for changes to take effect.

Customizing After Preset

Presets are a starting point, not a constraint. After applying a preset, you can freely customize your setup:

• Install additional plugins: bun run xopsbot/cli/plugin.ts install docker
• Change safety mode: bun run xopsbot/cli/safety-switch.ts safe
• Re-run the wizard to reconfigure entirely: bun run xopsbot/wizard/index.ts
• Enable or disable individual plugins: bun run xopsbot/cli/plugin.ts disable aws

Presets do not prevent manual customization. They set initial defaults that you can override at any time.

Presets vs Plugins vs Profiles

These three layers are independent and composable:

Layer	Purpose	Example
Preset	Role-based bundle (WHAT role)	"I'm an SRE"
Plugin	Skill + tool bundle (WHAT capabilities)	"I need observability tools"
Profile	Environment config (WHERE + HOW SAFELY)	"This is production, use Standard safety"

Any preset can be used with any profile. A preset selects which plugins to install; a profile controls how safely those tools operate. For example, you can apply the SRE preset and then switch to safe mode for a production environment -- the preset's tools remain available but mutations require approval.