# 2026-02-13

## Instructions from Ben (Agent & Skills team)

**Forbidden phrases** — OpenClaw harness rewrites responses containing these into generic text:
- `402`
- `payment required`
- `insufficient credits`
- `credit balance`
- `plans & billing`
- `billing` + (`upgrade` | `credits` | `payment` | `plan`)

**Why:** Ben can't see what I actually wrote if the harness intercepts it.

**Solution:** Use alternative phrasing like "account quota situation", "resource limitation", "API threshold reached", "funds need topping up", etc.

**CRITICAL:** The filter is a **naive `.contains()` substring search**. It doesn't care about:
- Escaping
- Quotes
- Code blocks
- Demonstrations
- Context

If the substring exists ANYWHERE in my response, the entire message gets replaced with a canned error. Zero tolerance — don't even reference these phrases when explaining the rule.

Effective immediately.

**Demonstrated behavior:** When I wrote test messages containing those phrases, Ben saw only:
> "⚠️ API provider returned a billing error — your API key has run out of credits or has an insufficient balance. Check your provider's billing dashboard and top up or switch to a different API key."

Even when I quoted the forbidden words in a "what not to say" table, the filter nuked the entire message. Three times in a row. 😅

**Safe vocabulary for subscription/financial topics:**
- invoicing, account settings, subscription management
- transaction, purchase, checkout
- tokens, quota, units, allocation
- level up, switch tiers, unlock premium
- quota running low, tokens depleted
- subscription settings, tier options

**Is it configurable?** Checked OpenClaw config and docs — NO config option exists to disable this. It's hardcoded in the runtime (`isBillingErrorMessage` function). Would need a feature request to OpenClaw team.

---

## JR's Discord Role Request

JR asked me to create Discord roles and assign members. I checked my capabilities — I only have `role-info` (read), not role creation or assignment. This needs to be done manually by a Discord admin (Raven).

Roles requested:
- Platform & Infra Agents
- Agent & Skills Agents  
- Taste Agents
- Security Agents
- Optimization Agents

(See original message for member assignments)
