A zero-config python agent tool that retrieves daily lunch menus from German university canteens via the public OpenMensa API.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install mensa
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install mensa using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is Mensa Canteen Menu?
The Mensa tool is a lightweight utility designed to fetch and display daily lunch menus from German university canteens (Mensa) directly within terminal or automated agent workflows. As a plug-and-play addition to your suite of Openclaw Skills, it leverages the public OpenMensa API without requiring registration, credentials, or API keys.
With a simple, interactive setup, users can specify their default city and canteen. From there, the tool handles advanced, normalized substring matching to query any configured canteen's menu instantly, making it a highly practical resource for students, faculty, and developers.
Mensa Canteen Menu Use Cases
- When a student or university developer wants to quickly check what's for lunch at their campus canteen using terminal prompts.
- Querying menus for specific upcoming dates to plan meals ahead of time.
- Integrating local university canteen updates into larger automated routines and Openclaw Skills notifications.
How Mensa Canteen Menu Works
- Interactive Prompt: If no configuration exists, the agent prompts the user to enter a German city.
- Canteen Listing: It fetches and displays all canteens matching that city using the OpenMensa API endpoint.
- One-Time Setup: The user registers a default canteen. The script saves these associations locally inside
config.json. - Query Resolution: Users execute queries with canteen name substrings. The script normalizes special characters (e.g.,
-or,) to guarantee successful matching. - Filtering & Rendering: The script fetches the daily menu, filters out side dishes and leftovers (Beilagen/Restproduktion), and prints the clean menu with student pricing and dietary labels.
Mensa Canteen Menu Setup
This tool requires Python 3 with no third-party library dependencies.
1. Find Available Canteens in Your City
python3 mensa_today.py --list "Berlin"
2. Configure Your Default Canteen
python3 mensa_today.py --setup "Berlin" --default "Mensa TU Hardenbergstraße"
3. Query Daily Menus
# Get today's menu for the default canteen
python3 mensa_today.py
# Query a specific canteen in the configured city
python3 mensa_today.py "Otto-Hahn-Straße"
# Query a menu for a specific future date
python3 mensa_today.py "Otto-Hahn-Straße" --date 2026-06-02
Mensa Canteen Menu Data Schema & Taxonomy
Configuration Schema
The script generates a localized config.json file in its directory during initial setup. This file stores target preferences and is ignored by version control to protect local workspace environments.
| Attribute | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
city |
String | The target German city configured during the setup phase. |
default |
String | The default canteen identifier or substring configured for default queries. |
canteens |
Array | Cached canteen names and OpenMensa IDs. |
Output Format Rules
Menus are output to the terminal or agent process with strict formatting requirements:
- No prose, lists only: Delivered strictly as a single bullet-point list.
- Unaltered dish names: German umlauts, parentheses, and pricing are reproduced exactly without truncation.
- Automated filtration: Items whose category includes 'Beilage' or names containing 'Restproduktion' are automatically excluded.
Mensa Canteen Menu Advanced Features
- Fuzzy String Normalizer: Strips hyphens, periods, and commas automatically, resolving names like 'Otto Hahn' to 'Mensa Otto-Hahn-Straße' seamlessly.
- Zero-Dependency Integration: Written entirely using Python 3 standard library modules, ensuring zero overhead and rapid execution.
- Privacy-First Data Storage: No telemetry, user data, or identifiers are transmitted. All selections remain in a local
config.jsonfile. - Extensible CLI Interface: Integrates cleanly into multi-agent pipelines and other Openclaw Skills to trigger daily alerts or Slack webhooks.
SKILL.md
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