A Python-powered skill for fetching, analyzing, and estimating construction material prices via open APIs.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install price-api
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 price-api 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 Price API for Construction Materials?
The Price API skill is a robust solution designed to automate the retrieval of market data for essential construction materials like steel, concrete, and lumber. By leveraging Openclaw Skills, developers can integrate real-time commodity indices from sources like FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) directly into their AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) workflows.
This skill goes beyond simple data retrieval by providing sophisticated analysis tools to calculate price trends and apply regional cost factors. It ensures that project estimates and cost databases remain accurate even in volatile markets, bridging the gap between raw economic data and actionable construction intelligence.
Price API for Construction Materials Use Cases
- Automated cost database updates using current market indices.
- Calculating regional price variations for international or multi-state construction projects.
- Generating bulk price estimates for procurement planning and early-stage budgeting.
- Tracking historical price trends to forecast future material costs and mitigate financial risk.
How Price API for Construction Materials Works
- The skill connects to open data sources such as the FRED API to retrieve historical and current commodity price indices for materials like steel and lumber.
- Data is ingested and processed into structured formats using pandas for high-performance analysis.
- The trend analyzer calculates percentage changes over weekly, monthly, and yearly intervals to determine market direction.
- Regional factors are applied to base prices to adjust for local market conditions in specific geographic areas.
- The system generates updated cost dataframes or provides bulk estimation reports for project management tools.
Price API for Construction Materials Setup
To use this skill within the Openclaw Skills ecosystem, ensure you have Python 3.x installed. Install the necessary Python dependencies using the following command:
pip install requests pandas
To access live data from FRED, obtain an API key from the St. Louis Fed website and initialize the OpenPriceAPI class with your credentials.
Price API for Construction Materials Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill organizes construction data through structured dataclasses and pandas DataFrames for easy integration:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| MaterialPrice | Stores material name, price value, unit, currency, source, and timestamp. |
| PriceTrend | Captures current price with calculated week, month, and year percentage changes. |
| RegionalFactors | A dictionary mapping geographic regions (e.g., US_West, Germany) to cost multipliers. |
| ReferencePrices | Static fallback prices used by the estimator for common units like m3, ton, and mbf. |
Price API for Construction Materials Advanced Features
- Multi-region support with customizable geographic cost multipliers.
- Automated trend direction detection (up, down, stable) based on 30-day volatility thresholds.
- Built-in material price estimator for rapid budgeting when live API data is unavailable.
- Extensible Python architecture allows for seamless integration with existing BIM or ERP data pipelines.
SKILL.md
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