OpenClaw Skills System
Skills are modular superpowers for your AI agent. Install browser control, voice interaction, coding assistants, and custom business automation — all as plug-and-play packages.
What Are Skills?
Think of skills like apps for your AI agent. Each skill teaches the agent how to do something specific — control a web browser, manage passwords with 1Password, check the weather, or run complex coding workflows. Skills are self-contained packages with instructions, scripts, and configuration.
Anatomy of a Skill
skills/my-skill/
├── SKILL.md # Instructions for the agent
├── scripts/ # Helper scripts (optional)
├── templates/ # Reference templates (optional)
└── config.json # Skill configuration (optional)The SKILL.md file is the brain of every skill. It tells the agent when to use the skill, how to use it, and what tools or APIs are involved. The agent reads this file dynamically when a matching task comes in — no code changes required.
How Skills Work at Runtime
1Task Arrives
You send a message: "Check the weather in Austin" or "Open GitHub and review the latest PR."
2Skill Matching
OpenClaw scans available skills' descriptions. The weather skill matches "check the weather" and the browser/GitHub skill matches "open GitHub." Only the relevant skill's SKILL.md gets loaded.
3Context Injection
The skill's instructions are injected into the agent's context. The agent now knows exactly which tools to call, what parameters to use, and how to handle edge cases — all from the SKILL.md.
4Execution
The agent executes the task using the skill's instructions. It might call shell commands, use browser automation, fetch APIs, or combine multiple tools — whatever the skill defines.
Bundled Skills
These skills ship with OpenClaw out of the box. No installation needed.
🌐 Browser Control
Full web automation — navigate pages, fill forms, click buttons, extract data. Uses Playwright under the hood.
Learn about Playwright →🔐 1Password Integration
Secure credential management. Agents can fetch secrets without exposing them in prompts.
Learn about 1Password →💻 Coding Agent
Delegate coding tasks to Claude Code, Codex, or other coding agents running in background processes.
Learn about Claude Code →📋 GitHub Operations
Issues, PRs, CI runs, code review — full GitHub workflow automation via the gh CLI.
Explore GitHub tools →🌤️ Weather & Location
Real-time weather data and forecasts. No API key required — uses free services.
🔒 Health Check
Security auditing, firewall checks, SSH hardening, and system health monitoring.
Learn about security →📺 tmux Control
Remote-control terminal sessions — send keystrokes, scrape output, manage interactive CLIs.
🎬 Video Frames
Extract frames and clips from videos using ffmpeg for analysis and content creation.
Creating Custom Skills
Example: Custom Invoice Skill
Say you want your agent to generate and send invoices. Here's how you'd build that skill:
# SKILL.md - Invoice Generator
## Description
Generate and send professional invoices to clients.
## When to Use
Use when the user asks to create, send, or manage invoices.
## How It Works
1. Read client details from contacts.json
2. Generate invoice PDF using generate-invoice.sh
3. Send via email using the configured SMTP settings
## Commands
- `./scripts/generate-invoice.sh [client] [amount] [description]`
- Output goes to invoices/ directory
## Notes
- Always confirm amount and recipient before sending
- Archive sent invoices in invoices/sent/That's it. Drop this in your skills directory, and your agent instantly knows how to handle invoices. No API integration code, no plugin framework — just clear instructions.
💡 Pro Tip: Skill Design
Write your SKILL.md like you're explaining the task to a smart coworker. Be specific about when to use the skill, what tools are available, and what edge cases to watch for. The clearer your instructions, the better your agent performs.
Skills Marketplace (ClawHub)
OpenClaw has a community marketplace called ClawHub where users can discover, install, and share skills.
Install
Browse and install community skills with one command
Publish
Share your custom skills with the community
Rate & Review
Find the best skills through community ratings
Skill Best Practices
✅ Do
- • Write clear, specific SKILL.md instructions
- • Include "when to use" and "when NOT to use" sections
- • Provide example commands and expected outputs
- • Keep skills focused on one domain
- • Test thoroughly before publishing to ClawHub
❌ Don't
- • Overload a single skill with too many capabilities
- • Leave SKILL.md vague or ambiguous
- • Hardcode credentials in skill files
- • Skip error handling instructions
- • Forget to document dependencies
Get New Skills Every Week
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Skills FAQ
What are OpenClaw skills?
Skills are modular capability packages that extend what your AI agent can do. Each skill includes a SKILL.md instruction file, optional scripts, and configuration. Skills let agents control browsers, manage passwords, check weather, run code, and more.
How do I install a skill?
Bundled skills are automatically available. Custom skills go in your workspace's skills/ directory with a SKILL.md file. ClawHub skills can be installed with a single command.
Can I create custom skills?
Absolutely. Create a directory with a SKILL.md, add any helper scripts, and your agent will pick it up automatically. Share your creations on ClawHub for others to use.
How many skills can an agent use?
No hard limit. OpenClaw dynamically loads only the relevant skill for each task, so you can have dozens available without performance issues. The agent only reads what it needs.
Ready to Supercharge Your Agent?
Install skills, build custom ones, and unlock your agent's full potential.