What are OpenClaw Skills? A 2026 Developer’s Guide

OpenClaw skills are designed to make working with OpenClaw’s AI agents more practical, modular, and powerful. Instead of building every capability from scratch, Skills let you package specific functionality—like calling an API, querying a database, retrieving documents, or executing a workflow—into reusable components that an agent can invoke when needed. This approach keeps your agent logic clean and flexible, while making it easier to extend what your agent can do over time without rewriting core architecture.

Instead of hardcoding these integrations directly into your agent, you define them as structured, reusable capabilities the agent can call when appropriate. This typically results is a cleaner architecture, easier testing, and a much smoother path from prototype to production-grade AI systems. The ClawHub currently has over 2,857 skills that you can download and incorporate into your OpenClaw system within a few clicks.

What are OpenClaw skills?

OpenClaw skills are Markdown files that contain instructions for agents to complete specific tasks and use specific tools. Each skill is a directory containing a skill.md file with YAML frontmatter and instructions. You might also find additional reference files or executable scripts that the skill might need as part of the functionality. This bundle makes it easy to set up a new capability within OpenClaw. Once you add the skill file, the system can immediately follow instructions to use new tools, APIs, and workflows.

These skills are available for a variety of categories, including coding, writing, data analytics, DevOps, AI and ML, community, and productivity.

Benefits of OpenClaw skills

OpenClaw skills help you to build out system capabilities and take advantage of OpenClaw’s real-time automation and application connectivity. This means you can have an AI assistant that automatically works with applications such as WhatsApp, Slack, IDE, and home server setups to manage messages and automate code deployments while consistently integrating feedback on response types, notification preferences, and workflow steps, and consistently applying user preferences. The main benefits of OpenClaw skills are:

• Broad ecosystem: With ClawHub, private repositories, and Reddit threads, you can consistently find new skills to integrate into OpenClaw. More and more skills are being created every day for all types of tasks and workflows, from coding to productivity.

• Easy installation: All you need is the skill’s markdown file and the OpenClaw CLI to run it on your ecosystem and quickly integrate a new skill. Once you install the skill onto your local machine, it’s automatically linked into the wider OpenClaw system and ready for use.

• Task automation: You can use these skills to automate repetitive tasks such as calendar and email management, server health monitoring, and code management.

• Proactive operations: OpenClaw uses local system access and persistent memory to continually maintain context over time, proactively complete tasks, and run skills in the background so you can get tasks done without constant supervision.

Considerations for OpenClaw skills

Although OpenClaw skills greatly expand what this AI assistant can do, it’s also become a notable security concern for organizations. OpenClaw lets any developer publish a skill file on ClawHub, making it easy for developers to inject malicious instructions into these markdown files and compromise systems. One known main vulnerability for OpenClaw is CVE-2026-25253, which compromises the AI gateway and enables hackers to push commands at will. More specific risks with OpenClaw skills include unauthorized email deletion (as chronicled by Summer Yue). Should you decide to use OpenClaw skills, at a minimum, be sure to:

• Review source: Check who created the original skill source, its GitHub, and see how many stars the project has. Or its overall reviews on ClawHub.

• Check permissions: See what permissions the skill file needs and only accept the absolute bare minimum of what the file needs to effectively run.

• Validate scope: Ensure that the skill only performs actions that your agent should be trusted to perform on your behalf. Not only can skills be actively malicious, but they can also perform functionality that the installer didn’t think through completely.

• Test skills in isolation: Deploy your skills file in an isolated environment for testing so you can see how it runs or if any issues occur before production deployment in your system.

• Publish runbooks: Document what OpenClaw skills trigger, the inputs they need, and how to roll back. This gives you an idea of borderline behavior and when to intervene for any suspicious activity.

• Remain vigilant: Be on notice for potential indicators of a vulnerability (e.g., noticing the assistant attempting to access internal URLs or APIs that aren’t relevant to the task; responses that include snippets of the underlying system instructions or “hidden” markdown formatting, etc.). You can also run skills through ClawDex for a preliminary security scan.

How to access OpenClaw skills

OpenClaw skills are available for download via ClawHub, OpenClaw Skills, and private repositories. All you need to run these skills is the OpenClaw CLI and the skill file. If you’re using ClawHub, you’ll use the command clawhub install <skill-slug> to put the skill into your system. If you’re deploying via DigitalOcean’s 1-Click Marketplace, either the OpenClaw Droplet or the App Platform, you’ll use npx clawhub install <skill-slug>.

But where exactly do these skill files live within the OpenClaw? Generally, skills are loaded from three places:

• Bundled skills: shipped with the install (npm package or OpenClaw.app)

• Managed/local skills: ~/.openclaw/skills

• Workspace skills: <workspace>/skills

If a skill has a naming overlap, precedence is:

<workspace>/skills (highest) then ~/.openclaw/skills then bundled skills (lowest)

Additionally, you can configure extra skill folders (lowest precedence) via skills.load.extraDirs in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.

In a multi-agent setup, each skill file has its own workspace. This means:

• Per-agent skills live in <workspace>/skills for that agent only.

• Shared skills live in ~/.openclaw/skills (managed/local) and are visible to all agents on the same machine.

• Shared folders can also be added via skills.load.extraDirs (lowest precedence) if you want a common skills pack used by multiple agents.

If the same skill name exists in more than one place, the usual precedence applies: workspace wins, then managed/local, then bundled.

If you’re curious about how to effectively install OpenClaw skills (as well as connect to Moltbook) check out the video tutorial below:

Examples of OpenClaw skills

DISCLAIMER: Users are responsible for self-vetting individual OpenClaw skills. DigitalOcean has not individually vetted the overall security of these skills and is not liable for related security issues.

There’s a massive library of OpenClaw skills available to run on your system. To give you an idea of what’s available, here are some examples (current as of February 2026):

Software development

These options can automate coding processes and perform general software management tasks along with automation.

Cron-backup by zfanmy

Cron-backup is an OpenClaw Skills integration for coding workflows. Set up scheduled automated backups with version tracking and cleanup. Use when users need to (1) Schedule periodic backups of directories or files, (2) Monitor version changes and backup on updates, (3) automatically clean up old backups to save space, and Create backup strategies for configuration files, code repositories, or user data.

Security-check by wolffan

security-check is an OpenClaw Skills integration for coding workflows. Use this when you need to check skills for security vulnerabilities before installation, perform regular security audits of installed skills, verify that skill descriptions match actual behavior, scan for prompt injection attempts, or check for hardcoded secrets or credentials.

Agentmail-integration by synesthesia-wav

Agentmail-integration is an OpenClaw Skills integration for coding workflows. Integrate AgentMail API for AI agent email automation. Create and manage dedicated email inboxes, send and receive emails programmatically, and handle email-based workflows with webhooks and real-time events.

Smart home and IoT

Using AI to oversee connected home devices? These OpenClaw skills can help.

Home Assistant by iAhmadZain

Control Home Assistant smart home devices, run automations, and receive webhook events. Use when controlling lights, switches, climate, scenes, scripts, or any HA entity. Supports bidirectional communication via REST API (outbound) and webhooks (inbound triggers from HA automations).

Home Assistant CLI by JonesChi

Advanced Home Assistant control using the official hass-cli tool. Features auto-completion, event monitoring, history queries, and rich output formatting. Alternative to the curl-based homeassistant skill—choose this if you want a more interactive CLI experience with better discovery and formatting.

Homeassistant N8n Agent by enchantedmotorcycle

Bridge OpenClaw with your n8n instance for Home Assistant automation. The skill is instruction-only, and its requirements (curl, posting to a local n8n webhook) align with its stated purpose; it does not request extra credentials or perform unexpected actions, though the instructions assume a hard-coded local webhook and omit authentication/configuration guidance.

Health and personal development

For more personal OpenClaw applications, these skills can help you get information about any fitness or health-related goals.

Longevity Assistant by lofimichael

Evaluates longevity interventions using evidence tiers. Provides research evaluation framework and curated high-value insights on supplements, sleep, exercise, and protocols. Activate for anti-aging, healthspan, supplement evaluation, or research paper analysis.

Apple Health Skill by nftechie

Talk to your Apple Health data—ask questions about your workouts, heart rate, activity rings, and fitness trends using AI.

Personal Finance Tracker by aka-anoop

Manage personal finances, track spending by category, set budgets, and receive reminders for EMIs and one-time annual expenses. Use for logging expenses, checking budget status, or setting up financial reminders.

Search and research

If you’re interested in using OpenClaw to help you collect data, research trends, or provide more effective search results, here are some skills to consider.

Tavily Web Search by arun-8687

AI-optimized web search via Tavily API. Returns concise, relevant results for AI agents.

Academic Deep Research by kesslerio

Transparent, rigorous research with full methodology—not a black-box API wrapper. Conducts exhaustive investigation through mandated 2-cycle research per theme, APA 7th citations, evidence hierarchy, and 3 user checkpoints. Self-contained using native OpenClaw tools (web_search, web_fetch, sessions_spawn). Use for literature reviews, competitive intelligence, or any research requiring academic rigor and reproducibility.

Proactive-research by robbyczgw-cla

Proactive-research is an OpenClaw Skills integration for coding workflows. Monitor topics of interest and get alerts important developments occur. Use if you want automated monitoring of specific subjects (e.g., product releases, price changes, news topics, technology updates). Supports scheduled web searches, AI-powered importance scoring, smart alerts vs weekly digests, and memory-aware contextual summaries.

OpenClaw skill FAQs

What are OpenClaw skills?

OpenClaw skills are markdown files that contain instructions for specific agent behavior. These skills are often designed to complete specific tasks (such as a security audit) or work with certain system tools (such as Slack or Gmail).

What can OpenClaw skills do?

OpenClaw skills can help automate tasks and instruct agents to work in specific ways. They are available for coding, productivity, creative, writing, and communication tasks.

How do I find OpenClaw skills?

OpenClaw skills are available on ClawHub, OpenClaw Skills, and GitHub. You can also find them on Reddit threads and private repositories. These repositories contain thousands of skills as any developer can create and upload them for use.

How do I install OpenClaw skills?

You can install OpenClaw skills through the OpenClaw CLI and then run the clawhub install <skill-slug> command. If you’re deploying via DigitalOcean’s 1-Click Marketplace, either the OpenClaw Droplet or the App Platform, you’ll use npx clawhub install <skill-slug>.

Are OpenClaw skills safe to use?

Not inherently. Because anyone can upload a skill to ClawHub or an OpenClaw skills repository, there are risks of malware or malicious code in them. Be sure to review and check the code before you install an OpenClaw skill in your system. Not only can the skill be actively malicious, but it can also include powerful functionality that has unintended consequences. For instance, if a skill has permission to send text messages, it may reach out to friends as well as other less familiar also in your contacts like coworkers or businesses. The decision to use OpenClaw skills rests entirely with the user, who is responsible for conducting their own security assessment based on their specific use case.

How can I tell if a skill may be malicious?

Ensure the skill spelling is correct (eg clawhub (legitimate) vs claw__d__hub (malicious)).

Use a skill scanner like ClawDex to identify known vulnerabilities in skills before installing.

Remove unused and unrecognized skills with clawhub uninstall <skill-slug>

Use increased caution when connecting skills to OpenClaw instances with access to personal information like e-mail inboxes, credit cards, cell phones, and instant messaging apps, since OpenClaw can act autonomously on your behalf using that information.

Deploy your OpenClaw skills on DigitalOcean

Running OpenClaw skills on your system requires planning and security considerations. Should you decide to use OpenClaw, a dedicated cloud server won’t eliminate all risks, but it limits the blast radius and keeps the agent away from your personal files and production credentials.

DigitalOcean offers two deployment paths built for this.

OpenClaw on DigitalOcean App Platform is designed for teams that want to run multiple agents at scale without managing infrastructure:

• Define multiple agents declaratively—sales, support, personal assistant—in a single App Platform spec

• Push updates via Git with zero-downtime deploys and automatic rollbacks

• Scale predictably by resizing known instance types with transparent pricing

DigitalOcean’s 1-Click Deploy for OpenClaw starts at $12/month and provisions a hardened server with secure defaults baked in from the start:

• Container-based isolation keeps agent execution sandboxed from the host system

• Authentication is enforced by default with a unique gateway token generated per deployment

• Firewall rules, non-root execution, and locked-down permissions are configured out of the box

→ Get started with OpenClaw on DigitalOcean

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