Module 3: Skills & Tools

Why this matters

Out of the box, your agent can think and respond — but it cannot check your calendar, send emails, or search the web. Skills give it those abilities.

Built-in tools vs. skills

OpenClaw has two types of capabilities:

Built-in tools are general-purpose and come pre-installed:

• web_fetch — retrieve a webpage
• web_search — search the internet
• read / write — access files in your workspace
• exec — run shell commands (with restrictions)

Skills are purpose-built integrations with specific APIs:

• Google Calendar — read and create events
• Gmail — read and send emails
• GitHub — manage issues and pull requests
• Weather — get forecasts
• And many more on ClawHub

Browsing ClawHub

ClawHub is the skill directory. Browse it at clawhub.ai or through the dashboard.

Each skill listing shows:

• What it does
• What credentials it needs
• Example prompts that use it
• Configuration format

Popular skills by category

Installing a skill

Installation is two steps: install the package, then configure credentials.

Example: Install the weather skill

openclaw skills install weather

Then add configuration:

openclaw config edit

{
  "skills": {
    "weather": {
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Some skills need API keys or tokens:

{
  "skills": {
    "github": {
      "enabled": true,
      "token": "YOUR_GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

Restart the gateway to load the new skill:

openclaw gateway restart

Check skill status

See what is installed and working:

openclaw skills info weather

The dashboard also shows skill status with tabs for All, Ready, Needs Setup, and Disabled.

Testing a skill

After installation, ask your agent to use it:

openclaw agent --message "What is the weather forecast for tomorrow?"

If the weather skill is installed and configured, the agent will use it automatically. You do not need to tell it which skill to use — the agent figures that out from your question.

Skill permissions

Each skill runs in its own sandbox:

• A skill only gets its own credentials
• No cross-skill access
• No access to your SOUL.md or personal files
• Credentials stored separately at ~/.openclaw/tokens/

This means a buggy or malicious skill cannot access your other skills or data.

Writing a custom skill

If you need a skill that does not exist on ClawHub, you can write your own. A skill is a Node.js module that exports tool definitions:

module.exports = {
  name: "my_service",
  description: "Access My Service API",
  tools: [
    {
      name: "get_items",
      description: "Get a list of items from My Service",
      parameters: {
        type: "object",
        properties: {
          filter: {
            type: "string",
            description: "Filter items by this string",
          },
        },
      },
      async execute({ filter }, config) {
        const response = await fetch(
          `https://api.myservice.com/items?q=${filter}`,
          {
            headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${config.apiKey}` },
          },
        )
        return await response.json()
      },
    },
  ],
}

Save it in your skills directory and add the config:

{
  "skills": {
    "my_service": {
      "enabled": true,
      "path": "./skills/my-skill",
      "apiKey": "YOUR_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Hands-on: Install and test a skill

1. Pick a skill from ClawHub that sounds useful to you
2. Install it: openclaw skills install [name]
3. Add the configuration with any required credentials
4. Restart: openclaw gateway restart
5. Test it with a natural language message

If it does not work, check openclaw skills info [name] for setup requirements. The CLI Cheatsheet lists every openclaw skills command with flags.