Understanding OpenClaw Skills: The Complete Guide

What Are Skills?

Skills are markdown files that teach OpenClaw new capabilities. Each skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter and natural-language instructions. No coding required — just describe what you want the AI to do.

Skill Structure

A typical skill directory:

my-skill/
  SKILL.md       # Instructions and configuration
  README.md      # Optional documentation
  templates/     # Optional template files

SKILL.md Format

---
name: web-researcher
description: Research topics using web search
tools: [web_search, web_fetch, read, write]
triggers:
  - "research"
  - "look up"
  - "find information"
---

# Web Researcher

When the user asks you to research a topic:

1. Use web_search to find relevant sources
2. Use web_fetch to read the most relevant pages
3. Synthesize the information into a clear summary
4. Save the research to a file if requested

Key Concepts

Tools

Tools define what actions the skill can use. Common tools:

• read, write, edit — File operations
• web_search, web_fetch — Internet access
• shell — Terminal commands
• browser — Web automation

Triggers

Keywords or phrases that activate the skill. When a user's message matches a trigger, OpenClaw loads that skill's instructions.

Instructions

Natural-language descriptions of how to perform the task. Write them like you're teaching a smart colleague.

Skill Locations and Precedence

Skills load from multiple locations (highest priority first):

1. Workspace skills — <workspace>/skills/ (per-agent)
2. User skills — ~/.openclaw/skills/ (shared across agents)
3. Bundled skills — Built into OpenClaw

If a skill name conflicts, the higher-priority location wins.

Enabling and Disabling Skills

In openclaw.json:

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "web-researcher": { "enabled": true },
      "dangerous-skill": { "enabled": false }
    }
  }
}

Finding Skills

• Bundled: OpenClaw ships with essential skills pre-installed
• ClawHub: The community skill registry — searchable from within OpenClaw
• Community repos: GitHub collections like awesome-openclaw-skills
• Custom: Write your own in minutes