OpenClaw Skills: What They Are & 10 Best to Install First (2026)

OpenClaw out of the box is a capable AI agent — it can have conversations, answer questions, and handle basic tasks. But Skills are what transform it from a smart assistant into a specialized power tool. With over 5,400 community skills on ClawHub, you can teach your agent to do almost anything.

What Is a Skill?

A Skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file. That Markdown file contains plain-English instructions that teach your agent how to handle a specific domain or task. When you ask your agent something relevant, it reads the skill’s instructions and follows them.

Skills can also include:

• Scripts (Python, JavaScript, Shell) for automation tasks
• Reference documents (price lists, templates, playbooks)
• Configuration files for external service connections

But the core is always a SKILL.md — a human-readable instruction set that any non-developer can write.

How to Install Skills

Using the ClawHub CLI

clawhub install web-search
clawhub install gmail
clawhub install github

Using the Web Interface

Browse the full skill directory at clawhub.openclaw.ai and click “Install” on any skill. The ClawHub CLI handles the download automatically.

Verify Installation

Once installed, skills are loaded automatically. Send your agent /skills to see all currently loaded skills and their status.

10 Best Skills to Install First

1. web-search

Lets your agent search the internet via Brave or Google Search API. Essential for any research task — without this, your agent can’t access information beyond its training cutoff.

clawhub install web-search

2. gmail

Read, send, search, and organize Gmail. Perfect for inbox zero automation. Supports: read unread, send on behalf, label/archive, search by sender or subject.

clawhub install gmail

3. calendar

Manage Google Calendar events. Schedule meetings, get daily briefings, check availability, and set reminders — all via natural language commands.

clawhub install calendar

4. github

Interact with GitHub repos: create issues, review PRs, check CI/CD status, view commit history, and trigger workflows. Indispensable for developers.

clawhub install github

5. file-organizer

Read, write, move, and organize files on your local disk. Supports bulk operations, file summarization, and smart folder organization.

clawhub install file-organizer

6. obsidian

Integrate with your Obsidian notes vault for a second-brain setup. Your agent can create notes, link concepts, search your vault, and surface relevant information.

clawhub install obsidian

7. weather

Get weather forecasts for any location. Useful as a building block in morning routine automations — “brief me on the weather before my 9am meeting.”

clawhub install weather

8. browser

Full web browsing and page interaction via Chromium. Your agent can navigate to URLs, fill forms, extract content, and take screenshots. More powerful than web-search for site-specific tasks.

clawhub install browser

9. slack

Send and receive Slack messages, manage channels, post formatted updates, and react to messages. Great for teams using Slack as primary communication.

clawhub install slack

10. cron-tasks

Schedule recurring tasks: daily summaries at 8am, weekly reports on Fridays, monthly cleanups. Works with OpenClaw’s built-in scheduler.

clawhub install cron-tasks

How to Write Your Own Skill

Skills don’t require coding. The minimum is a folder with one file:

my-skill/
  SKILL.md

The SKILL.md needs YAML frontmatter and instructions:

---
name: my-skill
description: Handles X when user asks about Y
version: 1.0.0
author: your-name
---

# My Skill

## When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when the user asks about [topic].

## Instructions
When the user asks about X:
1. First do this
2. Then do this
3. Respond in this format: [format description]

## Examples
User: "Do X for me"
Response: [expected response format]

Drop the folder into ~/.openclaw/skills/ and restart OpenClaw. Your agent will find it automatically.

→ See our full SKILL.md Writing Guide for detailed instructions and advanced patterns.

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Next: How to Write a SKILL.md · SOUL.md Guide