OpenClaw Plugins (Skills) Explained — How the Skill System Works

OpenClaw's skill system is what makes your agent extensible. Without skills, your agent has a core set of capabilities: file access, web search, browser control, and channel communication. With skills, you add specialized tools: Twitter posting, task management, image generation, audio transcription, and more.

What Are Skills?

A skill is a structured folder that teaches your agent how to use a specific tool or service. Each skill contains a SKILL.md file — a set of instructions injected into your agent's context when the skill is relevant. Some skills also include scripts or helper files your agent can execute.

~/.openclaw/skills/
  slack/
    SKILL.md          # Instructions for using Slack
    scripts/
      post-message.js
  xurl/
    SKILL.md          # Instructions for X/Twitter API
  weather/
    SKILL.md          # Instructions for weather lookups

How Skill Discovery Works

Your agent scans available skills in its skills directory. When processing a task, it checks skill descriptions to see if any are relevant. The most applicable skill is loaded into context for that session — your agent only loads skill instructions when they're needed.

# SKILL.md includes a description field:
# <description>
# Use when: posting to Slack, managing channels, reading messages
# NOT for: email delivery, SMS, or other messaging platforms
# </description>

Installing Skills

# Via clawhub CLI
clawhub install slack
clawhub install xurl
clawhub install weather

# List installed skills
clawhub list

# Update to latest
clawhub update slack

# Remove a skill
clawhub uninstall slack

The SKILL.md Format

# SKILL.md

<description>
[When to use this skill]
</description>

## Overview
[What this skill does]

## Prerequisites
[API keys, env vars, or setup steps required]

## Usage
[How to use the skill -- commands, examples, patterns]

## Examples
[Real-world usage examples]

Building Your Own Skill

mkdir ~/.openclaw/skills/my-custom-skill
touch ~/.openclaw/skills/my-custom-skill/SKILL.md
# Edit SKILL.md with your instructions, then test:
openclaw chat
> "Use my-custom-skill to [do something]"

Publishing to Claw Mart

Once your skill works well, publish it to Claw Mart — the OpenClaw skills marketplace. Other users can install and use it, and you earn revenue from sales.

clawhub publish
# Validates your SKILL.md structure
# Uploads to Claw Mart
# Returns your listing URL

Ready to go deeper? The OpenClaw Playbook covers this in detail — grab your copy for $9.99.