Creating skills

Skills teach the agent how and when to use tools. Each skill is a directory containing a

For how skills are loaded and prioritized, see Skills.

Create your first skill

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```bash}
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/hello-world
```

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```markdown}
---
name: hello-world
description: A simple skill that says hello.
---

# Hello World Skill

When the user asks for a greeting, use the `echo` tool to say
"Hello from your custom skill!".
```

Use hyphen-case with lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens for the skill
`name`. Keep the folder name and frontmatter `name` aligned.

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```bash}
# From chat
/new

# Or restart the gateway
openclaw gateway restart
```

Verify the skill loaded:

```bash}
openclaw skills list
```

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```bash}
openclaw agent --message "give me a greeting"
```

Or just chat with the agent and ask for a greeting.

Skill metadata reference

The YAML frontmatter supports these fields:

Best practices

• Be concise — instruct the model on what to do, not how to be an AI
• Safety first — if your skill uses
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  exec
  , ensure prompts don't allow arbitrary command injection from untrusted input
• Test locally — use
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  openclaw agent --message "..."
  to test before sharing
• Use ClawHub — browse and contribute skills at ClawHub

Where skills live

Related

• Skills reference — loading, precedence, and gating rules
• Skills config —
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  skills.*
  config schema
• ClawHub — public skill registry
• Building Plugins — plugins can ship skills