OpenClaw Skills Setup Guide

Overview

Skills are the most important feature you should set up on your OpenClaw agent. They allow your bot to perform tasks exactly to your specifications, consistently and reliably. This guide teaches you how to create, manage, and optimize skills for your workflow.

Video Reference: Watch on YouTube
Duration: ~7 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner

What Are Skills?

Skills are reusable instruction sets that tell your agent exactly how to perform specific tasks. Think of them as:

Recipes for your agent to follow
Muscle memory that persists across sessions
Custom commands tailored to your needs

Why Skills Matter

Without Skills: You explain your preferences every session

With Skills: Your agent remembers and applies your preferences automatically

The Core Problem Skills Solve

Your Agent "Dies" Every Day

This is the best way to understand it:

Your agent's context window resets regularly
It "forgets" everything from previous sessions
It has to relearn your preferences each time

Skills = Persistent Memory

Skills give your agent knowledge that survives resets:

How you like presentations formatted
Your research methodology
Your writing style
Your workflow preferences

Creating Your First Skill

Method 1: Conversational Creation (Recommended)

You don't need to write skills yourself—just talk to your agent.

Step 1: Describe What You Want

I need you to create daily presentations about AI and crypto news. 
Here's how I want them:
- Research latest news from the past 24 hours
- Create 5-7 slides
- Use light theme with blue accents
- Include sources at the end
- Save to ~/presentations/daily/

I need you to create daily presentations about AI and crypto news. 
Here's how I want them:
- Research latest news from the past 24 hours
- Create 5-7 slides
- Use light theme with blue accents
- Include sources at the end
- Save to ~/presentations/daily/

Step 2: Let Your Agent Work

Your agent will:

Understand your requirements
Perform the task
Ask clarifying questions if needed

Step 3: Refine Through Iteration

After seeing the result:

Good, but make the slides more concise. 
Each slide should have max 3 bullet points.
Update your skill with this preference.

Good, but make the slides more concise. 
Each slide should have max 3 bullet points.
Update your skill with this preference.

Step 4: Save as Skill

Save this as a skill called "daily_presentation" 
so you can do this automatically every day.

Save this as a skill called "daily_presentation" 
so you can do this automatically every day.

[Image blocked: Skill Creation Confirmed]

Method 2: Explicit Skill Request

Direct Approach:

Create a skill for making presentations with these specs:
- Title slide with date
- 5 content slides max
- Light theme
- Sources slide at end
- Save to ~/presentations/

Create a skill for making presentations with these specs:
- Title slide with date
- 5 content slides max
- Light theme
- Sources slide at end
- Save to ~/presentations/

Your agent will create the skill immediately.

Real-World Example: Presentation Skill

The Workflow

Morning Routine:

Agent runs at 8:00 AM (via cron job)
Invokes "daily_presentation" skill
Researches latest news
Creates presentation
Saves to specified folder
Notifies you when complete

No Manual Work Required: Everything happens automatically to your exact specifications.

The Skill Structure

Your agent creates something like this internally:

Skill: daily_presentation

Purpose: Create daily news presentation

Steps:
1. Research AI and crypto news from past 24 hours
2. Identify top 5 stories
3. Create presentation with:
   - Title slide (date)
   - 5 content slides (3 bullets each)
   - Light theme, blue accents
   - Sources slide
4. Save to ~/presentations/daily/YYYY-MM-DD.pptx
5. Notify user when complete

Dependencies: 
- deep_research skill
- presentation_template

Skill: daily_presentation

Purpose: Create daily news presentation

Steps:
1. Research AI and crypto news from past 24 hours
2. Identify top 5 stories
3. Create presentation with:
   - Title slide (date)
   - 5 content slides (3 bullets each)
   - Light theme, blue accents
   - Sources slide
4. Save to ~/presentations/daily/YYYY-MM-DD.pptx
5. Notify user when complete

Dependencies: 
- deep_research skill
- presentation_template

You never see this—your agent manages it internally.

Viewing Your Skills

Ask Your Agent

Show me all my skills

Show me all my skills

Send me the presentation skill details

Send me the presentation skill details

Your agent will display the skill specifications.

Understanding Skill Details

When you view a skill, you'll see:

Purpose: What the skill does
Steps: How it accomplishes the task
Preferences: Your specific requirements
Dependencies: Other skills it uses

[Image blocked: Skill Details Display]

Updating Skills

When to Update

You discover a better way to do something
Your preferences change
You notice consistent issues
You want to add new features

How to Update

Simple Updates:

Update your presentation skill: 
I prefer dark theme now, not light theme.

Update your presentation skill: 
I prefer dark theme now, not light theme.

Detailed Updates:

Update the daily_presentation skill with these changes:
1. Increase to 7 slides instead of 5
2. Add a "Key Takeaways" slide before sources
3. Use dark theme with green accents
4. Include tweet-length summaries for each story

Update the daily_presentation skill with these changes:
1. Increase to 7 slides instead of 5
2. Add a "Key Takeaways" slide before sources
3. Use dark theme with green accents
4. Include tweet-length summaries for each story

Your agent will modify the skill and confirm changes.

Skill Categories

Research Skills

Example: Deep research on specific topics

Create a skill for deep research that:
- Searches multiple sources
- Verifies information across sources
- Summarizes findings
- Includes citations
- Saves to ~/research/

Create a skill for deep research that:
- Searches multiple sources
- Verifies information across sources
- Summarizes findings
- Includes citations
- Saves to ~/research/

Content Creation Skills

Example: Blog post writing

Create a skill for blog posts that:
- Researches topic thoroughly
- Writes in my style (conversational, technical)
- Includes code examples when relevant
- Adds SEO-friendly title and meta description
- Saves as markdown

Create a skill for blog posts that:
- Researches topic thoroughly
- Writes in my style (conversational, technical)
- Includes code examples when relevant
- Adds SEO-friendly title and meta description
- Saves as markdown

Automation Skills

Example: Daily briefing

Create a skill for daily briefings that:
- Checks email for urgent items
- Reviews calendar for today
- Summarizes news in my industry
- Compiles into one document
- Sends to my Telegram

Create a skill for daily briefings that:
- Checks email for urgent items
- Reviews calendar for today
- Summarizes news in my industry
- Compiles into one document
- Sends to my Telegram

Analysis Skills

Example: Data analysis

Create a skill for analyzing my trading data that:
- Reads from Notion database
- Identifies patterns in winning trades
- Calculates key metrics
- Generates visual charts
- Saves report to ~/analysis/

Create a skill for analyzing my trading data that:
- Reads from Notion database
- Identifies patterns in winning trades
- Calculates key metrics
- Generates visual charts
- Saves report to ~/analysis/

Skills vs Memory

When to Use Skills

✅ Repetitive tasks with consistent requirements
✅ Specific workflows you use regularly
✅ Quality standards that must be maintained
✅ Complex processes with multiple steps

When to Use Memory

✅ Personal facts about you
✅ Project context that changes
✅ Temporary preferences
✅ Conversation history

Example Comparison

Skill: "How to create presentations"

Format specifications
Design preferences
File naming conventions
Save locations

Memory: "User is working on Q2 report"

Current project details
Temporary focus areas
Recent conversations

Advanced: Skill Dependencies

Skills can use other skills.

Example: Presentation Skill Uses Research Skill

Main Skill: daily_presentation

Calls: deep_research skill
Calls: format_slides skill
Calls: save_file skill

Benefit: Modular, reusable components

Creating Dependent Skills

Create a research skill that other skills can use:
- Takes a topic as input
- Searches multiple sources
- Verifies information
- Returns structured summary

Create a research skill that other skills can use:
- Takes a topic as input
- Searches multiple sources
- Verifies information
- Returns structured summary

Then:

Update my presentation skill to use the research skill 
for gathering information.

Update my presentation skill to use the research skill 
for gathering information.

ClawHub: Skill Marketplace

What is ClawHub?

A marketplace where users share skills.

Should You Use It?

Pros:

Browse for inspiration
See what's possible
Quick start for common tasks

Cons:

Security concerns (past virus issues)
Generic skills may not fit your needs
Less control over implementation

Recommended Approach

Browse for ideas (don't download)
Understand what the skill does
Ask your agent to create similar (customized for you)

Example:

I saw a skill on ClawHub for email management. 
Create a similar skill but customized for my workflow:
[describe your specific needs]

I saw a skill on ClawHub for email management. 
Create a similar skill but customized for my workflow:
[describe your specific needs]

Troubleshooting

Skill Not Working

Problem: Skill fails or produces wrong results

Solutions:

Ask agent to explain what went wrong
Review skill specifications
Update with corrections
Test again

The presentation skill failed. 
Show me the error and fix it.

The presentation skill failed. 
Show me the error and fix it.

Skill Forgotten After Restart

Problem: Agent doesn't remember skill after restart

Solutions:

Verify skill was saved (not just executed once)
Ask agent to list all skills
Recreate if necessary

List all my saved skills. 
If presentation skill is missing, recreate it.

List all my saved skills. 
If presentation skill is missing, recreate it.

Skill Produces Inconsistent Results

Problem: Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't

Solutions:

Make specifications more explicit
Add error handling to skill
Include verification steps

Update the skill to verify each step completes 
before moving to the next.

Update the skill to verify each step completes 
before moving to the next.

Best Practices

1. Start Simple

Don't create complex skills immediately. Start with:

Create a skill to summarize articles I send you.

Create a skill to summarize articles I send you.

Then gradually add complexity:

Update the summary skill to also:
- Extract key quotes
- Identify main arguments
- Suggest related topics

Update the summary skill to also:
- Extract key quotes
- Identify main arguments
- Suggest related topics

2. Be Specific

Vague:

Make presentations look good

Make presentations look good

Specific:

Use dark theme, 24pt titles, 18pt body text, 
blue (#0066CC) for headings, white text on dark background

Use dark theme, 24pt titles, 18pt body text, 
blue (#0066CC) for headings, white text on dark background

3. Test Thoroughly

Before relying on a skill:

Run the presentation skill 3 times with different topics 
to ensure consistency.

Run the presentation skill 3 times with different topics 
to ensure consistency.

4. Document Your Skills

Keep a list:

Create a document listing all my skills, 
what they do, and when to use them.

Create a document listing all my skills, 
what they do, and when to use them.

5. Regular Maintenance

Monthly review:

Review all my skills. 
Which ones haven't been used in 30 days? 
Should we update or remove them?

Review all my skills. 
Which ones haven't been used in 30 days? 
Should we update or remove them?

Skill Ideas to Get Started

For Content Creators

Video Script Writer: Research topic, write script, format for teleprompter
Thumbnail Analyzer: Analyze successful thumbnails, suggest improvements
SEO Optimizer: Optimize titles, descriptions, tags

For Developers

Code Reviewer: Review code for bugs, suggest improvements
Documentation Generator: Create docs from code comments
Test Writer: Generate unit tests for functions

For Business

Meeting Summarizer: Summarize meeting notes, extract action items
Email Drafter: Draft professional emails based on bullet points
Report Generator: Compile data into formatted reports

For Researchers

Literature Review: Search papers, summarize findings, identify gaps
Citation Manager: Format citations, check for duplicates
Data Analyzer: Analyze datasets, generate visualizations

Next Steps

After creating your first skill:

Use It Regularly: Skills improve with feedback
Create More Skills: Build a library for your workflow
Combine Skills: Create complex workflows from simple skills
Share Knowledge: Help others by describing your successful skills

Related Resources

OpenClaw API Integration Guide [blocked]
OpenClaw Cron Jobs Setup [blocked]
Hermes Agent Curator Guide [blocked]

Final Thoughts

Skills transform your agent from a helpful assistant into a personalized automation system. The key is to start simple, iterate based on results, and gradually build a library of skills that match your exact workflow.

Remember: You don't need to write code. Just describe what you want in plain language, and your agent will create the skill for you.

Last Updated: 2026-05-06