Skill Acquisition

Skill Acquisition

You help users discover and install agent skills from the ecosystem. There are three main sources:

1. ClawHub — Public skill registry (clawhub.ai) with vector search, versioning, and moderation
2. Skillflag — CLI tools that bundle their own skills via --skill list/export
3. GitHub/Raw — Skills as folders in git repos (SKILL.md + supporting files)

When to Use This Skill

USE when:

• User asks to find/discover/search for skills or capabilities
• User wants to install a skill from ClawHub or a CLI tool
• User asks "is there a skill for X?"
• User wants to package/publish a local skill
• User asks about what skills are available

DON'T USE when:

• User wants to CREATE a new skill from scratch (that's skill-creator)
• User wants to modify an existing installed skill (just edit it)

Prerequisites

Both tools run via npx — no global install needed, just npm:

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# ClawHub CLI (primary discovery tool)
npx clawhub --help

# Skillflag installer (for CLI-bundled skills)
npx skillflag --help

Discovery — Finding Skills

1. ClawHub Search (best for general discovery)

ClawHub uses vector search (OpenAI embeddings), so natural language queries work:

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# Search by description
npx clawhub search "manage docker containers"
npx clawhub search "git workflow automation"

# Browse latest/trending
npx clawhub explore                          # newest 25
npx clawhub explore --sort trending          # trending now
npx clawhub explore --sort downloads         # most popular

# Machine-readable output
npx clawhub explore --json
npx clawhub search "kubernetes" --json

2. Skillflag Discovery (for CLI tools you already have)

Any skillflag-compliant CLI tool bundles its own skills:

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# List skills a tool provides
<tool> --skill list

# See what a skill contains
<tool> --skill show <id>

# JSON metadata (includes digest for integrity)
<tool> --skill list --json

Known skillflag-compliant tools:

• acpx — ACP coding agent delegation
• Check any CLI you install: <tool> --skill list (won't break if unsupported)

3. GitHub Search (for skills not on ClawHub)

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# Search GitHub for SKILL.md files
gh search code "filename:SKILL.md" --limit 20

# The openclaw/skills repo archives ALL ClawHub skills
# Browse: https://github.com/openclaw/skills/tree/main/skills

Evaluation — Before Installing

Always evaluate before installing:

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# Inspect without installing (ClawHub)
npx clawhub inspect <slug>                   # metadata + description
npx clawhub inspect <slug> --files           # list all files in the skill
npx clawhub inspect <slug> --file SKILL.md   # read the actual skill content

# Inspect a skillflag export
<tool> --skill show <id>                 # read SKILL.md content
<tool> --skill export <id> | tar -tf -   # list files without installing

Evaluation checklist:

1. Read the SKILL.md — does it do what you need?
2. Check required env vars / bins (metadata.openclaw.requires)
3. Check file count and what's included (scripts? templates?)
4. For ClawHub skills: check install count, version history, last update
5. For GitHub skills: check repo stars, recent activity, author reputation

Installation — Getting Skills In Place

From ClawHub

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# Install to your skills directory
npx clawhub install <slug> --workdir "$(pwd)" --dir skills

From Skillflag CLI Tools

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# Into a custom directory (open-strix agents)
<tool> --skill export <id> | npx skillflag install --dest ./skills

From GitHub / Raw

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# Clone just the skill directory
git clone --depth 1 <repo-url> /tmp/skill-source
cp -r /tmp/skill-source/skills/<name> ./skills/<name>
rm -rf /tmp/skill-source

After Installing

Verify the skill appears in your prompt. Skills in skills/ are automatically loaded.

Wrapping — Adapting Skills for Your Agent

Raw skills from ClawHub/skillflag may need wrapping. The pattern:

When to Wrap

• Skill assumes capabilities your agent doesn't have (e.g., coding ability)
• Skill needs context about WHEN to use it (delegation logic)
• Skill's SKILL.md is a CLI reference but you need behavioral guidance
• Multiple related skills should be combined into one coherent capability

Wrapping Pattern

Create a wrapper skill that:

1. Has its own SKILL.md with behavioral instructions (when/how to use)
2. Includes the original skill as a reference doc (e.g., <name>-reference.md)
3. Adds any agent-specific context (delegation, reporting, error handling)

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skills/my-capability/
  SKILL.md              <- your wrapper (behavioral instructions)
  <tool>-reference.md   <- original skill content (CLI/API reference)

Example: wrap acpx into a coding skill — SKILL.md teaches delegation behavior, acpx-reference.md has the full CLI reference.

Publishing — Sharing Skills

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# Login (GitHub OAuth)
npx clawhub login

# Publish a skill directory
npx clawhub publish ./skills/my-skill \
  --slug my-skill \
  --name "My Skill" \
  --version 1.0.0 \
  --tags latest \
  --changelog "Initial release"

Requirements:

• SKILL.md must have name and description in frontmatter
• Only text-based files (no binaries), max 50MB
• Published under MIT-0 (free use, no attribution required)

Security Notes

• ClawHub has moderation and security analysis
• Skillflag exports are tar streams with path traversal protection
• Always inspect before installing from unknown sources
• Skills may include scripts — review them before granting execution

References

• /.open_strix_builtin_skills/skill-acquisition/clawhub-reference.md — Full ClawHub CLI reference
• /.open_strix_builtin_skills/skill-acquisition/skillflag-reference.md — Skillflag specification and integration guide
• ClawHub — Browse skills in the browser
• Agent Skills Spec — The standard format