Getting Started with OpenClaw Skills in 2026

OpenClaw Skills are a powerful way to give your AI agent real-world capabilities — from generating images and controlling smart home devices to managing GitHub repos and automating messaging. This guide will get you up and running in minutes.

What Are OpenClaw Skills?

OpenClaw Skills are modular packages that extend what your OpenClaw agent can do. Each skill consists of:

• SKILL.md — The main instruction file that tells the agent how to use the skill
• Scripts & tools — CLI wrappers, automation scripts, and helper utilities
• Configuration — Requirements, API key setup, and platform-specific settings

Think of them like apps for your AI agent — each one adds a new capability.

Prerequisites

Before installing skills, you need:

1. OpenClaw installed and running (see OpenClaw docs)
2. ClawHub CLI — the skill package manager (usually included with OpenClaw)
3. A working agent session — skills are loaded when your agent starts

Installing Your First Skill

The simplest way to install a skill is through the ClawHub registry:

clawhub install weather

That's it! The Weather skill is now available to your agent. It can check current conditions, forecasts, and severe weather alerts.

Discovering Skills

There are several ways to find skills:

• MCP Hub Directory — Browse our complete directory and filter by "🐾 OpenClaw Skills"
• ClawHub Registry — Run clawhub search <query> from your terminal
• Agent Discovery — Ask your agent: "What skills are available for image generation?"

Popular First Skills to Install

Here are great skills for beginners:

🌤️ Weather — Start simple

clawhub install weather

No API keys needed. Ask your agent "What's the weather like today?" and you're off.

📝 Summarize — Instantly useful

clawhub install summarize

Summarize long documents, articles, and conversations. Multiple output styles.

🐙 GitHub — For developers

clawhub install github

Requires the gh CLI to be installed and authenticated. Gives your agent full GitHub access.

🎨 Nano Banana Pro — For creatives

clawhub install nano-banana-pro

Requires a Gemini API key. Generate and edit images from natural language descriptions.

Managing Skills

Common ClawHub commands:

# List installed skills
clawhub list

# Update a skill
clawhub update github

# Update all skills
clawhub update --all

# Remove a skill
clawhub remove weather

# Search for skills
clawhub search "image generation"

Skills That Need API Keys

Some skills require external API keys or services. These are typically set as environment variables:

• Nano Banana Pro — GEMINI_API_KEY
• ElevenLabs Voices — ELEVENLABS_API_KEY
• Discord — Discord bot token
• Notion — Notion integration token
• OpenAI Image Gen — OPENAI_API_KEY

Check each skill's documentation for specific setup instructions.

Skills vs MCP Servers vs Claude Skills

Not sure which addon type you need? Here's the quick version:

• MCP Servers — Best for data access and tool integration in Claude Desktop/IDEs
• Claude Skills — Best for teaching Claude specialized behaviors and workflows
• OpenClaw Skills — Best for agent-level automation and real-world actions

Read our complete comparison for more details.

Next Steps

• Browse the full OpenClaw Skills directory
• Check out our Top 20 OpenClaw Skills
• Visit the OpenClaw documentation
• Join the community on Discord