Step 02: Skills

Extend your agent with SKILL.md.

Skills are lazy loaded capability referencing official doc for more details.

Prerequisites

Same as Step 00 - copy the config file and add your API key:

cp default_workspace/config.example.yaml default_workspace/config.user.yaml
# Edit config.user.yaml to add your API key

What We will Build?

Skills are lazy loaded capabilities at runtime. It isn't something Openclaw invented, but an open standard. Reference the official document for more info.

Key Components

SkillDef: Skill definitions (id, name, description, content)
SKILL.md: YAML frontmatter + markdown body format
skill tool: Dynamic tool that lists available skills and loads content on-demand

src/mybot/tools/skill_tool.py

def create_skill_tool(skill_loader: "SkillLoader"):
    """Factory function to create skill tool with dynamic schema."""
    skill_metadata = skill_loader.discover_skills()

    # Build XML description of available skills
    skills_xml = "<skills>\n"
    for meta in skill_metadata:
        skills_xml += f'  <skill name="{meta.name}">{meta.description}</skill>\n'
    skills_xml += "</skills>"

    @tool(name="skill", description=f"Load skill. {skills_xml}", ...)
    async def skill_tool(skill_name: str, session: "AgentSession") -> str:
        skill_def = skill_loader.load_skill(skill_name)
        return skill_def.content

    return skill_tool

Notes

Openclaw does not implement skill system with a separate tool. Instead, it uses system prompt injection with file reading.

Two Approaches to Skills

Tool Approach (this tutorial):

Dedicated skill tool lists available skills and loads content
Tool schema includes skill metadata in its description
Agent calls skill tool to get skill content
Self-contained skill discovery and loading

System Prompt Approach (OpenClaw):

Skill metadata (id, name, description) injected into system prompt
Agent uses standard read tool to read SKILL.md
No specialized skill tool needed
Simpler tool registry

To implementing skills as part of system prompt, inject that as one more layer of prompt as mentioned Step 13: Multi-Layer Prompts.

Try it out

cd 02-skills
uv run my-bot chat

# You: What skills do you have available?
# pickle: Hi there! 🐱 I have access to two specialized skills:
#
# - **cron-ops**: Create, list, and delete scheduled cron jobs
# - **skill-creator**: Guide for creating effective skills
#
# Is there something specific you'd like to do with either of these, or do you have another task I can help you with?
#
# You: Create a skill to access Weather Information
# pickle: [Loads and create a weather-info skill]

What's Next

Step 03: Persistence - Remember conversations across sessions