The single most powerful thing you can do with an OpenClaw installation is give it the right skills. A default OpenClaw installation is capable but generic. Add the right skills and it becomes a specialist — one that knows exactly how your work runs, what tools you use, and what outputs you need.
OpenClaw skills have crossed 13,700 on ClawHub as of March 2026. This guide explains what skills actually are, how to find and install the best ones, which are must-haves for Indian users, and how to write your first custom skill.
What Are OpenClaw Skills?
A skill is a versioned bundle of files that teaches OpenClaw how to perform a specific task. When you install a skill, you are adding a defined capability to your agent — a set of instructions, templates, configurations, and sometimes scripts that enable OpenClaw to handle a particular type of work reliably.
Think of skills as the difference between a generalist and a specialist. Without skills, OpenClaw can answer general questions and execute basic tasks using its LLM reasoning. With skills, OpenClaw has expert-level knowledge of specific domains: Indian GST invoicing, IRCTC train booking checks, GitHub workflow management, medical appointment scheduling, and thousands more.
What a Skill Contains
A typical skill bundle includes:
SKILL.md— The primary description: what the skill does, how to invoke it, what inputs it expects, and what outputs it produces- Optional config files — Settings that customise the skill's behaviour
- Optional scripts — Shell scripts, Python, or Node.js code that the skill executes
- Metadata — Tags, version, author, install requirements
The key insight: a skill is just text files in Markdown. You can read exactly what any skill does before installing it. There are no black boxes.
ClawHub: The Official Skills Registry
ClawHub is the official community skills registry for OpenClaw — the npm or PyPI of OpenClaw skills. It crossed 13,700 published skills in early 2026 and grows by dozens of new skills every week.
Finding Skills on ClawHub
ClawHub's search is powered by vector embeddings, not just keyword matching. This means you can search in plain language and find relevant skills even if you don't know the exact terminology:
# Install the ClawHub CLI
npm i -g clawhub
# Search for skills
clawhub search "GST invoice India"
clawhub search "send Telegram message"
clawhub search "summarise PDF"
clawhub search "IRCTC train check"
You can also browse ClawHub's web interface at clawhub.dev, filter by category, and read full skill documentation before installing.
Skill Quality Indicators
ClawHub shows several signals to help you assess skill quality:
- Install count — how many OpenClaw users have installed this skill
- Last updated — freshness matters; avoid skills that haven't been updated in a year
- GitHub account age — ClawHub requires the publisher's GitHub account to be at least one week old (helps filter spam/abuse)
- Version history — a skill with multiple versions has been maintained and improved
How to Install Skills
The basic install command:
# Install from ClawHub by slug
clawhub install <skill-slug>
# Example: install the GST invoice generator
clawhub install gst-invoice-india
# Example: install multiple skills at once
clawhub install irctc-pnr-monitor nse-stock-alerts upi-tracker
Skills install into your active workspace's skills/ directory. After installing, enable the skill:
openclaw skill enable gst-invoice-india
openclaw skill list # See all installed and enabled skills
Direct OpenClaw Install (Alternative)
You can also install skills directly through the OpenClaw CLI without the ClawHub intermediary:
openclaw skills install gst-invoice-india
Both methods work. Use clawhub for searching and browsing; either method for installing.
How to List and Manage Installed Skills
# List all installed skills
openclaw skill list
# List only enabled skills
openclaw skill list --enabled
# Get details about a specific skill
openclaw skill info gst-invoice-india
# Disable a skill (without uninstalling)
openclaw skill disable skill-name
# Update a skill to latest version
clawhub update skill-name
# Update all skills at once
clawhub update --all
# Uninstall a skill
openclaw skill remove skill-name
Keep your skill list lean. Every installed skill adds to the context that OpenClaw loads at startup. 20-30 focused skills for your actual workflow outperforms 200 skills you rarely use.
Top 10 Productivity Skills
These are the most-installed general productivity skills on ClawHub as of March 2026:
1. Daily Brief Generator
clawhub install daily-brief
Creates a structured morning brief from your calendar, email digest, and news feed. Set it up as a cron and your brief is ready before you open your laptop. The single most popular skill on ClawHub.
2. Email Summariser and Drafter
clawhub install email-assistant-pro
Summarises long email threads, drafts replies in your tone (learned from an email-style.md file you provide), and flags urgent messages. Works with Gmail via the connector.
3. Meeting Note Taker
clawhub install meeting-notes-structured
Takes raw meeting notes and converts them to structured Markdown with sections: Attendees, Decisions Made, Action Items (with owners and dates), Open Questions. Enormous time-saver for anyone who takes notes manually.
4. Weekly Report Generator
clawhub install weekly-status-report
Reads your task notes, calendar, and completed items from the week and generates a structured status report. Configurable output format — works for both personal tracking and manager updates.
5. GitHub PR Reviewer
clawhub install github-pr-review
Reviews open pull requests in your repos: summarises changes, flags potential issues, checks for common anti-patterns, and generates review comments. Saves 20-40 minutes per PR review.
6. PDF Research Extractor
clawhub install pdf-research-extract
Extracts key information from PDF documents: findings, data points, citations, action items. Especially useful for research papers, government reports, legal documents, and annual reports.
7. Calendar Optimiser
clawhub install calendar-optimizer
Analyses your week's calendar and suggests optimisations: consolidates scattered meetings, protects focus time blocks, identifies back-to-back meetings that should have buffer time.
8. Slack Digest
clawhub install slack-digest
Summarises unread Slack messages by channel priority. Separates action items from FYI messages. Configurable to run at end-of-day or on-demand.
9. Code Documentation Generator
clawhub install code-docs-generator
Reads a codebase or specific files and generates documentation: function descriptions, module overviews, API references, README content. Supports Python, TypeScript, C#, Go, and more.
10. Task Decomposer
clawhub install task-decomposer
Takes a vague goal ("launch the new feature by April") and breaks it into a structured task list with estimated time, dependencies, and priority order. Good for project kickoffs.
Top 5 India-Specific Skills
These skills were built specifically for Indian workflows and are among the most appreciated by Indian OpenClaw users:
1. IRCTC PNR Monitor
clawhub install irctc-pnr-monitor
Monitors your IRCTC PNR status and alerts you to changes: waitlist to confirmed, platform change, train delay over 30 minutes. Set as a daily cron for upcoming journeys.
Usage: openclaw skill run irctc-pnr-monitor --pnr 1234567890
2. GST Invoice Generator
clawhub install gst-invoice-india
Generates GST-compliant invoices in Markdown/PDF-ready format. Handles CGST/SGST (intra-state) vs. IGST (inter-state) automatically based on your and your client's state codes. Supports reverse charge notation.
Usage: openclaw skill run gst-invoice-india --client "Tata Consultancy" --amount 50000
3. NSE/BSE Stock Alert
clawhub install nse-bse-alerts
Sends Telegram alerts when your watchlist stocks hit price targets. Pulls live data from NSE/BSE. Configure your watchlist in stocks/watchlist.csv with buy and alert prices.
4. Indian News Digest
clawhub install india-news-digest
Curates a daily digest of top Indian news from configured sources (The Hindu, Economic Times, Mint, NDTV, etc.). Summarises top 10 stories across categories: business, politics, tech, markets.
Cron config: schedule: "0 7 * * *" — delivered to Telegram at 7 AM daily
5. UPI Transaction Categoriser
clawhub install upi-expense-tracker
Parses UPI transaction SMS notifications (from your message log export) and automatically categorises spending: Food, Transport, Entertainment, Bills, Shopping. Generates a monthly spending summary.
Skill Categories Breakdown
ClawHub organises skills into major categories. As of March 2026:
| Category | Skills Count | Top Skills | |---|---|---| | Productivity | 3,200+ | Daily brief, email, calendar | | Development | 2,800+ | Code review, docs, testing | | Finance | 1,400+ | Invoice, expense tracking, stocks | | Communication | 1,100+ | Email, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp | | Research | 900+ | PDF extraction, web research | | India-Specific | 600+ | GST, IRCTC, NSE/BSE, Aadhaar | | Health | 400+ | Appointment reminders, medical notes | | Education | 350+ | Flashcards, summaries, quiz generation | | Business | 800+ | CRM, proposals, contracts | | Other | 2,100+ | Miscellaneous utilities |
Search "india" in ClawHub to filter to the 600+ India-specific skills. Search "hindi" for the smaller but growing subset with Hindi language support.
How to Write a Custom Skill
Custom skills are the highest-leverage investment you can make in OpenClaw. Here is the complete template:
# Skill: [Skill Name]
## Metadata
- version: 1.0.0
- author: your-github-username
- tags: [category, subcategory, keyword]
- requires: [] # List any other skills or tools this depends on
## Purpose
[1-2 sentence description of what this skill does and when to use it]
## Trigger Phrases
- "[Natural language phrase to invoke this skill]"
- "[Alternative trigger phrase]"
## Inputs
| Input | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input_name | Yes | — | Description of this input |
| optional_param | No | value | Description |
## Steps
1. [First action the skill takes]
2. [Second action]
3. [Continue...]
## Output
[Describe exactly what the skill produces: file path, format, content structure]
## Notes
- [Any edge cases or important behaviour notes]
- [India-specific notes if applicable]
India-Specific Example: Salary Slip Generator
# Skill: Indian Salary Slip Generator
## Metadata
- version: 1.0.0
- tags: [india, hr, payroll, salary]
## Purpose
Generates a formatted Indian salary slip with statutory deductions (PF, PT, ESI, TDS) for a given employee and month.
## Trigger Phrases
- "Generate salary slip for [employee] for [month]"
- "Create payslip for [month]"
## Steps
1. Read employee details from ~/HR/employees/[employee].md
2. Read current month's attendance from ~/HR/attendance/[month].csv
3. Calculate gross salary based on CTC structure
4. Calculate deductions:
- PF: 12% of basic (employee contribution)
- Professional Tax: per state slab (read from ~/HR/state-pt-slabs.md)
- TDS: as per Form 16 projection in employee file
5. Calculate net pay = gross - total deductions
6. Generate salary slip in ~/HR/payslips/[YYYY-MM]/[employee-name]-payslip.md
7. Format with INR amounts using Indian number formatting (₹X,XX,XXX)
## Output
A formatted Markdown salary slip ready for PDF conversion.
Filename: ~/HR/payslips/[YYYY-MM]/[employee]-[YYYY-MM]-payslip.md
Save your custom skill to ~/.openclaw/skills/salary-slip-india.md and enable it:
openclaw skill load ~/.openclaw/skills/salary-slip-india.md
openclaw skill enable salary-slip-india
Skill Security — What to Watch Out For
Skills from ClawHub can execute code and access your file system. Follow these precautions:
Before installing any skill:
- Read the
SKILL.mdfile completely before installing — skills are just text, you can see exactly what they do - Check the publisher's GitHub account — legitimate publishers have established accounts with other public repos
- Look at the version history — skills maintained over time are more trustworthy than single-version uploads
- Check the install count — 500+ installs signals community trust
During installation:
- Install skills in a test workspace first before your main workspace
- Review any shell scripts included in the skill bundle:
cat ./skills/skill-name/*.sh
For sensitive workflows:
- Never install a skill that claims to need your passwords, banking credentials, or Aadhaar number
- Legitimate skills work with files you provide, not credentials they collect
- If a skill asks to phone home to an external server for data, verify the URL before accepting
ClawHub's security team does scan for malicious skills, but the registry is community-built — your own review is the best protection.
Get Started With OpenClaw Skills
The fastest path to skill-powered productivity:
- Install ClawHub:
npm i -g clawhub - Search for skills relevant to your workflow:
clawhub search "your use case" - Install the top 3-5 skills for your most common tasks
- Write one custom skill for a recurring task unique to your work
For step-by-step guidance on setting up OpenClaw from scratch, visit /learn/ai-personal-assistants/openclaw-skills-guide.
The ClawHub registry, full skill documentation, and OpenClaw tool listing are available at /tools/openclaw.