Lesson 24 — OpenClaw Skill Creator: Write a Quality Skill from Scratch and Publish to ClawHub (2026)
Goal: Use the Skill Creator Skill's guided workflow to write a high-quality Skill from scratch and publish it to ClawHub for users worldwide to install.
What Is Skill Creator?
@chindden/skill-creator is a meta-tool on ClawHub for authoring Skills (59k downloads). It's itself a Skill — once installed, it provides an interactive guided flow to help you:
- Define the Skill's name, function description, and trigger keywords
- Generate a properly formatted
SKILL.mdfile - Configure tool use permissions
- Test and debug
- Package and publish to ClawHub
Writing an OpenClaw Skill doesn't require programming knowledge. Skill Creator converts your natural language descriptions into the proper format.
Step 1: Install Skill Creator
/install @chindden/skill-creator
Verify:
pnpm openclaw skills list
# skill-creator should appear in the listStep 2: Start the Creation Flow
In WebChat or Telegram, send:
/skill-creator
Skill Creator enters a guided conversation, asking in sequence:
1. What task should your Skill accomplish? (Describe in one sentence)
2. What keywords will users trigger it with? (e.g., /weather, /check-weather)
3. What tools does it need? (search, browser, file read/write, HTTP requests...)
4. What's the output format? (plain text, Markdown, code blocks...)
Answer each prompt, and Skill Creator will generate a complete SKILL.md draft at the end of the conversation.
Step 3: Understand the SKILL.md Format
The core file is SKILL.md in YAML frontmatter + Markdown body format:
---
name: weather-daily
version: 1.0.0
description: Daily weather report — fetch 3-day forecast for any city and format the output
triggers:
- /weather
- /check-weather
- what's the weather
tools:
- web_search
- http_request
outputs:
- markdown
author: your-github-username
---
## Behavior Instructions
When the user triggers this Skill:
1. Extract the city name from the user's input, defaulting to "New York"
2. Call `web_search` to query "{city} 3-day weather forecast"
3. Extract temperature, weather conditions, and wind data
4. Output in a Markdown table format with columns for today/tomorrow/day after
5. Append a 2-sentence outfit suggestion below the tableTo enable tool calls, just list the tool names in the tools field — OpenClaw automatically injects the permissions at runtime.
Step 4: Hands-On — Build a "Daily Weather Report" Skill
After starting Skill Creator, answer the guided questions like this:
Task description:
Query the 3-day forecast for any city, display temperature and conditions in a table,
with a brief outfit suggestion.
Trigger keywords:
/weather, /check-weather, "what's the weather", "what's the weather today"
Tools needed:
web_search (to query weather data)
Output format:
Markdown table + plain text suggestion
After Skill Creator generates the draft, confirm the content and execute:
/skill-creator confirm
Skill Creator will write the SKILL.md to your local ~/.openclaw/skills/weather-daily/ directory.
Step 5: Test the Skill Locally
The Skill is immediately usable after being written:
/weather London
If the output doesn't match expectations, send a modification instruction:
/skill-creator edit weather-daily
Change: add a "precipitation probability" column to the table, make the outfit suggestion bilingual (English and Spanish)
Skill Creator will update SKILL.md and reload it. The main difference between debugging custom Skills and built-in Skills: custom Skills can be modified at any time; built-in Skills require an official update.
Step 6: Publish to ClawHub
Publishing steps:
1. Create a GitHub repository, naming it something like openclaw-skill-weather
2. Add clawhub.yaml to the repo root:
name: weather-daily
version: 1.0.0
description: Daily weather report supporting any city, with outfit suggestion
author: your-github-username
homepage: https://github.com/your-github-username/openclaw-skill-weather
skill_file: SKILL.md
tags:
- weather
- productivity3. Copy SKILL.md to the repo root, commit and push:
git add SKILL.md clawhub.yaml
git commit -m "feat: initial release v1.0.0"
git push origin main4. Submit for review on ClawHub:
/skill-creator publish your-github-username/openclaw-skill-weather
ClawHub's review process typically takes 24–72 hours. Review checks: does the Skill perform malicious operations; are tool use permissions proportionate to stated functionality; does the description accurately reflect what the Skill does.
Step 7: Version Iteration
When updating a Skill, change the version field in clawhub.yaml, then push and publish:
# Edit clawhub.yaml: version: 1.1.0
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add precipitation probability column"
git push origin mainUsers who have installed the Skill will receive an update prompt the next time OpenClaw starts.
FAQ
Does writing an OpenClaw Skill require programming knowledge?
No. The core of a Skill is the natural language behavior instructions in SKILL.md. Skill Creator guides you through filling in all fields via a conversation. Tool calls (like search or HTTP requests) only need to be declared in the tools list — no code needed. If you need complex data processing logic, describe it in natural language in the behavior instructions and OpenClaw will interpret and execute it.
What does ClawHub's review process check for?
Review checks three things: first, the Skill must not perform dangerous operations (like deleting system files or accessing sensitive paths); second, requested tool permissions must match the stated functionality — no excessive permission requests; third, the description and behavior instructions must accurately describe the Skill's actual functionality without misleading users. After passing review, the Skill appears in ClawHub search results.
What's the difference between Skill Creator and the custom Skills in Lesson 03?
Lesson 03's custom Skills modify the custom_skills field directly in OpenClaw's configuration file — they're good for simple personal shortcuts but can't be distributed. Skills created with Skill Creator have a complete SKILL.md specification format that can be published to ClawHub for global users to install, with version management and tool permission declarations. They're suitable for users who want to share or monetize their workflows.
Can a published Skill be set to private?
Yes. Set visibility: private in clawhub.yaml and the Skill won't appear in public search. Private Skills can only be installed via direct link (like @your-username/skill-name). Internal team Skills are recommended to be set private to avoid exposing internal workflow logic.