# Skills Documentation

## Overview

OpenClaw employs AgentSkills-compatible skill folders to teach the agent how to use tools with a three-tier loading system prioritizing workspace skills over managed skills and bundled options.

## Loading Hierarchy

Skills are sourced from three locations in precedence order:

1. Workspace-specific directories (`<workspace>/skills`)
2. Machine-level managed folders (`~/.openclaw/skills`)
3. Application bundled skills (lowest priority)

Additional directories can be configured via `skills.load.extraDirs` in the OpenClaw configuration file.

## Multi-Agent Considerations

In systems with multiple agents, each workspace maintains its own per-agent skills collection, while shared skills live in ~/.openclaw/skills (managed/local) and are visible to all agents on the same machine.

## Skill Format Requirements

Skills must include a `SKILL.md` file with YAML frontmatter containing:
- `name`: skill identifier
- `description`: functionality summary
- Optional `metadata` as single-line JSON for gating/configuration

## Security Practices

The documentation emphasizes treating third-party skills as untrusted code. Read them before enabling and recommends sandboxed execution for risky operations. Secrets injected via environment variables affect the host process only during that agent turn.

## Discovery & Installation

ClawHub (clawhub.com) serves as the public skills registry, enabling installation, updates, and synchronization through command-line interface tools.