Skills Config

All skills-related configuration lives under skills in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.

{
  skills: {
    allowBundled: ["gemini", "peekaboo"],
    load: {
      extraDirs: [
        "~/Projects/agent-scripts/skills",
        "~/Projects/oss/some-skill-pack/skills"
      ],
      watch: true,
      watchDebounceMs: 250
    },
    install: {
      preferBrew: true,
      nodeManager: "npm" // npm | pnpm | yarn | bun (Gateway runtime still Node; bun not recommended)
    },
    entries: {
      "nano-banana-pro": {
        enabled: true,
        apiKey: "GEMINI_KEY_HERE",
        env: {
          GEMINI_API_KEY: "GEMINI_KEY_HERE"
        }
      },
      peekaboo: { enabled: true },
      sag: { enabled: false }
    }
  }
}

Fields

  • allowBundled: optional allowlist for bundled skills only. When set, only bundled skills in the list are eligible (managed/workspace skills unaffected).
  • load.extraDirs: additional skill directories to scan (lowest precedence).
  • load.watch: watch skill folders and refresh the skills snapshot (default: true).
  • load.watchDebounceMs: debounce for skill watcher events in milliseconds (default: 250).
  • install.preferBrew: prefer brew installers when available (default: true).
  • install.nodeManager: node installer preference (npm | pnpm | yarn | bun, default: npm). This only affects skill installs; the Gateway runtime should still be Node (Bun not recommended for WhatsApp/Telegram).
  • entries.<skillKey>: per-skill overrides.

Per-skill fields:

  • enabled: set false to disable a skill even if it’s bundled/installed.
  • env: environment variables injected for the agent run (only if not already set).
  • apiKey: optional convenience for skills that declare a primary env var.

Notes

  • Keys under entries map to the skill name by default. If a skill defines metadata.openclaw.skillKey, use that key instead.
  • Changes to skills are picked up on the next agent turn when the watcher is enabled.

Sandboxed skills + env vars

When a session is sandboxed, skill processes run inside Docker. The sandbox does not inherit the host process.env.

Use one of:

  • agents.defaults.sandbox.docker.env (or per-agent agents.list[].sandbox.docker.env)
  • bake the env into your custom sandbox image

Global env and skills.entries.<skill>.env/apiKey apply to host runs only.

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