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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://openclaw.ai2me.io/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Most skills configuration lives under skills in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Agent-specific visibility lives under agents.defaults.skills and agents.list[].skills. 
{
  skills: {
    allowBundled: ["gemini", "peekaboo"],
    load: {
      extraDirs: ["~/Projects/agent-scripts/skills"],
      allowSymlinkTargets: ["~/Projects/manager/skills"],
      watch: true,
      watchDebounceMs: 250,
    },
    install: {
      preferBrew: true,
      nodeManager: "npm",
      allowUploadedArchives: false,
    },
    workshop: {
      autonomous: { enabled: false },
      approvalPolicy: "pending",
      maxPending: 50,
      maxSkillBytes: 40000,
    },
    entries: {
      "image-lab": {
        enabled: true,
        apiKey: { source: "env", provider: "default", id: "GEMINI_API_KEY" },
        env: { GEMINI_API_KEY: "GEMINI_KEY_HERE" },
      },
      peekaboo: { enabled: true },
      sag: { enabled: false },
    },
  },
}
For built-in image generation, use agents.defaults.imageGenerationModel plus the core image_generate tool instead of skills.entries. Skill entries are for custom or third-party skill workflows only.

​
Loading (skills.load)

​
skills.load.extraDirs
string[]
Additional skill directories to scan, at the lowest precedence (after bundled and plugin skills). Paths are expanded with ~ support.
​
skills.load.allowSymlinkTargets
string[]
Trusted real target directories that symlinked skill folders may resolve into, even when the symlink lives outside the configured root. Use this for intentional sibling-repo layouts such as <workspace>/skills/manager -> ~/Projects/manager/skills. Keep this list narrow — do not point at broad roots like ~ or ~/Projects.
​
skills.load.watch
boolean
default:"true"
Watch skill folders and refresh the skills snapshot when SKILL.md files change. Covers nested files under grouped skill roots.
​
skills.load.watchDebounceMs
number
default:"250"
Debounce window for skill watcher events in milliseconds.

​
Install (skills.install)

​
skills.install.preferBrew
boolean
default:"true"
Prefer Homebrew installers when brew is available.
​
skills.install.nodeManager
"npm" | "pnpm" | "yarn" | "bun"
default:"\"npm\""
Node package manager preference for skill installs. This only affects skill installs — the Gateway runtime should still use Node (Bun is not recommended for WhatsApp/Telegram). Use openclaw setup --node-manager for npm, pnpm, or bun; set "yarn" manually for Yarn-backed skill installs.
​
skills.install.allowUploadedArchives
boolean
default:"false"
Allow trusted operator.admin Gateway clients to install private zip archives staged through skills.upload.*. Normal ClawHub installs do not need this setting.

​
Bundled skill allowlist

​
skills.allowBundled
string[]
Optional allowlist for bundled skills only. When set, only bundled skills in the list are eligible. Managed, agent-level, and workspace skills are unaffected.

​
Per-skill entries (skills.entries)

Keys under entries match the skill name by default. If a skill defines metadata.openclaw.skillKey, use that key instead. Quote hyphenated names (JSON5 allows quoted keys).
​
skills.entries.<key>.enabled
boolean
false disables the skill even when bundled or installed. The coding-agent bundled skill is opt-in — set it to true and ensure one of claude, codex, opencode, or another supported CLI is installed and authenticated.
​
skills.entries.<key>.apiKey
string | { source, provider, id }
Convenience field for skills that declare metadata.openclaw.primaryEnv. Supports a plaintext string or a SecretRef: { source: "env", provider: "default", id: "VAR_NAME" }.
​
skills.entries.<key>.env
Record<string, string>
Environment variables injected for the agent run. Only injected when the variable is not already set in the process.
​
skills.entries.<key>.config
object
Optional bag for custom per-skill configuration fields.

​
Agent allowlists (agents)

Use agent config when you want the same machine/workspace skill roots but a different visible skill set per agent. 
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      skills: ["github", "weather"], // shared baseline
    },
    list: [
      { id: "writer" }, // inherits github, weather
      { id: "docs", skills: ["docs-search"] }, // replaces defaults entirely
      { id: "locked-down", skills: [] }, // no skills
    ],
  },
}
​
agents.defaults.skills
string[]
Shared baseline allowlist inherited by agents that omit agents.list[].skills. Omit entirely to leave skills unrestricted by default.
​
agents.list[].skills
string[]
Explicit final skill set for that agent. Explicit lists replace inherited defaults — they do not merge. Set to [] to expose no skills for that agent.

​
Workshop (skills.workshop)

​
skills.workshop.autonomous.enabled
boolean
default:"false"
When true, agents can create pending proposals from durable conversation signals after successful turns. User-prompted skill creation always goes through Skill Workshop regardless of this setting.
​
skills.workshop.approvalPolicy
"pending" | "auto"
default:"\"pending\""
pending requires operator approval before agent-initiated apply, reject, or quarantine. auto allows those actions without approval.
​
skills.workshop.maxPending
number
default:"50"
Maximum pending and quarantined proposals retained per workspace.
​
skills.workshop.maxSkillBytes
number
default:"40000"
Maximum proposal body size in bytes. Proposal descriptions are hard-capped at 160 bytes because they appear in discovery and listing output.

​
Symlinked skill roots

By default, workspace, project-agent, extra-dir, and bundled skill roots are containment boundaries. A symlinked skill folder under <workspace>/skills that resolves outside the root is skipped with a log message. To allow an intentional symlink layout, declare the trusted target: 
{
  skills: {
    load: {
      extraDirs: ["~/Projects/manager/skills"],
      allowSymlinkTargets: ["~/Projects/manager/skills"],
    },
  },
}
With this config, <workspace>/skills/manager -> ~/Projects/manager/skills is accepted after realpath resolution. extraDirs scans the sibling repo directly; allowSymlinkTargets preserves the symlinked path for existing layouts. Managed ~/.openclaw/skills and personal ~/.agents/skills directories already accept skill-directory symlinks (per-skill SKILL.md containment still applies).

​
Sandboxed skills and env vars

skills.entries.<skill>.env and apiKey apply to host runs only. Inside a sandbox they have no effect — a skill that depends on GEMINI_API_KEY will fail with apiKey not configured unless the sandbox is given the variable separately.
Pass secrets into a Docker sandbox with: 
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      sandbox: {
        docker: {
          env: { GEMINI_API_KEY: "your-key-here" },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
Users with Docker daemon access can inspect sandbox.docker.env values through Docker metadata. Use a mounted secret file, a custom image, or another delivery path when that exposure is not acceptable.

​
Loading order reminder

workspace/skills      (highest)
workspace/.agents/skills
~/.agents/skills
~/.openclaw/skills
bundled skills
skills.load.extraDirs (lowest)
Changes to skills and config take effect on the next new session when the watcher is enabled, or on the next agent turn when the watcher detects a change.

Skills reference

What skills are, loading order, gating, and SKILL.md format.

Creating skills

Authoring custom workspace skills.

Skill Workshop

Proposal queue for agent-drafted skills.

Slash commands

Native slash-command catalog and chat directives.