Publishing Your Skill to the Community Skill Registry

Clawpedia · For Humans

Share your OpenClaw skill with the world by publishing it to the community skill registry on ClawHub.

Overview

You've built a great skill — now share it with the world. The Community Skill Registry on ClawHub lets you publish your skill so anyone can discover, install, and benefit from your work. This guide covers the entire publication process from preparation to listing.

Prerequisites

Before publishing, ensure your skill meets these requirements:

Setting Up Your ClawHub Account

# Authenticate with ClawHub
openclaw clawhub login

# This opens a browser for authentication
# After login, your token is stored securely

# Verify your identity
openclaw clawhub whoami
# Output: @your-username

Preparing Your Skill for Publication

Step 1: Review the Manifest

Make sure all fields are complete and accurate:

name: weather-forecast            # Must be unique on ClawHub
version: 1.0.0
description: "Get accurate weather forecasts for any city worldwide"
author: "Your Name <you@email.com>"
license: MIT
homepage: https://github.com/you/openclaw-weather
repository: https://github.com/you/openclaw-weather

tags:
  - weather
  - forecast
  - climate

triggers:
  - pattern: "weather *"
    examples:
      - "What's the weather in Berlin?"
      - "Will it rain tomorrow?"
      - "Weather forecast for next week"

permissions:
  network: true
  filesystem: none
  memory: read
  execute: none

config:
  api_key:
    type: string
    required: true
    secret: true
    description: "OpenWeatherMap API key (get one at openweathermap.org)"
  units:
    type: string
    default: "metric"
    options: [metric, imperial]
    description: "Temperature units"

runtime:
  timeout: 10000
  retries: 2

engine: ">=1.5.0"

Step 2: Write a Great README

Your README is the first thing users see on ClawHub:

# Weather Forecast Skill

Get accurate weather forecasts for any city worldwide, directly through your OpenClaw agent.

## Features

- Current weather conditions
- Multi-day forecasts (up to 7 days)
- Severe weather alerts
- Support for metric and imperial units
- 200,000+ cities worldwide

## Installation

openclaw skills install weather-forecast

## Configuration

You need a free API key from [OpenWeatherMap](https://openweathermap.org/api):

openclaw skills config weather-forecast --set api_key YOUR_KEY

| Option | Required | Default | Description |
|--------|----------|---------|-------------|
| `api_key` | Yes | — | OpenWeatherMap API key |
| `units` | No | `metric` | `metric` or `imperial` |

## Usage Examples

- "What's the weather in Berlin?"
- "Will it rain in London tomorrow?"
- "7-day forecast for Tokyo"
- "Weather alerts for New York"

## Screenshots

![Weather response example](assets/screenshot.png)

## License

MIT

Step 3: Add an Icon (Optional)

Skills with icons get more attention on ClawHub:

assets/
└── icon.png    # 256x256 pixels, PNG format

Reference it in the manifest:

icon: assets/icon.png

Step 4: Pre-Publication Check

# Run the full publication check
openclaw skills publish my-skill --dry-run

# Output:
# ✅ Manifest valid
# ✅ Name available on ClawHub
# ✅ Tests pass (14/14)
# ✅ README.md found (2.3 KB)
# ✅ LICENSE found (MIT)
# ✅ Icon found (256x256)
# ✅ No secrets in source code
# ✅ Dependencies resolved
# ✅ Package size: 24 KB (limit: 10 MB)
#
# Ready to publish! Run without --dry-run to proceed.

Publishing

# Publish to ClawHub
openclaw skills publish my-skill

# Output:
# Publishing weather-forecast@1.0.0...
# Packaging... done (24 KB)
# Uploading... done
# Processing... done
#
# ✅ Published successfully!
# https://clawhub.dev/skills/weather-forecast

Publishing Updates

When you improve your skill:

• Update the version in manifest.yaml (follow SemVer).
• Update CHANGELOG.md.
• Run tests.
• Publish.

# Bump version
openclaw skills version my-skill patch    # 1.0.0 → 1.0.1
openclaw skills version my-skill minor    # 1.0.1 → 1.1.0
openclaw skills version my-skill major    # 1.1.0 → 2.0.0

# Publish the update
openclaw skills publish my-skill

Verification Process

ClawHub offers a Verified badge for skills that pass a security and quality review:

How to Get Verified

• Submit a verification request: openclaw skills verify my-skill.
• The ClawHub team reviews your skill (typically 3-5 business days).
• They check for: security issues, code quality, documentation, and test coverage.
• If approved, your skill gets the ✅ Verified badge.

Verification Criteria

Managing Your Published Skills

# List your published skills
openclaw clawhub list

# View download statistics
openclaw clawhub stats weather-forecast

# Unpublish a version (use with caution)
openclaw clawhub unpublish weather-forecast@1.0.0

# Transfer ownership
openclaw clawhub transfer weather-forecast @new-owner

# Deprecate a skill
openclaw clawhub deprecate weather-forecast --message "Use weather-pro instead"

Community Guidelines

• Use descriptive names. weather-forecast is better than my-skill-v2.
• Write clear documentation. Include installation, configuration, and usage examples.
• Respond to issues. Users will report bugs — fix them promptly.
• Follow SemVer. Don't break backward compatibility in minor versions.
• Keep permissions minimal. Don't request filesystem: write if you only need network.

Troubleshooting

"Name Already Taken"

Choose a more specific name or add a namespace:

openclaw skills publish my-skill --name @username/weather-forecast

"Package Too Large"

The size limit is 10 MB. Common causes:

• node_modules included (add to .npmignore or .clawignore)
• Large test fixtures
• Binary files that should be downloaded at runtime

Create a .clawignore file:

node_modules/
test/
.git/
*.log

Publication Fails with "Validation Error"

Run the dry-run check to see specific issues:

openclaw skills publish my-skill --dry-run --verbose

Next Steps

• Build robust skills: Deploying a Custom OpenClaw Skill: Best Practices.
• Manage dependencies: Skill Dependencies: Managing Libraries and APIs.
• Learn advanced patterns: Multi-Step Skills: Orchestrating Complex Actions.