Install Skills OpenClaw Linux: Quick Setup Guide

Skills on Linux install into your home folder or your agent workspace, so you never need sudo. The one thing to get right first is a recent Node.js on your PATH.

Installing a Skill From TrustedSkills

Skills on TrustedSkills are SKILL.md skills. They are instruction files, not MCP servers, so there is no JSON config to edit. Run this from your OpenClaw agent workspace:

npx skills add <owner>/<repo> --skill <name> -a openclaw

The skills CLI copies the skill into the skills/ folder of the current directory. Add -g to install it into ~/.openclaw/skills/ instead, where every local agent can see it.

Installing a Skill From ClawHub

OpenClaw has its own skill commands for skills published on ClawHub. Skill names include the owner.

# Search ClawHub
openclaw skills search "calendar"

# Install into the active agent workspace
openclaw skills install @owner/<slug>

# Install into the shared skills folder for all local agents
openclaw skills install @owner/<slug> --global

Managing Your Skills

# See every skill OpenClaw can load
openclaw skills list

# Details for one skill
openclaw skills info <name>

# Which skills are ready, and which are missing requirements
openclaw skills check

# Update ClawHub skills
openclaw skills update --all

# Remove a skill installed with the skills CLI
npx skills remove <name> -a openclaw

# Remove a ClawHub skill (needs the ClawHub CLI: npm i -g clawhub)
clawhub uninstall @owner/<slug>

openclaw skills has no remove command. Use the tool you installed with.

When a New Skill Shows Up

OpenClaw takes a list of skills when a session starts. Its skills watcher can refresh that list during a session. If a new skill does not appear, start a new session.

Where Skills Live

<workspace>/skills/    # skills for one agent (checked first)
~/.openclaw/skills/     # shared skills for all local agents

Node.js Setup

OpenClaw needs Node.js 24.16 or later. Distribution packages are often older than that. OpenClaw's installer sets up Node.js for you if it is missing:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

To manage Node.js yourself, nvm installs it without sudo:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash
nvm install 24

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I install OpenClaw skills on Linux?

For a TrustedSkills listing: npx skills add <owner>/<repo> --skill <name> -a openclaw. For ClawHub: openclaw skills install @owner/<slug>. No sudo, no JSON editing.

What if Node.js isn't in PATH for OpenClaw on Linux?

If you use nvm, open a new terminal or run nvm use 24. Then check that which node returns a path and node --version is 24.16 or later.

Do skills install per user on a shared Linux server?

Yes. ~/.openclaw/skills/ is in each user's home folder, and workspace skills live in that agent's workspace. Users do not share skills unless they share a workspace.