AI Development3 min read

ClawHub Skills Marketplace: Developer Guide 2026

Build and publish skills for OpenClaw's ClawHub marketplace with 3,000+ extensions. Developer guide covering architecture, security, and publishing.

Digital Applied Team

February 8, 2026

3 min read

3,000+

Published Skills

800+

Active Developers

30 min

Avg. Build Time

15K+

Daily Installs

Key Takeaways

Skills are simple directory structures: A ClawHub skill is a folder with a claw.json manifest, instruction files, and optional code modules. You can build one in under 30 minutes.

VirusTotal scanning is mandatory: All published skills must pass VirusTotal automated scanning. Blocked skills cannot be appealed without source code review.

Self-generating skills are powerful: OpenClaw can generate skills on the fly from natural language descriptions. Published skills can build on this by providing structured templates.

Security-first development is required: After the ClawHavoc incident, ClawHub requires identity verification for publishers and enforces credential handling best practices.

ClawHub is to OpenClaw what the App Store is to the iPhone — the marketplace that transforms a capable platform into a limitless one. With over 3,000 published skills and 15,000+ daily installations, ClawHub is the fastest-growing AI agent plugin ecosystem in existence. And there has never been a better time to build for it.

This guide takes you from zero to a published ClawHub skill. We cover the skill architecture, building and testing your first skill, API integration patterns, security requirements (critical after the ClawHavoc incident), and strategies for growing your skill's user base.

ClawHub Marketplace Overview

ClawHub launched alongside OpenClaw in late 2025 as a community-driven marketplace for AI agent skills. It operates similarly to npm for Node.js packages — developers publish skills, users install them via the CLI or Control UI, and the platform handles discovery, versioning, and security scanning.

Skill Categories

Productivity, developer tools, communication, finance, media, research, social, and utilities — 200+ topic tags.

VirusTotal Verified

Every skill is scanned by VirusTotal before publishing. Verified badges build trust. Daily re-scans catch emerging threats.

Version Control

Semantic versioning, update notifications, and the ability to pin specific versions for stability.

Skill Architecture

A ClawHub skill is fundamentally a directory containing everything the AI agent needs to learn a new capability. The minimal structure looks like this:

my-skill/
├── claw.json          # Manifest: name, version, permissions, entry point
├── README.md          # Human-readable documentation
├── instructions.md    # AI instructions: how the agent should use this skill
├── src/               # Optional: JavaScript/TypeScript code
│   ├── index.ts       # Entry point for complex logic
│   └── utils.ts       # Helper functions
└── examples/          # Optional: Example usage patterns
    └── basic.md       # Example conversations showing skill in action

The Manifest File (claw.json)

{
  "name": "weather-reporter",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Get current weather and forecasts for any location",
  "author": "your-clawhub-username",
  "license": "MIT",
  "permissions": ["network"],
  "entry": "instructions.md",
  "tags": ["weather", "productivity", "utilities"],
  "models": ["claude-*", "gpt-*", "gemini-*"],
  "minOpenClawVersion": "0.8.0"
}

Building Your First Skill

Let us build a practical skill: a daily news briefing that fetches top headlines and presents them in a clean summary. This demonstrates API integration, instruction writing, and the publishing workflow.

Step 1: Initialize the Skill

# Create skill directory
mkdir daily-briefing && cd daily-briefing

# Or use the ClawHub CLI scaffold
openclaw skill init daily-briefing

Step 2: Write the Instructions

# instructions.md

You are a daily news briefing assistant. When the user asks for a
news briefing or daily update:

1. Fetch the top headlines from a news API
2. Categorize by topic (Tech, Business, World, Science)
3. Present a concise 2-3 sentence summary per story
4. Include the source and publication time
5. Ask if they want to dive deeper into any topic

Format the briefing with clear headers and bullet points.
Keep the total briefing under 500 words.
Prioritize stories from the last 24 hours.

Step 3: Add API Logic

// src/index.ts
const NEWS_API_BASE = "https://newsapi.org/v2";

export async function getTopHeadlines(category?: string) {
  const apiKey = process.env.NEWS_API_KEY;
  if (!apiKey) {
    throw new Error("NEWS_API_KEY not set in environment");
  }

  const params = new URLSearchParams({
    apiKey,
    country: "us",
    pageSize: "10",
  });

  if (category) {
    params.set("category", category);
  }

  const response = await fetch(
    `${NEWS_API_BASE}/top-headlines?${params}`
  );
  return response.json();
}

Security Best Practice: Always load API keys from environment variables, never hardcode them. The Snyk audit found 7.1% of skills leaking credentials through context windows. See our security hardening guide.

Building AI agent integrations? Whether you are creating ClawHub skills or custom agent workflows, explore our AI Development Services for expert implementation support.

API Integration Patterns

Most useful ClawHub skills connect to external APIs. Here are the common patterns and best practices:

REST API Integration

Use the built-in fetch API for HTTP calls. Store API keys in environment variables and load them at runtime.

CLI Tool Wrapping

Wrap existing CLI tools by executing shell commands. Capture output and present it through the agent's natural language interface.

GraphQL Support

Use fetch with query bodies for GraphQL APIs. Define reusable query templates in your skill's src directory.

Webhook Handling

Set up webhook endpoints via OpenClaw's gateway for real-time integrations like Stripe, GitHub, or Slack events.

Testing and Debugging

ClawHub skills can be tested locally before publishing:

# Test your skill locally
openclaw skill test ./daily-briefing

# Run with verbose logging
openclaw skill test ./daily-briefing --verbose

# Validate manifest and structure
openclaw skill validate ./daily-briefing

# Simulate installation
openclaw skill install ./daily-briefing --local

Security Requirements

After the ClawHavoc incident, ClawHub implemented strict security requirements for all published skills:

Identity Verification: Publishers must verify their identity via GitHub or email
VirusTotal Scan: All code is scanned before publication; flagged skills enter manual review
No Hardcoded Credentials: Skills must load secrets from environment variables
Minimal Permissions: Request only the permissions your skill actually needs
Transparent Networking: All network requests must be documented in the manifest
No Obfuscation: Code obfuscation or minification is not allowed for published skills

Publishing Workflow

# 1. Validate your skill
openclaw skill validate ./daily-briefing

# 2. Login to ClawHub
openclaw auth login

# 3. Publish to ClawHub
openclaw skill publish ./daily-briefing

# 4. Check publication status
openclaw skill status daily-briefing

Monetization Strategies

While ClawHub does not yet have a built-in payment system, developers are monetizing skills through several creative approaches:

Freemium API Backend

Most common approach

Publish a free skill that connects to your SaaS API. Free tier handles basic queries; premium features require a paid API key.

Consulting Pipeline

High-value approach

Use published skills as a portfolio piece. Include your contact for custom development, enterprise features, and support contracts.

Conclusion

The ClawHub marketplace is still in its early days, but the opportunity for developers is significant. With 15,000+ daily installations and a rapidly growing user base, building quality skills today positions you as an early mover in what may become the next major developer ecosystem.