Creating custom skills

Scope

Use this guide if you want to add a small capability (“skill”) to your local Moltbot setup by creating a SKILL.md file in your workspace.

What is a skill?

A skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md file (instructions + metadata). It may also include scripts and reference files.

Most local skills live under your workspace (commonly ~/clawd/skills/), but any configured skills directories can be indexed.

Your first skill (minimal)

1) Create a directory

mkdir -p ~/clawd/skills/hello-world

2) Write `SKILL.md`

---
name: hello_world
description: A simple skill that says hello.
---

When the user asks for a greeting, respond with: "Hello from your custom skill!"

3) Reload skills

Restart the Gateway (or refresh skills) so the new directory is indexed. To sanity check:

moltbot skills list
moltbot skills check

4) Test the skill

Use a small prompt that should trigger the skill:

moltbot agent --message "Say hello using my custom skill"

Best practices

Keep instructions short and concrete.
Treat any shell/tool execution as high-risk input: prefer typed tools over free-form shell where possible.
Add a small “how to verify” section in the skill itself (expected command/output).