ClawHub now hosts over 10,700 skills for OpenClaw — but 820+ of them (7.6%) have been flagged as malicious. That's not a great ratio. You need a curated list you can trust. We tested dozens of skills across productivity, development, and automation categories, and picked the 10 that are genuinely worth installing. We also identified 5 that you should actively avoid.
How to install OpenClaw skills
Before we get into the recommendations, here's how skill installation works. It's a three-step process:
Visit the ClawHub marketplace at clawhub.dev or search from the command line with openclaw skill search <keyword>. Each listing shows the install count, rating, permissions required, and whether source code is available.
Run openclaw skill install <skill-name> from your terminal. The installer will show you the permissions the skill is requesting — review these before confirming. Installation typically takes under 10 seconds.
Run openclaw skill list to confirm the skill is installed and active. You can also check permissions with openclaw skill inspect <skill-name> and disable any skill at any time with openclaw skill disable <skill-name>.
The 10 best OpenClaw skills
These are listed in rough order of usefulness. If you're setting up OpenClaw for the first time, install the top five and expand from there.
Browser Control
Automate web browsing, fill forms, scrape data, and take screenshots. The backbone of any research or data collection workflow.
Example use case
Automatically check competitor pricing every morning and summarize changes in a Slack message.
$ openclaw skill install browser-controlFile Manager
Read, write, rename, move, and organize files on your local machine. The bread and butter of productivity — almost every workflow depends on this.
Example use case
Sort 500 downloaded invoices into folders by vendor and month, then rename them with a consistent naming convention.
$ openclaw skill install file-managerCalendar Sync
Full Google Calendar integration. Create events, check availability, get reminders, and manage scheduling — all through chat.
Example use case
Text your agent "Schedule a 30-minute call with Sarah next Tuesday afternoon" and it finds a free slot and sends the invite.
$ openclaw skill install calendar-syncGitHub Integration
Create pull requests, review code diffs, manage issues, and merge branches without leaving your messaging app.
Example use case
Ask "What PRs are open on the main repo?" and get a summary with status, reviewers, and CI results.
$ openclaw skill install github-integrationEmail Assistant
Draft, send, and search emails through natural language. Works with Gmail and Outlook via OAuth.
Example use case
Say "Draft a follow-up email to the client about the proposal we discussed Friday" and review before sending.
$ openclaw skill install email-assistantDatabase Query
Talk to your PostgreSQL or MySQL databases in plain English. Translates natural language to SQL, runs queries, and formats results.
Example use case
Ask "How many users signed up last week compared to the week before?" and get the answer with a comparison.
$ openclaw skill install database-queryScreenshot & OCR
Capture screenshots of any window or URL, then extract text from images using optical character recognition. Great for documentation workflows.
Example use case
Screenshot an error dialog, extract the error message text, and search Stack Overflow for solutions — all in one command.
$ openclaw skill install screenshot-ocrSystem Monitor
Track server health, CPU and memory usage, disk space, and uptime. Set up threshold alerts that notify you through chat.
Example use case
Get a Telegram alert when your production server's CPU exceeds 90% for more than 5 minutes.
$ openclaw skill install system-monitorWeb Search
Search the internet using multiple engines and get summarized, relevant results directly in your chat window.
Example use case
Ask "What are the latest Next.js 15 breaking changes?" and get a concise summary with source links.
$ openclaw skill install web-searchTask Automation
Create multi-step automated workflows triggered by chat commands, schedules, or events. Chain other skills together into repeatable sequences.
Example use case
Build a morning routine that checks email, summarizes unread messages, pulls your calendar, checks server status, and sends you a daily briefing at 8am.
$ openclaw skill install task-automation5 OpenClaw skills to avoid (and why)
The 820+ malicious skills on ClawHub don't all look obviously dangerous. Some have professional descriptions, fake reviews, and hundreds of artificial installs. Here are five categories of dangerous skills we've confirmed, with the specific red flags to watch for.
"Super Admin" skill
Risk: Data exfiltrationRequests root/sudo access during installation and registers a background service that phones home. Security researchers confirmed it exfiltrates environment variables, SSH keys, and browser cookies to an external server. Any skill that asks for root access during install should be treated as hostile.
Red flag: Asks for root or administrator privileges that far exceed what its stated functionality requires.
"Crypto Wallet Manager"
Risk: Credential theftMarketed as a portfolio tracker, but the source code contains obfuscated routines that harvest API keys from popular crypto exchanges (Binance, Coinbase, Kraken). Multiple users reported unauthorized withdrawals after installation. Confirmed by three independent security auditors.
Red flag: Requests access to environment variables or config files unrelated to its stated purpose.
"Free GPT-4 Proxy"
Risk: CryptominingClaims to provide free GPT-4 API access by routing through a shared proxy. In reality, it installs a cryptocurrency miner that runs whenever your machine is idle. CPU usage spikes to 100% overnight. The "free API" is funded by mining on your hardware.
Red flag: Promises something expensive (like GPT-4 API calls) for free with no clear business model.
Any skill with <100 installs and no source code
Risk: Unknown backdoorsClawHub allows closed-source skill uploads. Skills with very few installs and no visible source code have no community vetting. Of the 820+ malicious skills discovered, over 90% had fewer than 100 installs. Low adoption plus no source code is the single biggest red flag.
Red flag: The ClawHub listing shows no GitHub link, no source code tab, and the install count is in double digits.
"Universal API Connector"
Risk: Data exfiltration via overly broad permissionsRequests read/write access to all other installed skills, all environment variables, full network access, and file system access. It acts as a man-in-the-middle, intercepting data flowing between your agent and other skills, then forwarding copies to external servers.
Red flag: Requests every available permission category. Legitimate skills only need permissions relevant to their specific function.
How to verify a skill is safe: 5-step checklist
Before you install any skill — even popular ones — run through this checklist. It takes 5 minutes and could save you from a compromised machine.
Check the install count
Skills with 1,000+ installs have more community vetting. Below 100 installs, proceed with extreme caution. Below 50, don't install unless you've read every line of code.
Read the source code
On ClawHub, click the source code tab or follow the GitHub link. Look for obfuscated code, base64-encoded strings, or network calls to unfamiliar domains. If there's no source code available, skip the skill entirely.
Check permissions requested
Run openclaw skill inspect <name> before installing. It lists every permission the skill requests. If a calendar skill asks for file system access, that's a red flag. Permissions should match the stated functionality.
Look for community reviews
Check ClawHub ratings, GitHub issues, and Reddit threads. Search for "<skill name> malicious" or "<skill name> security" before installing. The community is active and flags problems quickly.
Test in an isolated environment
For any skill you're uncertain about, install it in a Docker container or VM first. Run it for a few days and monitor network traffic with tools like Little Snitch or Wireshark. If it makes unexpected outbound connections, uninstall immediately.
Quick safety reference
| Signal | Risk level | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000+ installs, open source, active GitHub | Low | Install with confidence |
| 100-1,000 installs, source available | Medium | Read the source code first |
| <100 installs, source available | Elevated | Test in isolated environment |
| <100 installs, no source code | High | Do not install |
| Asks for root/admin or broad permissions | Critical | Do not install |
For businesses: why skills aren't enough
OpenClaw skills are built for individual developers and tinkerers. They're great for personal productivity, home automation, and solo workflows. But if you're running a business, community plugins introduce risks that aren't acceptable:
Businesses need vetted integrations, not community plugins. That means purpose-built AI agents with enterprise-grade security, team-level access controls, and integrations that have been tested against your actual systems and data. If you need browser automation, email, calendar, database, or workflow capabilities for a team, you need a platform like Nora — not a collection of community skills bolted together.
Need AI automation your business can trust?
OpenClaw skills are great for personal projects. For business-grade AI agents with enterprise security, compliance, and custom integrations — that's what we build at AI Makers.