OpenClaw Skills Cookbook

A collection of community-contributed OpenClaw skill recipes. Each skill is a ready-to-use workflow component for common tasks: Jira triage, database queries, Docker management, git operations, and more.

What Are Skills?

Skills are reusable workflow automation components that extend OpenClaw with new capabilities. Each skill includes:

• A SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter (metadata) and markdown documentation
• Clear command definitions and examples
• Setup instructions and prerequisites
• Real-world usage patterns and best practices

Skills are not Python plugins—they're self-contained, declarative workflow definitions that OpenClaw executes directly.

Available Skills

Skill	Description	Requires
notion-sync	Create, read, search, and update Notion pages and databases	NOTION_API_KEY env var
docker-manager	Control Docker containers: start, stop, logs, exec, stats	docker binary
git-worktree	Advanced git worktree management for parallel development	git binary (v2.7+)
jira-triage	Triage, search, transition, and comment on Jira issues	JIRA_API_TOKEN + JIRA_BASE_URL env vars
postgres-query	Run read-only PostgreSQL queries and analyze databases	psql binary + DATABASE_URL env var

Quick Start

Option 1: Install from Cookbook

Copy any skill to your OpenClaw workspace:

# Copy a single skill
cp -r skills/notion-sync ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/

# Or copy all skills
cp -r skills/* ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/

Option 2: Use Claw Hub (Coming Soon)

clawhub install notion-sync
clawhub install docker-manager
clawhub install jira-triage

Verify Installation

# List all skills
openclaw skills list

# Use a skill
openclaw notion-sync search "project status"
openclaw docker-manager list --running

Skill Structure

Each skill is a directory with a single file:

skills/
├── notion-sync/
│   └── SKILL.md          # Frontmatter + documentation
├── docker-manager/
│   └── SKILL.md
├── git-worktree/
│   └── SKILL.md
├── jira-triage/
│   └── SKILL.md
└── postgres-query/
    └── SKILL.md

SKILL.md Format

---
name: skill-name
description: "Short description of what this skill does"
metadata:
  openclaw:
    emoji: 🎯
    requires:
      bins:
        - required-binary
      config:
        - REQUIRED_ENV_VAR
    install:
      - id: install-method
        kind: brew
        formula: package-name
---

# Markdown body with:
## Purpose
## When to Use
## Setup
## Commands
## Examples
## Notes

Creating Your Own Skill

See the Contributing Guide for step-by-step instructions to create and submit a new skill.

Quick summary:

1. Create a folder: skills/my-skill/
2. Write SKILL.md with frontmatter and documentation
3. Include realistic examples that actually work
4. Submit a PR with your skill recipe

Our Principles

Build First, Ship Loud, Open by Default

• Build First: Real, functional skills with genuine examples—not stubs
• Ship Loud: Skills are polished, documented, and ready to inspire
• Open by Default: All code is MIT licensed and community-driven

Using Skills in Your Workflow

Basic Usage

# Run a skill command
openclaw <skill-name> <command> [arguments]

# Example: List Jira issues
openclaw jira-triage search "project = PROJ AND status = 'To Do'"

# Example: View Docker container logs
openclaw docker-manager logs my-app --tail 50 --follow

# Example: Query database
openclaw postgres-query execute "SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 10" --output json

Chaining Skills

Combine multiple skills in workflows:

# Transition Jira issues based on Docker deployment status
if openclaw docker-manager inspect api-service; then
  openclaw jira-triage transition PROJ-123 "Deployed"
  openclaw jira-triage comment PROJ-123 "Service is live in production"
fi

Environment Configuration

Each skill may require environment variables. Set them in your shell:

# Jira
export JIRA_API_TOKEN="your_token"
export JIRA_BASE_URL="https://org.atlassian.net"

# Notion
export NOTION_API_KEY="your_api_key"

# Postgres
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@host/db"

Or use OpenClaw's config management:

openclaw config set NOTION_API_KEY "your_key"
openclaw config set JIRA_API_TOKEN "your_token"

Documentation Structure

Each skill includes:

• Purpose: When and why to use it
• Setup: Prerequisites, installation, configuration
• Commands: Available operations with syntax
• Examples: Real-world usage patterns
• Notes: Performance tips, security considerations

See any skill's SKILL.md for complete details.

Resources

• OpenClaw GitHub - Main project
• Skill Template - Starter template
• Contributing Guide - How to contribute
• OpenClaw Docs - Full documentation

Contributing

We welcome new skills! See CONTRIBUTING.md for:

• How to create a new skill
• Documentation standards
• Testing and review process
• License requirements

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

All skills in this cookbook are MIT licensed and open source.

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Have an idea for a new skill? Open an issue or submit a PR!

Questions? Start a discussion in the OpenClaw repository.