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Manage skills and external skill sources.
Install with Codex or Claude Copy this prompt, paste it into Codex, Claude, or another assistant, and let it review the skill page and install it for you.
Based on SOC occupation classification
| title | netclaw skill |
| description | Manage skills and external skill sources. |
Manage skills from the CLI — list what's installed, validate new ones, wire up external sources. None of these commands need a running daemon.
Skills are markdown files following the AgentSkills.io format: a SKILL.md with YAML frontmatter describing what the skill does, what tools it needs, and how to invoke it. At runtime, the agent sees a compressed skill index on every session and reads full skill content on demand — skills inject procedural knowledge into context without bloating the base prompt.
netclaw skill [subcommand] [options]
Running netclaw skill with no subcommand defaults to list.
| Subcommand | Description |
|---|---|
list | List all discovered skills (default) |
show <name> | Show skill details and full content |
validate <path> | Validate a SKILL.md file's frontmatter |
remove <name> | Remove a native skill |
issues | Show only scanner issues |
search <query> | Search skills by name or description |
source list | List configured external sources |
source add <name> --path <dir> | Add a custom external source |
source add <name> --well-known <alias> | Add a well-known source |
source remove <name> | Remove an external source |
source enable <name> | Enable an external source |
source disable <name> | Disable an external source |
Three categories:
| Source | Location | Mutable? |
|---|---|---|
system | ~/.netclaw/skills/.system/ | No — managed by the daemon |
native | ~/.netclaw/skills/ | Yes — user-created |
external | Configured source directories | Manage at source |
For a deeper look at how skills fit into netclaw's architecture, see Skills Overview.
netclaw skill list
NAME SOURCE VERSION STATUS
commit native 1.0.0 ok
review-pr native 1.2.0 ok
akka-net-best-practices external - ok
modern-csharp-standards external - ok
session-context system - ok
my-broken-skill ? - MissingDescription
5 skill(s), 1 issue(s)
Skills with problems show their issue kind in the STATUS column. netclaw skill issues gives you the full details.
netclaw skill show commit
Name: commit
Display: Commit Changes
Source: native
Version: 1.0.0
Category: git
License: MIT
Path: /home/user/.netclaw/skills/commit/SKILL.md
Flat file: False
Tools: bash git
Description: Create well-structured git commits with conventional commit messages.
--- content ---
(full SKILL.md content follows)
Catch frontmatter problems before deploying:
netclaw skill validate ./my-skill/SKILL.md
[OK] Valid skill file.
Name: my-skill
Description: Does something useful.
Version: 1.0.0
License: MIT
Once validated, drop the skill into ~/.netclaw/skills/ (directory-based or flat file) and it'll appear on the next netclaw skill list.
A failing file tells you exactly what's wrong:
netclaw skill validate ./broken-skill.md
[FAIL] MissingDescription: Skill file missing required 'description' field.
netclaw skill search "testing"
NAME SOURCE VERSION DESCRIPTION
snapshot-testing external - Verify test output using snapshot...
integration-tests external - Testcontainers patterns for .NET...
2 match(es)
netclaw skill remove my-old-skill
Only native skills can be removed — system and external skills are read-only here.
Point netclaw at skill directories from other tools (Claude Code, Open Code) or shared team paths.
Note: Skill feeds are a separate concept — server-based skill repositories synced by the daemon. This section covers local directory sources only.
netclaw skill source list
NAME ENABLED TYPE PATH / WELL-KNOWN
claude-skills yes well-known claude-code
team-shared yes path /opt/skills/team
When no sources are configured, netclaw checks for well-known directories and nudges you:
No external skill sources configured.
Detected well-known skill directories on disk:
claude-code /home/user/.claude/skills
Add one with: netclaw skill source add <name> --well-known <alias>
netclaw skill source add my-claude --well-known claude-code
The aliases map to these paths:
| Alias | Scans |
|---|---|
claude-code | ~/.claude/skills/, ~/.claude/commands/, plus installed plugin marketplaces |
open-code | ~/.open-code/skills/ |
During netclaw init, you're prompted to configure external skill sources:
The init wizard detects well-known directories automatically.
netclaw skill source add team-skills --path /opt/company/skills
The directory must exist. Netclaw scans for both directory-based skills (skill-name/SKILL.md) and flat files (skill-name.md).
netclaw skill source disable team-skills
netclaw skill source enable team-skills
Disabled sources stay in config but won't be scanned.
netclaw skill source remove team-skills
Removes the config entry only — skill files in the directory are untouched.
Two layouts work:
Directory-based:
my-skill/
SKILL.md
scripts/
helper.sh
references/
api-docs.md
assets/
diagram.png
Flat file:
my-skill.md
The SKILL.md frontmatter:
---
name: my-skill
description: One-line description of what this skill does.
metadata:
version: 1.0.0
license: MIT
compatibility: ["netclaw", "claude-code"]
allowed-tools: "bash git"
disable-model-invocation: false
user-invocable: true
argument-hint: "<branch-name>"
---
# My Skill
Skill instructions go here...
The display name is derived from the first # heading in the markdown body, falling back to title-casing the skill name.
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
name | Yes | Identifier (must match directory/file name) |
description | Yes | One-line summary |
metadata.version | No | Semver version (nested under metadata:) |
license | No | SPDX license identifier |
compatibility | No | Which agents can use this skill |
allowed-tools | No | Space-delimited list of tools the skill needs |
disable-model-invocation | No | When true, prevents the model from auto-invoking this skill |
user-invocable | No | When true, users can invoke the skill directly (e.g. /commit) |
argument-hint | No | Hint text shown in command completion |
netclaw init — configures external skill sources during onboardingnetclaw mcp — manage tool servers that skills reference in allowed-toolsnetclaw status — shows loaded skill count at runtime