| name | moltcops |
| description | Pre-install security scanner for AI agent skills. Detects malicious patterns before you trust code. Local-first — code never leaves your machine. |
MoltCops — Skill Security Scanner
Scan any skill for security threats before you install it. Detects prompt injection, data exfiltration, sleeper triggers, drain patterns, and 16 more threat categories.
Local-first. Your code never leaves your machine. No API calls. No uploads. No accounts.
When to Use
- Before installing any skill from ClawHub, GitHub, or other sources
- Before running skills shared by other agents
- When evaluating unknown code from any source
- After ClawHavoc: 341 malicious skills were found on ClawHub this week. Scan first.
How to Run
python3 scripts/scan.py <path-to-skill-folder>
Example:
python3 scripts/scan.py ~/.openclaw/skills/suspicious-skill
python3 scripts/scan.py ./my-new-skill
No dependencies required — uses only Python 3 standard library.
Reading Results
The scanner returns three verdicts:
| Verdict | Exit Code | Meaning |
|---|
| PASS | 0 | No critical or high-risk threats detected. Safe to install. |
| WARN | 1 | High-risk patterns found. Review findings before installing. |
| BLOCK | 2 | Critical threats detected. Do NOT install this skill. |
What It Detects
20 detection rules across these threat categories:
| Category | Rules | Examples |
|---|
| Prompt Injection | MC-001, MC-002, MC-003 | System prompt override, jailbreak payloads, tool-use steering |
| Code Injection | MC-004, MC-005, MC-006, MC-019 | Shell injection, eval/exec, base64-to-exec, child_process |
| Data Exfiltration | MC-007, MC-008, MC-009, MC-010, MC-020 | Webhook URLs, env var harvesting, SSH key access, credential files |
| Hardcoded Secrets | MC-011, MC-012 | API keys in source, private key material |
| Financial | MC-013 | Drain patterns, unlimited withdrawals |
| Lateral Movement | MC-014 | Git credential access, repo manipulation |
| Persistence | MC-015, MC-016 | SOUL.md writes, cron job creation |
| Autonomy Abuse | MC-017 | Destructive force flags (rm -rf, git push --force) |
| Infrastructure | MC-018 | Permission escalation (sudo, chmod 777) |
False Positive Handling
The scanner includes context-aware filtering to reduce false positives:
- Env var access (MC-008): Only flags when variable names contain KEY, SECRET, PASSWORD, TOKEN, or CREDENTIAL
- Git operations (MC-014): Skips standard remotes (github.com, gitlab.com, bitbucket.org)
- Force flags (MC-017): Only flags on destructive operations, not install scripts
Example Output
MoltCops Security Scanner
========================================
Scanning: ./suspicious-skill
Files: 5
Rules: 20
FINDINGS
----------------------------------------
[CRITICAL] MC-007: Exfiltration URL (main.py:14)
[CRITICAL] MC-004: Shell Injection (helper.sh:8)
[HIGH] MC-005: Dynamic Code Execution (main.py:22)
SUMMARY
========================================
Files scanned: 5
Total findings: 3
Critical: 2
High: 1
Medium: 0
VERDICT: BLOCK
Critical threats detected. Do NOT install this skill.
Web Scanner
For a browser-based version with the same engine, visit: https://scan.moltcops.com
About MoltCops
MoltCops protects the AI agent ecosystem from malicious skills. While VirusTotal catches known malware signatures, MoltCops catches behavioral patterns — drain logic, sleeper triggers, prompt injection, and data exfiltration that signature-based scanning misses.
