How do I install the Hostlink skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add lord1egypt/hostlink in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Hostlink safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Hostlink?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Hostlink free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Hostlink?

Lord1Egypt (@lord1egypt) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Hostlink by lord1egypt — Agent Skill

Name: Hostlink
Rating: 4.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
Author: Lord1Egypt

Hostlink

Execute commands on the host machine from inside the OpenClaw container via the HostLink daemon. Provides secure, authenticated remote shell execution over a Unix domain socket (local) or TCP/WireGuard (remote). Use when you need to run commands on the host: access files outside the container, run host-side tools, interact with the Qwen3 merge project, manage Docker on the host, or execute anything requiring host-level access. The 'hostlink' binary is in PATH. Triggers on: "run on host", "execute on host", "host command", "outside container", "host machine", "hostlink", "hostlinkd".

Lord1Egypt Updated Sep 8, 2026 2 repo stars

File contents

HostLink Skill

Execute commands on the host machine from inside this container.

Quick Reference

# Execute a command on the host
hostlink exec "ls /home/jebadiah"

# Ping the daemon (connection test)
hostlink ping

# With explicit socket/token (if env vars not set)
hostlink -s /run/hostlink/hostlink.sock -k $HOSTLINK_TOKEN exec "echo hello"

# Set working directory
hostlink -w /home/jebadiah exec "pwd"

# Set environment variables
hostlink -e MY_VAR=value exec "echo $MY_VAR"

# With timeout (ms)
hostlink -T 60000 exec "long-running-command"

# JSON output (machine-readable)
hostlink -j exec "ls -la" | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['stdout'])"

# List configured targets
hostlink targets

Environment Variables

Set these so you don't need to pass flags every time:

Variable	Purpose	Default
`HOSTLINK_SOCKET`	Unix socket path	`/run/hostlink/hostlink.sock`
`HOSTLINK_TOKEN`	Auth token	(required)
`HOSTLINK_TARGET`	Target node name	(optional)

Best place to set these: workspace/.env or openclaw.json env.vars section.

Connection Status

Check if hostlinkd is reachable:

hostlink ping
# Expected: [hostname] pong - uptime Xs
# If error: daemon not running or socket not mounted

Common Use Cases

Access host filesystem

hostlink exec "ls /home/jebadiah/projects"
hostlink exec "cat /etc/hostname"

Run host-side GPU/ML tools

hostlink exec "nvidia-smi"
hostlink exec "ollama list"
hostlink exec "ls ~/.cache/huggingface/hub"

Access the Qwen3 merge project

hostlink exec "ls /path/to/qwen3-merge"
hostlink exec "cat /path/to/qwen3-merge/README.md"

Docker management on host

hostlink exec "docker ps"
hostlink exec "docker stats --no-stream"

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Remote command failed (check exit_code in JSON output)
2	Connection failed (daemon unreachable)
3	Authentication failed (wrong token)
5	Timeout
7	Client error (bad args, missing targets file)

Troubleshooting

"Connection failed" / exit 2:

hostlinkd not running on host: sudo systemctl start hostlinkd
Socket not mounted: check docker-compose volume mount
Wrong socket path: check HOSTLINK_SOCKET env var

"Authentication failed" / exit 3:

Wrong HOSTLINK_TOKEN — must match auth_token in /etc/hostlink/hostlink.conf

"server busy" error:

Host is at max_concurrent limit — retry shortly

Architecture

Container (you are here)          Host machine
┌─────────────────────┐          ┌──────────────────────────┐
│  hostlink (client)  │◄────────►│  hostlinkd (daemon)      │
│  workspace/bin/     │  Unix    │  /etc/hostlink/           │
│                     │  socket  │  auth_token = <secret>    │
└─────────────────────┘          │  shell = /bin/bash        │
                                 └──────────────────────────┘

See references/setup.md for installation and docker-compose configuration.

---name: hostlinkdescription: Execute commands on the host machine from inside the OpenClaw container via the HostLink daemon. Provides secure, authenticated remote shell execution over a Unix domain socket (local) or TCP/WireGuard (remote). Use when you need to run commands on the host: access files outside the container, run host-side tools, interact with the Qwen3 merge project, manage Docker on the host, or execute anything requiring host-level access. The 'hostlink' binary is in PATH. Triggers on: "run on host", "execute on host", "host command", "outside container", "host machine", "hostlink", "hostlinkd".---# HostLink SkillExecute commands on the host machine from inside this container.## Quick Reference```bash# Execute a command on the hosthostlink exec "ls /home/jebadiah"# Ping the daemon (connection test)hostlink ping# With explicit socket/token (if env vars not set)hostlink -s /run/hostlink/hostlink.sock -k $HOSTLINK_TOKEN exec "echo hello"# Set working directoryhostlink -w /home/jebadiah exec "pwd"# Set environment variableshostlink -e MY_VAR=value exec "echo $MY_VAR"# With timeout (ms)hostlink -T 60000 exec "long-running-command"# JSON output (machine-readable)hostlink -j exec "ls -la" | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['stdout'])"# List configured targetshostlink targets```## Environment VariablesSet these so you don't need to pass flags every time:| Variable | Purpose | Default ||----------|---------|---------|| `HOSTLINK_SOCKET` | Unix socket path | `/run/hostlink/hostlink.sock` || `HOSTLINK_TOKEN` | Auth token | (required) || `HOSTLINK_TARGET` | Target node name | (optional) |Best place to set these: `workspace/.env` or `openclaw.json` env.vars section.## Connection StatusCheck if hostlinkd is reachable:```bashhostlink ping# Expected: [hostname] pong - uptime Xs# If error: daemon not running or socket not mounted```## Common Use Cases### Access host filesystem```bashhostlink exec "ls /home/jebadiah/projects"hostlink exec "cat /etc/hostname"```### Run host-side GPU/ML tools```bashhostlink exec "nvidia-smi"hostlink exec "ollama list"hostlink exec "ls ~/.cache/huggingface/hub"```### Access the Qwen3 merge project```bashhostlink exec "ls /path/to/qwen3-merge"hostlink exec "cat /path/to/qwen3-merge/README.md"```### Docker management on host```bashhostlink exec "docker ps"hostlink exec "docker stats --no-stream"```## Exit Codes| Code | Meaning ||------|---------|| 0 | Success || 1 | Remote command failed (check exit_code in JSON output) || 2 | Connection failed (daemon unreachable) || 3 | Authentication failed (wrong token) || 5 | Timeout || 7 | Client error (bad args, missing targets file) |## Troubleshooting**"Connection failed" / exit 2:**- hostlinkd not running on host: `sudo systemctl start hostlinkd`- Socket not mounted: check docker-compose volume mount- Wrong socket path: check `HOSTLINK_SOCKET` env var**"Authentication failed" / exit 3:**- Wrong `HOSTLINK_TOKEN` — must match auth_token in `/etc/hostlink/hostlink.conf`**"server busy" error:**- Host is at max_concurrent limit — retry shortly## Architecture```Container (you are here) Host machine┌─────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────┐│ hostlink (client) │◄────────►│ hostlinkd (daemon) ││ workspace/bin/ │ Unix │ /etc/hostlink/ ││ │ socket │ auth_token = <secret> │└─────────────────────┘ │ shell = /bin/bash │ └──────────────────────────┘```See `references/setup.md` for installation and docker-compose configuration.

Frequently asked questions