# Find Skills

> Helps users discover, install, and manage goclaw skills. Use when users ask "how do I do X", "find a skill for X", "is there a skill that can...", or express interest in extending capabilities. Provides guidance for finding skills in the goclaw ecosystem and the broader open agent skills community. Use when this capability is needed.

- Skill: `tomevault-io/find-skills-4` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/find-skills-4`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/find-skills-4/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector CAUTION)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/find-skills-4

---


# Find Skills

Helps discover and install skills for goclaw.

## Triggers

**Discovery requests:**
- "find a skill for X", "is there a skill for X"
- "how do I do X" where X might have an existing skill
- "can you do X" for specialized capabilities
- "I need help with X"

**Extension interest:**
- "I wish I had X capability"
- "Is there a tool for X?"
- "extend agent capabilities"
- "add new functionality"

**Management:**
- "list skills", "show installed skills"
- "update skills", "remove skill"
- "install skill", "add skill"

---

## Quick Start

### List Installed Skills

```bash
goclaw skills list
goclaw skills list --verbose  # Show detailed info including content
```

### Install from URL

```bash
# From Git repository
goclaw skills install https://github.com/user/skill-repo

# From local path
goclaw skills install ./path/to/skill
```

### Validate Skills

```bash
# Check if skill dependencies are satisfied
goclaw skills validate skill-name
```

### Test Skills

```bash
# Test a skill with a prompt
goclaw skills test skill-name --prompt "your test prompt here"
```

---

## Skill Locations

Skills are stored in a unified location:

| Location | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| `~/.goclaw/skills` | All skills (user-installed and built-in) |

Built-in skills are automatically copied to this directory on first run.

---

## Installing Skills

### From Git Repository

```bash
# Basic installation
goclaw skills install https://github.com/user/repo

# The skill will be installed to ~/.goclaw/skills/<repo-name>
```

### From Local Path

```bash
# From a directory containing SKILL.md
goclaw skills install /path/to/skill
```

### Updating Skills

```bash
# Update a specific skill (must be a Git repo)
goclaw skills update skill-name
```

### Uninstalling Skills

```bash
# Remove a skill
goclaw skills uninstall skill-name
```

---

## Finding Relevant Skills

### 1. Search Built-in Skills

Use `goclaw skills list` to see what's available:

```bash
goclaw skills list --verbose
```

### 2. Browse External Sources

**Official goclaw skills:** Check the project repository for bundled skills.

**Community sources:**
- GitHub: Search for `goclaw skill` or `agent skill`
- Skills compatible with OpenClaw/Agent Skills format can often be adapted

### 3. Check Skill Metadata

Each skill has a `description` field in its YAML frontmatter that indicates when it should be used:

```yaml
---
name: crawl4ai
description: This skill should be used when users need to scrape websites,
extract structured data, handle JavaScript-heavy pages, or build automated
web data pipelines.
---
```

---

## Creating Custom Skills

If no existing skill meets your needs, create one:

### Initialize New Skill

```bash
cd ~/.goclaw/skills
mkdir my-skill
cd my-skill

# Create SKILL.md with proper frontmatter
```

### SKILL.md Template

```markdown
---
name: my-skill
description: Brief description of what this skill does and when to use it.
version: 1.0.0
author: Your Name
metadata:
  openclaw:
    emoji: 🎯
    always: false
    requires:
      bins: []        # Required binaries
      anyBins: []     # At least one of these must exist
      env: []         # Required environment variables
      config: []      # Required config keys
      os: [darwin, linux, windows]
---

# My Skill

## Overview

Brief description of what this skill does.

## Triggers

When this skill should activate.

## Quick Start

Basic usage examples.

## Reference

Detailed documentation.
```

---

## Best Practices

1. **Search first** - Check if a skill already exists before creating
2. **Validate before use** - Run `goclaw skills validate <name>` to check dependencies
3. **Test skills** - Use `goclaw skills test <name>` to verify behavior
4. **Keep skills lean** - Skills should be concise and focused
5. **Use references** - Move detailed docs to `references/` directory

---

## Troubleshooting

### Skill not found

```bash
# Check skill is in correct location
ls -la ~/.goclaw/skills/

# Verify skill has SKILL.md
ls ~/.goclaw/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md
```

### Dependencies not satisfied

```bash
# Validate to see what's missing
goclaw skills validate <skill-name>

# Install missing binaries or set environment variables
```

### Skill not loading

```bash
# Check skill format is valid
cat ~/.goclaw/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md

# YAML frontmatter must start with `---`
# and have a name and description field
```

---
> Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/smallnest) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.
<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-04-11 -->