Build Your First OpenClaw Skill

Why Build a Skill?

The 5,700+ community skills cover a lot — but your business has unique workflows. Maybe you need to check inventory in your specific system, or format reports in a particular way. Building a custom skill lets OpenClaw do things nobody else's assistant can.

What You'll Build

A simple skill that checks your website's uptime and alerts you if it's down. It's practical, teaches the fundamentals, and takes about 20 minutes.

Prerequisites

• OpenClaw installed and running
• Basic comfort with the command line (you'll type some commands, but we'll walk you through each one)
• Node.js installed (comes with OpenClaw)

Step 1: Scaffold the Skill

openclaw skill create my-uptime-checker
cd my-uptime-checker

This creates a folder with the basic skill structure:

my-uptime-checker/
  skill.json       ← Metadata and permissions
  index.ts         ← Your skill code
  README.md        ← Description

Step 2: Define the Skill Metadata

Open skill.json and update it:

{
  "name": "my-uptime-checker",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Checks if my website is up and alerts me if it's down",
  "permissions": ["network"],
  "triggers": {
    "schedule": "*/5 * * * *"
  }
}

The permissions field tells OpenClaw this skill needs network access. The triggers.schedule field runs it every 5 minutes.

Step 3: Write the Skill Logic

Open index.ts and replace the contents:

import { Skill } from "@openclaw/sdk";

const MY_WEBSITE = "https://your-website.com";

export default new Skill({
  name: "my-uptime-checker",

  async onSchedule(ctx) {
    try {
      const res = await fetch(MY_WEBSITE, { method: "HEAD" });

      if (!res.ok) {
        await ctx.notify(
          `⚠️ Website is DOWN! ${MY_WEBSITE} returned status ${res.status}`
        );
      }
    } catch (error) {
      await ctx.notify(
        `🔴 Website is UNREACHABLE! ${MY_WEBSITE} - ${error}`
      );
    }
  },

  async onMessage(ctx, message) {
    if (message.includes("check site") || message.includes("website status")) {
      try {
        const start = Date.now();
        const res = await fetch(MY_WEBSITE);
        const ms = Date.now() - start;

        await ctx.reply(
          `✅ ${MY_WEBSITE} is UP (status ${res.status}, ${ms}ms)`
        );
      } catch {
        await ctx.reply(`🔴 ${MY_WEBSITE} is DOWN or unreachable`);
      }
    }
  },
});

Replace https://your-website.com with your actual URL.

Step 4: Test It

openclaw skill test my-uptime-checker

This runs the skill in a sandbox and shows you the output.

Step 5: Install It

openclaw skill install ./my-uptime-checker

Done! Your skill is now running. Every 5 minutes it checks your website, and you can also ask "check my site" in chat.

Going Further

Now that you know the basics, you can build skills for anything:

• Inventory checker — Query your inventory system and alert when stock is low
• Report formatter — Take raw data and format it into your standard template
• Client follow-up — Check your CRM and remind you about overdue follow-ups

The OpenClaw SDK docs at clawdocs.org cover everything: database access, API integrations, file handling, and more.

Publishing Your Skill

If you build something useful, share it with the community:

openclaw skill publish my-uptime-checker

This uploads it to ClawHub where other OpenClaw users can find and install it. Open source at its best.