ClawHub: The OpenClaw Skills Hub Explained (2026 Guide)

ClawHub is the public registry for OpenClaw skills and plugins: the place where OpenClaw operators search, install, and publish the SKILL.md packages that extend what their agent can do. You install a skill with two commands, npm i -g clawhub to get the CLI and then clawhub install <skill-slug>, and the skill lands in the ./skills folder of your working directory. If you have ever used npm for JavaScript packages, ClawHub is the same idea for AI agent capabilities.

What Is ClawHub?

ClawHub is the skill and plugin registry for OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent that runs on your own hardware. The openclaw/clawhub repository describes it as the public registry where users "publish, version, and search text-based agent skills" alongside a native package catalog for code and bundle plugins. The project is MIT licensed, written mostly in TypeScript, and sits at around 9.1k GitHub stars as of July 2026.

Every listing on ClawHub is built around a SKILL.md file: a markdown document with frontmatter metadata that tells the agent what the skill does, what it requires (environment variables, binaries, install specs), and how to use it. Because skills are plain text rather than compiled code, you can read the full source of anything before you install it.

The registry tracks semver versions, tags, changelogs, download counts, stars, and security scan summaries for each skill, per the official OpenClaw documentation. Search runs on vector embeddings rather than exact keywords, so a query like "postgres backups" finds relevant skills even when the words do not match the title. Under the hood the site is built on TanStack Start with a Convex backend and GitHub OAuth for accounts.

One naming note up front: ClawHub is frequently typed as "ClawdHub". That is a leftover from OpenClaw's original name, Clawdbot. Same registry, one spelling: ClawHub.

How Does clawhub install Work?

Installing a skill from ClawHub takes two commands: install the CLI once with npm i -g clawhub, then install any skill with clawhub install <skill-slug>. There are two supported paths, and it matters which one you use:

Path 1: the clawhub CLI. Best for repo-based or project-scoped setups.

# Install the CLI (once)
npm i -g clawhub
# or: pnpm add -g clawhub

# Find a skill with natural-language search
clawhub search "postgres backups"

# Install a skill by its slug
clawhub install @openclaw/demo

The CLI installs skills into the ./skills folder under your current working directory and records the installed version in .clawhub/lock.json, which works like a package lockfile: it pins exactly which version of each skill your project uses. clawhub pin and clawhub unpin manage those local installs.

Path 2: native OpenClaw commands. Best when you want skills installed straight into your running agent's workspace.

# Search the registry from OpenClaw itself
openclaw skills search "calendar"

# Install into the active OpenClaw workspace
openclaw skills install @openclaw/demo

# Keep everything current
openclaw skills update --all

# Plugins use the clawhub: prefix
openclaw plugins install clawhub:<package>

New to OpenClaw itself? Get the agent running first with our OpenClaw install guide, then come back for skills. For a deeper walkthrough of building and using skills after installation, see the complete OpenClaw skills guide.

Browsing and Publishing Skills

Anyone with a free ClawHub account can publish a skill; there is no paid tier and no approval queue before a listing goes live. Accounts authenticate through GitHub OAuth, and the publishing flow is entirely CLI-driven:

# Authenticate (opens GitHub OAuth)
clawhub login
clawhub whoami

# Publish a skill from a local folder
clawhub skill publish ./my-skill --slug my-skill --version 1.0.0

# Publish a plugin from a folder, GitHub repo, or URL
clawhub package publish ./my-plugin --dry-run

The skill publish command accepts --slug, --name, --version, --changelog, and --tags flags, and --dry-run lets you preview a plugin release without uploading anything. Owners can rename skills later without breaking existing links, and each new version gets its own changelog entry on the listing page.

For browsing, clawhub.ai offers popularity, trending, and new sorts across categories, plus clawhub explore from the terminal. Because listings are open, quality varies a lot: star counts, download numbers, and the security scan summary on each page are your main quality signals.

If you build something genuinely useful, publishing to ClawHub is distribution, not revenue. To actually charge for your work, read our guide on how to sell an OpenClaw skill, or list it on the Remote OpenClaw marketplace.

ClawHub vs Remote OpenClaw Directory vs skills.sh

ClawHub is where OpenClaw skills are published; directories like the Remote OpenClaw Skills Hub and Vercel's skills.sh solve the discovery and vetting problem on top of that. Here is how the three compare as of July 2026:

In practice these are complements, not competitors. Publish on ClawHub, check the skill's scan status in our directory before installing, and use skills.sh when you want the same capability across Claude Code or Cursor too.

Security Considerations

ClawHub scans published releases automatically, but its open publishing model has already been exploited at scale, so treat every skill as untrusted code until you have read it. In February 2026, researchers at Koi Security audited the 2,857 skills then listed on ClawHub and identified 341 malicious entries, 335 of them traced to a single coordinated operation now tracked as ClawHavoc; later analyses put the total count of malicious uploads above 1,100. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 called the pattern an emerging AI supply chain threat.

The payloads were not theoretical. Trend Micro documented ClawHub skills that delivered the Atomic macOS Stealer through Base64-encoded curl-pipe-bash droppers, padded with megabytes of filler characters to slip past file-size limits in content scanners.

ClawHub has since tightened its response: releases that fail scans are held or hidden from public surfaces, signed-in users can report listings, and moderators enforce takedowns. That reduces risk; it does not remove it. A skill runs with the same permissions as your agent, so the practical checklist before any install is:

• Read the entire SKILL.md. Skills are plain markdown, so there is no excuse to skip this.
• Check the frontmatter requirements against what the skill actually does. Declared env vars and binaries should match the behavior described.
• Be suspicious of Base64 blobs, curl or wget calls to unfamiliar domains, and instructions that touch .env files or crontabs.
• Prefer listings with history: multiple versions, a changelog, stars, and an established publisher account.

If you have already installed skills from ClawHub, work through our step-by-step ClawHub malicious skills audit, then harden the deployment itself with the 3-tier security hardening guide.

Limitations of ClawHub

ClawHub is the right default for OpenClaw skill distribution, but it has real limitations you should factor in:

• No mandatory pre-publish review. Automated scans run on releases, but a human does not approve listings before they go live. ClawHavoc happened inside that gap.
• Quality is uneven. Open publishing means abandoned one-off skills sit next to maintained ones. Download counts and version history are proxies, not guarantees.
• OpenClaw only. Skills published to ClawHub target OpenClaw. If you also run Claude Code or Cursor, you will manage a second toolchain such as skills.sh.
• No monetization. Every ClawHub listing is free. Creators who want to charge need a separate channel such as the Remote OpenClaw marketplace.
• Young infrastructure. The registry, its CLI, and its moderation processes are months old and still changing. Pin versions with .clawhub/lock.json so upstream changes do not surprise a production agent.

Related Guides

• What Is OpenClaw? Start here if you are new to the agent itself.
• OpenClaw Install Guide: get the agent running before you add skills.
• Best OpenClaw Skills in 2026: a curated shortlist worth installing first.
• How to Sell an OpenClaw Skill: turn a good skill into revenue.