Install Skills

Out of the box, your OpenClaw agent can chat — but that’s about it. Skills are what turn it from a chatbot into something useful. Web search, browser control, code execution, image generation — they’re all skills you can install with a single API call. Skills come from ClawHub, the OpenClaw package registry. Think of it like npm, but for agent capabilities.

Your instance needs to be in running status for all of these endpoints to work. If it’s stopped, start it first.

Set up

export CHOWDER_KEY="chd_org_your_key_here"
export INSTANCE_ID="your-instance-id"

Enable and disable without uninstalling

Sometimes you want to temporarily disable a skill without removing it entirely. Use the PATCH endpoint:

curl -X PATCH https://api.chowder.dev/v1/instances/$INSTANCE_ID/skills/image-gen \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHOWDER_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"enabled": false}'

curl -X PATCH https://api.chowder.dev/v1/instances/$INSTANCE_ID/skills/image-gen \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHOWDER_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"enabled": true}'

Both return 204 No Content. The skill files stay on disk but the agent won’t use a disabled skill.

Quick reference

Action	Method	Endpoint
List skills	`GET`	`/v1/instances/{id}/skills`
List eligible	`GET`	`/v1/instances/{id}/skills?eligible_only=true`
Skill info	`GET`	`/v1/instances/{id}/skills/{name}`
Install	`POST`	`/v1/instances/{id}/skills/install`
Configure	`PATCH`	`/v1/instances/{id}/skills/{name}`
Uninstall	`DELETE`	`/v1/instances/{id}/skills/{name}`

What’s next?

Scoped API Keys

Create restricted keys so integrations can install skills without full org access.

Build a Frontend

Build a chat UI that leverages your agent’s new skills.

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Set up

Enable and disable without uninstalling

Quick reference

What’s next?

Scoped API Keys

Build a Frontend

​Set up

​Enable and disable without uninstalling

​Quick reference

​What’s next?

Scoped API Keys

Build a Frontend

Set up

Enable and disable without uninstalling

Quick reference

What’s next?