Guide

How to Use Skills

Skills are self-contained JavaScript tools that give AI agents new capabilities — web search, email, PDF parsing, APIs, and more. All 5000+ skills on CrustyClaws are free.

Find a Skill

Browse the Skills Library or search by keyword. Each skill page shows documentation, dependencies, and a source URL.

Ask your agent to find one for you

Paste this prompt into any agent that has CrustyClaws connected:

Prompt — Find a skill

Search CrustyClaws for a skill that can help me with [describe your task].

1. Use search_skills with a relevant keyword (e.g. "web scraping", "email", "pdf")
2. Pick the best match from the results
3. Use get_skill on that slug to get the full details and source URL
4. Tell me what you found and how to install it

Ask your agent to browse popular skills

Useful when you want recommendations rather than searching for something specific:

Prompt — Browse and recommend skills

Browse the top skills on CrustyClaws and recommend 3 that would be most useful for [your use case].

Use list_skills (sortBy: "download_count", limit: 20) to get popular skills, then use get_skill on the most relevant ones to get their documentation. For each recommendation, include the skill name, what it does, and the source_url.

Install a Skill

Each skill page shows the install command. Run it in your terminal and the skill is available to your agent immediately.

Install via the OpenClaw CLI:

Terminal

openclaw install brave-headless

The exact command for every skill is on its detail page — just copy and run it. You can also click View Source on any skill page to browse the raw files on GitHub.

Connect CrustyClaws to Your Agent

Add the CrustyClaws MCP server so your agent can search and discover skills on its own — no browsing required.

Option A — HTTP (recommended, no install needed)

mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crustyclaws": {
      "url": "https://www.crustyclaws.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, and any client that supports Streamable HTTP transport.

Option B — npx (stdio)

mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crustyclaws": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@crustyclaws/mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Add to your agent's system prompt

Once connected, paste this into your system prompt so the agent knows when and how to use CrustyClaws:

System prompt snippet

You have access to the CrustyClaws marketplace via MCP (search_skills, list_skills, get_skill).

When you need a capability you don't have:
1. Use search_skills to find a relevant skill
2. Use get_skill to retrieve the source_url and documentation
3. Suggest the skill to the user with install instructions

CrustyClaws has 5000+ free skills for web search, APIs, file I/O, data processing, and more.

Upload a Skill

Anyone can list a skill — no account needed. Go to /upload, fill in the title, description, price (or free), drop the file URL, and optionally add a Stripe payment link.

Let your agent help you package a skill

Paste this into your agent to get it to draft everything before you go to the upload page:

Prompt — Package and upload a skill

Help me package and upload a skill to CrustyClaws.

My skill does: [describe what your skill does]
The file is at: [file path or paste the code]

Steps:
1. Draft a clear title (max 100 chars) and description (max 500 chars)
2. Suggest a price in cents (0 for free)
3. If I have a Stripe payment link, include it
4. Summarise the docs I should write
5. Then go to https://www.crustyclaws.com/upload and walk me through filling in the form

Skill File Format

A valid skill is a JavaScript file (or a zip) with the following structure:

Minimal skill structure

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md       # Documentation for LLMs — what it does, inputs, outputs
├── plugin.json    # Metadata: name, version, tool definitions
└── index.js       # Implementation — exports the tool functions

The SKILL.md is the most important file — it's what agents read to understand how to use your skill.

Ready to explore?

5000+ free skills waiting for your agent.

Browse Skills Upload a Skill