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Skills & Tools
TL;DR: Sam has 4 generic bundled skills (Slack control, weather, skill creator, health check) and zero custom skills for any of its actual work domains. Everything Sam does with PostHog, Braze, Meta Ads, etc. is done through raw API calls in its prompt instructions, not through packaged skills.
Installed Skills
Sam has 4 skills, all bundled with OpenClaw:
| Skill | Description | Source | Used? |
|---|---|---|---|
healthcheck | Host security hardening and risk checks | OpenClaw bundled | Rarely |
skill-creator | Create/update new agent skills | OpenClaw bundled | Not observed |
slack | React to messages, pin/unpin in Slack | OpenClaw bundled | Yes (reactions) |
weather | Get current weather via wttr.in or Open-Meteo | OpenClaw bundled | Rarely |
Skills path: /usr/lib/node_modules/openclaw/skills/
None of Sam's actual business work (funnel analytics, creative briefs, Braze audits, Meta Ads queries) is packaged as a skill. Everything is done ad-hoc through MEMORY.md instructions.
Where Skills Live
OpenClaw supports skills from three sources:
| Source | Path | Sam's Count |
|---|---|---|
| OpenClaw bundled | /usr/lib/node_modules/openclaw/skills/ | 4 (all Sam has) |
| Workspace skills | ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/ | 0 (directory doesn't exist) |
| ClawHub community | Installed via openclaw skills install | 0 |
There is no skills/ directory in Sam's workspace. All operational knowledge lives in TOOLS.md, MEMORY.md, and AGENTS.md.
How Sam Actually Operates Without Skills
Sam's functional "skills" are implemented as markdown instructions in workspace files:
| "Skill" | How It's Implemented |
|---|---|
| PostHog funnel monitoring | Hardcoded in MEMORY.md (endpoints, auth, insight IDs) |
| Braze audit | Standalone JS scripts in workspace (braze-audit.js, etc.) |
| GitHub monitoring | Shell scripts + cron job message payload |
| Slack reporting | Direct API calls via the bundled Slack skill |
| Google auth | scripts/google-auth.js + stored OAuth tokens |
| PostHog Sankey | scripts/posthog_sankey.py |
This approach works but has serious limitations:
- No reusability across agents (will be critical when decomposing)
- No versioning or testing of "skill" behavior
- Knowledge scattered across multiple files
- New agents can't inherit Sam's patterns
Available OpenClaw Tools (Not Used)
OpenClaw provides several built-in tools beyond skills:
| Tool | What It Does | Configured? |
|---|---|---|
browser | Managed Playwright browser for web automation | ❌ Not configured |
pdf | Read and extract from PDF files | ❌ Not configured |
exec | Run shell commands in agent sessions | ✅ Available (used via scripts) |
llm-task | Delegate subtasks to a cheaper/faster model | ❌ Not configured |
sub-agents | Spawn isolated sub-agents for parallel work | ❌ Not configured |
acp-agents | ACP protocol agent communication | ❌ Not configured |
elevated | Request elevated permissions for sensitive operations | ❌ Not configured |
reactions | Add emoji reactions (available via Slack skill) | ✅ Via Slack skill |
ClawHub — Available Community Skills
ClawHub is OpenClaw's skill registry. Sam has none installed, but relevant options likely include:
| Category | Potential Skills |
|---|---|
| Web search | Brave Search, Perplexity |
| Data | Firecrawl (structured web data) |
| Media | TTS/voice (ElevenLabs — mentioned in AGENTS.md as sag) |
| Automation | Lobster workflows, webhook builders |
The skill-creator skill is installed, meaning Sam could theoretically write its own skills. It hasn't.
What Skills Need to Be Built
For the proposed decomposition to work, the following skills need to be created:
| Skill | Scope | Priority |
|---|---|---|
posthog-funnel | Query funnel CVR, pull specific insights, compare date ranges | 🔴 High |
braze-ops | Canvas status, flow entry counts, subscriber checks | 🔴 High |
github-watch | Check repos for new commits, compare SHAs | 🟡 Medium |
meta-ads-reporting | Campaign performance, CPA, ROAS by creative | 🟡 Medium |
sanity-funnel | Read/write funnel copy and quiz steps | 🟡 Medium |
looker-dashboards | Query Looker API, pull dashboard tiles | 🟡 Medium |
creative-brief | Generate micro-bucket hooks, creative briefs | 🟢 Lower |
google-calendar | Read upcoming events, block time | 🟢 Lower |
higgsfield-video | Submit video generation requests | 🟢 Lower |
northbeam-spend | Pull spend and order data | 🟢 Lower |
Skills should be created in the appropriate agent's workspace directory, not in Sam's shared workspace.
See also: Proposed Skills | Configuration | Missing Features