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The macOS app surfaces OpenClaw skills via the gateway; it does not parse skills locally.

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Data source

  • skills.status (gateway) returns all skills plus eligibility and missing requirements, including allowlist blocks for bundled skills.
  • Requirements come from metadata.openclaw.requires in each SKILL.md.

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Install actions

  • metadata.openclaw.install defines install options (brew/node/go/uv/download).
  • The app calls skills.install to run installers on the gateway host.
  • Operator-owned security.installPolicy (enabled, targets, exec) can block gateway-backed skill installs before installer metadata runs. Built-in dangerous-code scanning (used for plugin installs) is not wired into the skill install flow.
  • If every install option is download, the gateway surfaces all download choices.
  • Otherwise the gateway picks one preferred installer using current install preferences (skills.install.preferBrew, skills.install.nodeManager) and host binaries: Homebrew first when preferBrew is enabled and brew is present, then uv, then the configured node manager, then Homebrew again if available (even without preferBrew), then go, then download.
  • Node install labels reflect the configured node manager, including yarn.

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Env/API keys

  • The app stores keys in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json under skills.entries.<skillKey>.
  • skills.update patches enabled, apiKey, and env.

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Remote mode

  • Install and config updates happen on the gateway host, not the local Mac.