Working with Skills

Skills are the fastest way to teach Mona domain expertise. This guide covers the complete skill lifecycle.

Finding skills

Search the Skills Hub:

monoclaw skills search kubernetes
monoclaw skills search obsidian
monoclaw skills search "hong kong"

Browse all available skills:

monoclaw skills list

Installing skills

From the Skills Hub:

monoclaw skills install openai/skills/k8s
monoclaw skills install monoclaw/skills/obsidian

From GitHub:

monoclaw skills install github.com/user/repo/skill-name

From a local directory:

monoclaw skills install /path/to/local/skill

Using skills

In chat

Load a skill explicitly:

Load the kubernetes skill. Debug why this pod is crashing.

Load multiple skills:

Load skills: arxiv, obsidian
Search for papers on LLM reasoning and save the top 3 as Obsidian notes.

Auto-triggered

Skills with matching triggers load automatically:

My pod is stuck in Pending

If the "kubernetes" skill has trigger pod, it loads automatically.

With cron jobs

monoclaw cron create "0 8 * * *" \
  "Search arXiv for papers" \
  --skills "arxiv,obsidian"

Creating skills

Basic skill

mkdir -p ~/.monoclaw/skills/my-skill
cat > ~/.monoclaw/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md << 'EOF'
---
title: My Skill
description: What this skill does.
triggers: ["keyword1", "keyword2"]
---

## When to use
Describe when this skill is relevant.

## Workflow
1. Step one
2. Step two
3. Step three

## Examples
```bash
# Example command
command --flag value

Common issues

Issue one: solution
Issue two: solution EOF


### Advanced skill with data files

```bash
mkdir -p ~/.monoclaw/skills/hk-finance
cat > ~/.monoclaw/skills/hk-finance/SKILL.md << 'EOF'
---
title: Hong Kong Finance
description: Hong Kong financial market conventions and compliance.
triggers: ["hkex", "stock connect", "mpf"]
---

## Market Hours
- Pre-opening: 9:00-9:30
- Morning: 9:30-12:00
- Afternoon: 13:00-16:00

## Stock Connect Northbound
- Shanghai: 9:30-15:00 (no afternoon break)
- Shenzhen: 9:30-15:00 (no afternoon break)

## MPF Contribution
- Employer: 5% of relevant income
- Employee: 5% of relevant income
- Minimum: HK$7,100/month
EOF

cat > ~/.monoclaw/skills/hk-finance/data.json << 'EOF'
{
  "hkex_url": "https://www.hkex.com.hk",
  "trading_hours": {
    "pre_open": "09:00-09:30",
    "morning": "09:30-12:00",
    "afternoon": "13:00-16:00"
  }
}
EOF

Updating skills

monoclaw skills update kubernetes

Removing skills

monoclaw skills uninstall kubernetes

Sharing skills

Via GitHub

Create a repo with your skill
Others install with:

monoclaw skills install username/repo/skill-name

Via Skills Hub

Submit your skill for review:

monoclaw skills publish ~/.monoclaw/skills/my-skill

Skill best practices

One domain per skill — Don't mix unrelated topics
Include examples — Real commands and outputs
Define triggers — Help Mona auto-load the skill
Keep it current — Update when tools or APIs change
Test thoroughly — Verify all example commands work