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README.md
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README.md

Compatibility: OpenClaw (SKILL.md)

Claim (Tier B, narrow). An MDA-compiled SKILL.md whose frontmatter stays inside the agentskills.io v1 envelope subset installs cleanly via openclaw skills install <local-dir> --global and is reported as parsed by openclaw skills info <name> --json — which returns the parsed name, description, resolved filePath under ~/.openclaw/skills/, and the full eligibility decision OpenClaw computes from the skill's frontmatter.

Claim (negative). Some shipped OpenClaw skills carry user-invocable as a top-level field (e.g. ~/.openclaw/plugin-skills/browser-automation/SKILL.md). MDA v1.0's SKILL.md schema rejects that at the top level. The same v1.1 schema-expansion gap covers it.

Last verified: 2026-05-26 against @markdown-ai/cli@1.1.7, OpenClaw 2026.5.20 (e510042) on openclaw-vm.

Directory contents

  • source.mda — dedicated MDA source for this kit (do not reuse for unrelated examples)
  • build/SKILL.md — reproducible compile output
  • verify.sh — structural verification, no live install needed
  • install.sh — optional live install via SSH; runs openclaw skills install on openclaw-vm (override host with OPENCLAW_HOST=...)
  • uninstall.sh — removes the managed dir on the VM
  • notes.md — scope, gaps, caveats, graduation criteria

Quick verify (offline, modifies nothing on any system)

./compat/openclaw/verify.sh

Re-compiles source.mda, validates the output against the SKILL.md JSON Schema, and confirms the envelope subset is intact.

Live verify (writes one file under openclaw-vm:~/.openclaw/skills/)

./compat/openclaw/install.sh
ssh openclaw-vm 'PATH=$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH openclaw skills info mda-compat-openclaw --json'

install.sh scps the compiled SKILL.md to a temp dir on openclaw-vm, then runs openclaw skills install <tmp-dir> --global --force --as mda-compat-openclaw. OpenClaw copies the file into ~/.openclaw/skills/mda-compat-openclaw/SKILL.md. openclaw skills info then prints the full parsed JSON view.

To remove:

./compat/openclaw/uninstall.sh

How OpenClaw's loader actually behaves

From OpenClaw 2026.5.20 (https://docs.openclaw.ai/cli/skills):

  • openclaw skills install <slug> accepts ClawHub slug, git:<repo>, OR a local directory containing SKILL.md at its root.
  • --global installs to the shared managed skills directory (~/.openclaw/skills/<slug>/); without it, the install lands under a specific agent workspace via --agent <id>.
  • --as <slug> overrides the inferred slug; without it, slug derives from directory name or frontmatter name.
  • openclaw skills info <name> --json returns the parsed skill record: name, description, filePath, baseDir, skillKey, eligibility flags, requirement detection (bins, env, config, os), and visibility flags (modelVisible, userInvocable, commandVisible).
  • Existing skills use the agentskills.io v1 envelope subset plus the Claude-Code-extended user-invocable: <bool> top-level field.

What MDA emits today (v1.0)

The SKILL.md schema (schemas/frontmatter-skill-md.schema.json) permits these top-level fields, exactly:

Field Source OpenClaw status
name author Required; consumed by OpenClaw for the install slug and skill key.
description author Required by MDA; surfaced in OpenClaw's skills list and info output.
license author Optional. Plain agentskills.io v1.
compatibility author Optional. Plain agentskills.io v1.
allowed-tools author agentskills.io v1; OpenClaw documented behavior on this field is unspecified.
metadata author Optional. metadata.mda.* MDA-extended; OpenClaw does not document reading any nested namespace.
integrity compiler Not consumed by OpenClaw.
signatures compiler/signer Not consumed by OpenClaw.

What MDA does NOT emit today

OpenClaw shipped skills include user-invocable: <bool> at the top level (Claude-Code-extended). MDA v1.0 rejects that at the top level. Workaround: hand-edit the installed SKILL.md post-install (exits MDA validation). Tracked in docs/v1.0/what-v1.0-does-not-ship.md gap #10, same graduation criterion as the Claude Code runtime fields.

What this kit does NOT claim

  • That OpenClaw honors allowed-tools, integrity, or signatures at load.
  • That signed MDA artifacts are verified at load time by OpenClaw.
  • That the skill is loaded into a live agent session and surfaced to the model at runtime. The kit confirms install + parse + eligibility from openclaw skills info --json; runtime invocation belongs in a future Tier-C section.

Anything stronger belongs in a future Tier-C section, behind explicit runtime opt-in to MDA extensions.