OpenClaw.NET MetaSkill User Guide

June 15, 2026 · View on GitHub

MetaSkill turns repeated multi-step AI collaboration patterns into reusable, triggerable, auditable, and improvable task protocols.

A normal conversation solves one request. A MetaSkill preserves a way of doing high-value work — with depends_on DAG execution, on_failure fallback branches, user_input pause points, and full audit trails.

What It Is

OpenClaw.NET is a .NET-native AI agent runtime and gateway. MetaSkill is its task-protocol layer. A MetaSkill does not introduce new execution atoms — it defines how to organize existing atoms (skills, tools, LLM calls, sub-agents) into a reusable DAG.

# SKILL.md
name: weekly-report
kind: meta
triggers: ["生成周报", "weekly report"]
composition:
  steps:
    - id: gather
      skill: git-log
      kind: skill_exec
    - id: summarize
      kind: llm_chat
      depends_on: [gather]

MetaSkill provides four core advantages:

  • Protocolized: captured in a SKILL.md file with kind: meta and composition.steps
  • Triggerable: activated by user intent in natural language
  • Auditable: every step timed, every failure coded, every run recorded
  • Improvable: repeated patterns become proposals via the meta-skill-creator

User Mental Model

A strong MetaSkill request contains four elements:

  1. Outcome: what you want to receive
  2. Context: materials, entities, time range, constraints
  3. Standard: what "good" means for this task
  4. Boundaries: what must not happen, what must not be invented

Example:

Use meta-skill `meta-document-to-decision`.

I need a decision memo, not a generic explanation.
Use only the contract terms I pasted unless you can cite sources.
Separate facts, assumptions, risks, and next actions.
Do not invent missing dates, and do not sign or send anything for me.

Two Ways to Activate

Natural Delegation

Describe the outcome directly. OpenClaw.NET matches your intent to the best MetaSkill by trigger phrases and meta_priority.

Generate a weekly report from my last 7 days of commits.

Explicit Delegation

Name the MetaSkill directly. Best for important, expensive, or easily confused tasks.

Use meta-skill `weekly-report`.

Generate a weekly report from my last 7 days of commits. Include team
contributions, key merges, and blockers.

Requirements & Setup

Check the Skill detail before running workflows. Common requirements:

  • LaTeX/PDF: meta-paper-write needs xelatex and bibtex on PATH
  • Video: meta-short-drama needs ffmpeg and ffprobe
  • Document export: child skills (docx, xlsx, pdf-toolkit) need Python packages
  • Network: search/image/video steps may need API keys

Inspect Run History

List runs for a session:

openclaw skills meta-runs <session-id>
openclaw skills meta-runs <session-id> --run <run-id> --verbose
openclaw skills meta-runs <session-id> --json

Preview replay:

openclaw skills meta-runs replay <session-id> --run <run-id>

Audit reconstruction (no re-execution):

openclaw skills meta-runs reconstruct <session-id> --run <run-id>

Proposals

Meta-skill creation workflows write proposals before they become installed skills:

openclaw skills meta-runs proposals
openclaw skills meta-runs proposals show <session-id> --proposal <id>

Review lifecycle actions:

openclaw skills meta-runs proposals accept <session-id> --proposal <id>
openclaw skills meta-runs proposals dismiss <session-id> --proposal <id>
openclaw skills meta-runs proposals rollback <session-id> --proposal <id>

Safety

MetaSkill outputs are reviewable work products and decision-support drafts. They are not final professional advice in legal, medical, financial, hiring, academic, security, or other high-stakes contexts.

Actions such as publishing, applying, installing, paying, signing, messaging, or modifying production systems require explicit user authorization and remain the user's responsibility.

Discover MetaSkills

openclaw skills catalog --kind meta            # List all meta-skill templates
openclaw skills catalog --kind meta --json     # Machine-readable
openclaw skills inspect <skill-name>           # Inspect composition structure

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