#Skills that Come Blocked

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

tepid river
#

why the skills that come with opencalw coming blocked and when you try enable it, it say not installed — install manually, what i should to remove blocked

snow fernBOT
#

To help others find answers, you can mark your question as solved via Right click solution message -> Apps -> ✅ Mark Solution

somber pineBOT
#

“Blocked / not installed” is usually not a permissions problem — it means the skill is gated because your Gateway host doesn’t meet the skill’s requirements yet (wrong OS, missing CLI binaries, missing env vars/API keys, or a required config flag isn’t enabled).

What to do

  1. Check which skill is blocked and what it “requires”

    • In the Skills UI, open the skill details and look for requirements like:
      • requires.bins (a CLI tool must be on PATH)
      • requires.env (API key/env var)
      • os: ["darwin"] (macOS-only)

  2. Install the missing dependency manually

    • Many bundled skills don’t auto-install system dependencies (by design).
    • Examples of fixes:
      • Install the required CLI via Homebrew / npm / pnpm
      • Add the required API key in config (skills.entries.<name>.apiKey or env)

  3. Start a new session (or restart the gateway)

    • Skills are snapshotted when a session starts, so after installing deps, do /new (or restart) to see it unblocked.
#

Important OS note

  • If you’re running the Gateway on Linux/Windows, macOS-only skills will stay blocked unless you:
    • run the Gateway on a Mac, or
    • connect a macOS node and run those commands there (advanced setup)

Docs:

If you tell me (1) your OS (where the Gateway runs), (2) openclaw --version, and (3) the exact skill name(s) showing “blocked”, I can point you to the exact dependency you need to install.

tepid river
#

Gateway on Windows

#

version 2026.2.19-2

somber pineBOT
#

On Windows, seeing bundled skills as “Blocked / Not installed — install manually” is pretty normal.

Most “built-in” skills are gated (hidden/blocked) unless your Gateway host meets their requirements, e.g.:

  • OS gate (some skills are macOS-only)
  • missing CLI binaries on your PATH (ffmpeg, uv, git, etc.)
  • missing API keys / env vars (so the skill can’t run)
  • missing required config toggles

There isn’t a “remove blocked” switch — you unblock a skill by satisfying its requirements.

1) Find exactly what’s missing (best first step)

Run this on the machine where the Gateway runs:

openclaw --version
# 
openclaw skills check
openclaw skills info <skill-name>

openclaw skills check will usually tell you why each skill is blocked (missing bin/env/os).

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/cli/skills

2) Windows-specific reality (important)

OpenClaw on Windows is recommended via WSL2 (Ubuntu) because skills + tooling expect a Linux-like environment and binaries. Native Windows can be trickier, and more skills will stay blocked.

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/platforms/windows

3) After installing deps: refresh

After you install whatever it needs, do /new in chat (or restart the gateway) so the skills snapshot refreshes.

#

If you paste the output of openclaw skills check (and tell me which skill(s) you’re trying to enable), I can tell you the exact thing you need to install/configure.

#

Cool — 2026.2.19-2 is recent, so this is almost certainly just skill gating (not a “bugged install”).

On Windows, “Blocked” + “Not installed — install manually” usually means: the skill is bundled, but it’s not eligible because one of these is missing:

  • OS mismatch (macOS-only skills will always be blocked on Windows)
  • required CLI binary not found on PATH (requires.bins)
  • required API key / env var not set (requires.env)
  • required config flag not enabled (requires.config)

Next 2 questions + 2 commands (so we can pinpoint it)

  1. Are you running the Gateway inside WSL2 (Ubuntu), or native Windows?

  2. On the Gateway machine, run and paste the output:

openclaw skills check
# 
openclaw skills list

If there’s one specific skill you care about, also:

openclaw skills info <skill-name>

That output will explicitly say why it’s blocked (missing bin/env/os/config).

Quick expectation-setting for Windows

  • If it’s a macOS-only skill → it can’t be “unblocked” on Windows. You’d need the Gateway on a Mac, or a macOS node.
  • If it’s missing a binary/API key → install/set that dependency, then do /new (or restart the gateway) to refresh the skills snapshot.

Paste openclaw skills check and tell me 1–2 skill names that show blocked, and I’ll tell you exactly what to install/configure.

tepid river
#

Skills Status Check

Total: 51
✓ Eligible: 4
⏸ Disabled: 2
🚫 Blocked by allowlist: 0
✗ Missing requirements: 45

Ready to use:
📦 healthcheck
📦 skill-creator
🌤️ weather
📦 browser-troubleshooter

Missing requirements:
🔐 1password (bins: op)
📝 apple-notes (bins: memo; os: darwin)
⏰ apple-reminders (bins: remindctl; os: darwin)
🐻 bear-notes (bins: grizzly; os: darwin)
📰 blogwatcher (bins: blogwatcher)
🫐 blucli (bins: blu)
🫧 bluebubbles (config: channels.bluebubbles)
📸 camsnap (bins: camsnap)
📦 clawhub (bins: clawhub)
🧩 coding-agent (anyBins: claude, codex, opencode, pi)
🎮 discord (config: channels.discord.token)
🎛️ eightctl (bins: eightctl)
♊️ gemini (bins: gemini)
📦 gh-issues (bins: gh)
🧲 gifgrep (bins: gifgrep)
🐙 github (bins: gh)
🎮 gog (bins: gog)
📍 goplaces (bins: goplaces; env: GOOGLE_PLACES_API_KEY)
📧 himalaya (bins: himalaya)
📨 imsg (bins: imsg; os: darwin)
📦 mcporter (bins: mcporter)
📊 model-usage (bins: codexbar; os: darwin)
🍌 nano-banana-pro (bins: uv; env: GEMINI_API_KEY)
📄 nano-pdf (bins: nano-pdf)
📝 notion (env: NOTION_API_KEY)
💎 obsidian (bins: obsidian-cli)
🎙️ openai-whisper (bins: whisper)
💡 openhue (bins: openhue)
🧿 oracle (bins: oracle)
🛵 ordercli (bins: ordercli)
👀 peekaboo (bins: peekaboo; os: darwin)
🗣️ sag (bins: sag; env: ELEVENLABS_API_KEY)
📜 session-logs (bins: jq, rg)
🗣️ sherpa-onnx-tts (env: SHERPA_ONNX_RUNTIME_DIR, SHERPA_ONNX_MODEL_DIR)
💬 slack (config: channels.slack)
🌊 songsee (bins: songsee)
🔊 sonoscli (bins: sonos)
🎵 spotify-player (anyBins: spogo, spotify_player)
🧾 summarize (bins: summarize)
✅ things-mac (bins: things; os: darwin)
🧵 tmux (bins: tmux; os: darwin, linux)
📋 trello (bins: jq; env: TRELLO_API_KEY, TRELLO_TOKEN)
🎞️ video-frames (bins: ffmpeg)
📞 voice-call (config: plugins.entries.voice-call.enabled)
📱 wacli (bins: wacli)

#

want to use gog (bins: gog)

somber pineBOT
#

That output actually explains it perfectly: nothing is “blocked by OpenClaw” — 45 skills are just ineligible because their requirements aren’t met on your Gateway machine (Windows).

You’ve got 3 buckets there:

1) macOS-only skills (will stay unavailable on Windows)

These are hard-gated with os: darwin, so they won’t “unblock” on Windows:

  • apple-notes, apple-reminders, bear-notes, imsg, model-usage, peekaboo, things-mac

(If you really want those, you need the Gateway on a Mac, or a macOS node setup.)

2) Skills that need config (not “installed”)

These aren’t missing a file — they’re waiting for you to enable/configure the integration:

  • discord → missing channels.discord.token
    Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/discord
  • slack → missing channels.slack
  • bluebubbles → missing channels.bluebubbles
  • voice-call → missing plugins.entries.voice-call.enabled
#

Once you add the config and restart the gateway (or start a new session), they become eligible.

3) Skills that need a CLI binary / API key (most of them)

Example “easy wins” from your list:

  • clawhub → install the ClawHub CLI so clawhub exists on PATH:
    • npm i -g clawhub (or pnpm add -g clawhub)
  • session-logs → needs jq + rg (ripgrep)
  • video-frames → needs ffmpeg
  • github / gh-issues → needs gh (GitHub CLI)
  • nano-banana-pro → needs uv and GEMINI_API_KEY

On Windows, the reason the UI says “install manually” is basically: “I can’t auto-install this dependency for you; please install the required binary/API key and try again.”

Strong recommendation (Windows)

If you want the smoothest “skills just work” experience on Windows, run OpenClaw inside WSL2 (Ubuntu). That matches the environment most skills assume and makes installing bins (jq, ffmpeg, etc.) straightforward.
Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/platforms/windows

#

Tell me your top 3 skills

Which 2–3 skills do you actually want first (e.g. discord, video-frames, github, coding-agent)?
If you tell me that + whether you’re native Windows vs WSL2, I’ll give you the exact minimal install/config steps for those specific ones.

#

Heads up: the gog skill in OpenClaw is NOT for GOG.com games — it’s “Google Workspace CLI” (Gmail/Calendar/Drive/etc). It’s gated because OpenClaw can’t find the gog binary on your PATH.

Unblock gog on Windows (native)

  1. Download the Windows build from the gogcli releases:

  1. Unzip it, and put the gog.exe somewhere permanent, e.g.
    C:\Tools\gog\gog.exe

  2. Add that folder (C:\Tools\gog) to your PATH, then open a new terminal and verify:

gog --version
  1. Restart OpenClaw (or at least start a new session) and re-check:
# 
openclaw skills check

After it’s installed: OAuth setup (required for it to actually work)

You’ll need a Google Cloud Desktop app OAuth client JSON, then run:

  • gog auth credentials path\to\client_secret.json
  • gog auth add you@gmail.com

If you tell me whether you meant Google (Gmail/Calendar) or GOG.com games, I can point you to the right skill/tooling for what you actually want.

tepid river
#

Google

somber pineBOT
#

Nice — then you want the gog skill = Google Workspace CLI (Gmail/Calendar/Drive/etc).

Right now it’s missing requirements because OpenClaw can’t find the gog binary on the same PATH the Gateway uses.

Step 1: Install gog on Windows (so gog works in PowerShell)

  1. Download the latest Windows build:
  1. Unzip it somewhere permanent, e.g.
  • C:\Tools\gog\

Inside you should have an exe (often gog.exe; if it’s named differently, rename it to gog.exe).

  1. Add that folder to your System PATH (not just “User PATH” if you run OpenClaw as a service), then restart the Gateway.

  2. Verify in a new terminal:

# 
gog --version
  1. Re-check skills:
openclaw skills check

gog should move from “Missing requirements” → eligible.

Step 2: Do the one-time Google OAuth setup (required)

gog needs a Google Cloud Desktop app OAuth client JSON.

  1. In Google Cloud Console:
  • Create a project
  • Enable the APIs you need (Gmail / Calendar / Drive / etc.)
  • Configure OAuth consent screen