skill-managerSkill Manager
Interactive terminal UI to view, backup, and cleanly remove installed SMF Skills. Perfect for testing skills on a machine and cleaning up when done. Shows skill details, disk usage, and allows batch operations with safety confirmations.
Key Features
- •Visual table of all installed skills
- •Checkbox selection for batch operations
- •One-click backup before removal
- •Clean removal of files + config + wrapper
- •Works with or without 'rich' library
Common Use Cases
- →Test skills and clean up afterward
- →Reclaim disk space from unused skills
- →Backup skills before migration
- →Manage skill installations
Custom Workflow Integration
This skill can be customized for your specific workflow as part of an SMF Works services engagement. Whether you need custom automation rules, integrations with your existing tools, or specialized configurations for your team, we can tailor this skill to fit your exact requirements.
Explore ServicesInstallation
# Install the skill (via TUI or CLI)
smfw install skill-manager
# Get help
smfw run skill-manager --help
💡 Tip: Install via the OpenClaw TUI skill manager for an interactive experience, or use the CLI command above.
Setup Guide
Skill Manager — Setup Guide
Estimated setup time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Tier: Free — no subscription, no API keys required
What You'll Need
| Requirement | Details | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Python 3.8+ | Built into macOS 12+, available on Linux | Free |
| smfworks-skills repository | Cloned via git | Free |
Skills installed in ~/.smf/skills/ | The skills you want to manage | Depends on skill |
| rich (optional) | Python library for enhanced terminal display | Free |
Step 1 — Verify Python
python3 --version
Expected: Python 3.9.x or newer.
Step 2 — Get the Repository
git clone https://github.com/smfworks/smfworks-skills ~/smfworks-skills
Step 3 — (Optional) Install rich for Enhanced Display
pip install rich
Without rich, the skill uses plain-text output. Both modes are fully functional.
Step 4 — Navigate to the Skill
cd ~/smfworks-skills/skills/skill-manager
Step 5 — Verify
python3 main.py --help
Expected:
usage: main.py [-h] [--list] [--remove SKILL] [--backup SKILL] [--dry-run]
SMF Skill Manager - Visual tool for managing installed OpenClaw skills
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--list, -l List installed skills (simple view)
--remove SKILL, -r SKILL
Remove a specific skill
--backup SKILL, -b SKILL
Backup a specific skill
--dry-run, -d Show what would be done without doing it
Verify Your Setup
List installed skills:
python3 main.py --list
If you have skills installed, you'll see them listed. If you see No skills installed., that's correct if you haven't installed any SMF skills yet — the skill manager itself is working correctly.
Configuration Options
No configuration needed. Skills are detected automatically from ~/.smf/skills/.
Troubleshooting
No skills installed. — Install some skills first. This means the manager is working; there's just nothing to manage yet.
Interactive UI looks garbled — Use --list, --remove, and --backup flags instead of the interactive mode.
Quick Reference
# List all installed skills
python3 main.py --list
# Back up a skill before making changes
python3 main.py --backup skill-name
# Remove a skill you no longer need
python3 main.py --remove skill-name
# Preview removal without doing it
python3 main.py --remove skill-name --dry-run
# Launch interactive UI
python3 main.py
Next Steps
See HOWTO.md for walkthroughs on backup, removal, and the interactive UI.
How-To Guide
Skill Manager — How-To Guide
Prerequisites: Setup complete (see SETUP.md).
Table of Contents
- How to List Your Installed Skills
- How to Back Up a Skill
- How to Remove a Skill You No Longer Need
- How to Use the Interactive UI
- How to Preview a Removal Before Doing It
- Automating with Cron
- Troubleshooting Common Issues
- Tips & Best Practices
1. How to List Your Installed Skills
What this does: Prints a table of all installed skills with tier, size, and installation date.
When to use it: When you want to see what you have installed, how much space skills take up, or to verify a skill was installed or removed.
Steps
Step 1 — Navigate to the skill directory.
cd ~/smfworks-skills/skills/skill-manager
Step 2 — Run the list command.
python3 main.py --list
Output:
Installed SMF Skills (8 total):
Name Tier Size Installed
------------------------------------------------------------
coffee-briefing 💎 pro 0.1 MB 2024-02-15
daily-news-digest 🎁 free 0.1 MB 2024-01-20
file-organizer 🎁 free 0.1 MB 2024-01-10
lead-capture 💎 pro 0.2 MB 2024-02-01
morning-commute 💎 pro 0.1 MB 2024-02-15
pdf-toolkit 🎁 free 0.1 MB 2024-01-12
system-monitor 🎁 free 0.1 MB 2024-01-10
task-manager 💎 pro 0.2 MB 2024-03-01
Total size: 1.0 MB
Result: A clear inventory of everything installed with tier and size at a glance.
2. How to Back Up a Skill
What this does: Copies a skill's directory to ~/.smf/backups/ before you modify or remove it.
When to use it: Before removing a skill you might want to restore later. Before customizing a skill's code. Before a major system change.
Steps
Step 1 — List skills to find the exact name.
python3 main.py --list
Step 2 — Back up the skill.
python3 main.py --backup coffee-briefing
Output:
Backing up coffee-briefing...
✅ coffee-briefing backed up to ~/.smf/backups/
Step 3 — Verify the backup exists.
ls ~/.smf/backups/
You should see a directory or archive for coffee-briefing.
Result: The skill is backed up. You can safely modify or remove it knowing you can restore from the backup.
3. How to Remove a Skill You No Longer Need
What this does: Deletes a skill's directory from ~/.smf/skills/.
When to use it: You've stopped using a skill and want to free up space. Or you want to do a clean reinstall.
Steps
Step 1 — Back up the skill first (recommended).
python3 main.py --backup skill-name
Step 2 — Preview what will be removed.
python3 main.py --remove morning-commute --dry-run
Output:
[DRY RUN] Would remove: /home/user/.smf/skills/morning-commute
Step 3 — Remove the skill.
python3 main.py --remove morning-commute
Output:
Removing morning-commute...
✅ morning-commute removed successfully.
Step 4 — Confirm it's gone.
python3 main.py --list
morning-commute should no longer appear in the list.
Result: The skill is removed from your system.
4. How to Use the Interactive UI
What this does: Launches a full-screen terminal interface where you can browse skills, select multiple items, and perform bulk backup or removal.
When to use it: You want to remove or back up multiple skills at once, or you prefer a visual interface to command flags.
Steps
Step 1 — Launch the interactive UI.
python3 main.py
Step 2 — Read the skill list.
The UI displays numbered skills with their details.
Step 3 — Select skills.
Type a number and press Enter to toggle a skill's selection. Type a to select all, n to deselect all.
Enter command: 1
(Selects skill #1)
Step 4 — Perform an action.
- Type
b+ Enter to backup all selected skills - Type
r+ Enter to remove all selected skills - Type
q+ Enter to quit
Result: Bulk operations on multiple skills through an easy interactive interface.
5. How to Preview a Removal Before Doing It
What this does: Shows exactly what --remove would do without actually making changes.
When to use it: Any time you want to confirm you're targeting the right skill before deleting anything.
Steps
Step 1 — Run with --dry-run.
python3 main.py --remove skill-name --dry-run
Output:
[DRY RUN] Would remove: /home/user/.smf/skills/skill-name
Step 2 — Review the path. Confirm this is the right skill.
Step 3 — If correct, run without --dry-run.
python3 main.py --remove skill-name
Result: Zero-risk preview before any destructive action.
6. Automating with Cron
You can schedule a weekly skill inventory report.
Example: Weekly skill list report every Monday at 9 AM
0 9 * * 1 python3 /home/yourname/smfworks-skills/skills/skill-manager/main.py --list >> /home/yourname/logs/skill-inventory.log 2>&1
Create the log directory
mkdir -p ~/logs
7. Troubleshooting Common Issues
No skills installed.
No skills were found in ~/.smf/skills/.
Fix: Install skills first. The manager is working correctly; there's nothing to manage yet.
❌ Backup failed.
The backup operation encountered an error.
Fix: Check the skill name exactly matches what's shown in --list. Verify ~/.smf/backups/ exists and is writable: mkdir -p ~/.smf/backups
Interactive UI shows garbled output
Your terminal doesn't support the Unicode characters or terminal control codes used by the UI.
Fix: Use the command-line flags instead: --list, --remove, --backup.
❌ [error message] on remove
Removal failed.
Fix: Check you have write permissions on ~/.smf/skills/. Try ls -la ~/.smf/skills/ to verify ownership.
8. Tips & Best Practices
Always back up before removing. Even if you're sure you don't need a skill, a backup takes 2 seconds and could save you 20 minutes of reinstallation later.
Use --dry-run before any removal. One extra command to confirm you're targeting the right thing. Habit-forming and protective.
Back up pro skills before any system change. Pro skills may have configurations and customizations that take time to recreate. A backup preserves everything.
Use --list regularly to audit what you have installed. Over time you may install skills for specific projects and forget they're there. A regular list check keeps things tidy.
Install rich for a better experience. pip install rich takes 10 seconds and makes the interactive UI and list much more readable. Highly recommended.