API / Application Programming Interface

What this skill does

Integrates and debugs third-party REST and GraphQL APIs: auth, rate limits, pagination, webhooks, with reference for 147 services. Use when calling Stripe, OpenAI, GitHub, Slack, Twilio, or any external service, when a request that should work returns 401, 403, or 429, times out, hits a CORS error, or silently returns wrong data, when choosing an OAuth flow, signing requests, adding retries with backoff and idempotency keys, verifying webhook signatures, consuming SSE streams, uploading files, polling async jobs, caching with ETags, or syncing API data into a local database — with per-service gotchas and curl examples. Not for designing or building your own API.

API / Application Programming Interface is part of the Developer Tools category — developer tools that help your agent write, review, debug, and ship code. You can install it on its own or alongside other developer tools skills from the OpenClaw catalog.

How to install API / Application Programming Interface

The easiest path is via the OpenClaw Easy desktop app — one click, no terminal required:

1. Download OpenClaw Easy for macOS or Windows (free, one-click installer, ~30 seconds).
2. Open the in-app Skills panel.
3. Search for api and click Install.
4. The skill activates automatically when an incoming message matches its description.

Install from the command line

If you already run the OpenClaw CLI, add API / Application Programming Interface with a single command:

openclaw skills add api

This pulls api from ClawHub and installs it into ~/.openclaw/skills/api/. Restart the OpenClaw gateway afterwards so the new skill is discovered.

How to use API / Application Programming Interface

Once installed, API / Application Programming Interface activates on its own: when an incoming message on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Feishu or Line matches the skill's description, your OpenClaw agent loads it and runs the workflow. You can also trigger it explicitly by describing the task in chat. No extra configuration is required after install.

Manual install (advanced)

If you prefer manual installation:

1. Click the Download .zip button above to grab api-1.3.7.zip directly from our S3 mirror.
2. Unzip into ~/.openclaw/skills/api/ (create the directory if it does not exist).
3. Restart OpenClaw Easy (or the OpenClaw CLI gateway) so the new skill is discovered.

Frequently asked questions

How do I install API / Application Programming Interface?

Install API / Application Programming Interface in the OpenClaw Easy desktop app by opening the Skills panel, searching for api, and clicking Install. From a terminal you can run: openclaw skills add api. Either way the skill is placed in ~/.openclaw/skills/api/.

Is API / Application Programming Interface free?

Yes. API / Application Programming Interface is free and open-source, distributed under the Apache-2.0 license through ClawHub. No account or payment is required to download or run it.

What does API / Application Programming Interface do?

Integrates and debugs third-party REST and GraphQL APIs: auth, rate limits, pagination, webhooks, with reference for 147 services.

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