# Top ClawHub Skills Every AI Researcher Needs

ClawHub skills connect AI researchers to web search, file storage, browser automation, and documentation tools via OpenClaw's MCP protocol. Studies show researchers read around 250 papers each year. These skills help handle that load. This list covers the top picks for literature search, paper analysis, data storage, and collaboration.

Source: https://fast.io/resources/top-clawhub-skills-ai-researchers/
Last reviewed: 2026-02-20

## Why ClawHub Skills Matter for AI Research

Papers pour in from arXiv, PubMed, and journals. Searching and summarizing them by hand takes hours each week. ClawHub skills link search engines, browsers, and storage to OpenClaw agents via MCP. You can query in plain language, like "Find recent papers on transformer efficiency."

Researchers read about 250 papers a year. Tools for discovery and analysis give more time for experiments. These skills manage storage and RAG, making papers into searchable knowledge bases.

Helpful references: [Fastio Workspaces](/product/workspaces/), [Fastio Collaboration](/product/collaboration/), and [Fastio AI](/product/ai/).

## Top ClawHub Skills Comparison

| Skill | Install Command | Key Research Use | RAG Support | Cost |
|-------|-----------------|------------------|-------------|------|
| brave-search | npm ci (in skill dir) | Web & doc search | No | Free |
| agent-browser | npm install -g agent-browser | Full page browsing | No | Free |
| Fastio | Remote MCP URL | File storage & RAG | Yes | Business Trial |
| code | Download from ClawHub | Research scripts | No | Free |
| sql-toolkit | Download from ClawHub | Data querying | No | Free |
| s3 | Download from ClawHub | Dataset storage | No | Free |
| filesystem | clawdhub install filesystem | Local file management | No | Free |
| clawddocs | Download from ClawHub | Clawdbot docs | No | Free |

## How We Evaluated These Skills

We checked skills for research workflow fit: paper discovery via web search and browser automation, analysis like summarization and extraction, storage for RAG, MCP compatibility, setup ease, and community activity such as stars and updates. Only active skills with MCP support qualified. We focused on free tiers for solo researchers.

## 1. Brave Search by steipete

Web search and content extraction without a full browser. Uses the Brave Search API to retrieve documentation, facts, and any web content.

**Strengths:**
- Headless web searches without spinning up a browser
- Extracts readable markdown from pages
- Configurable result count, up to 10+ results

**Limitations:**
- No built-in summarization
- Requires reviewing the implementation before deploying against internal URLs

Good for quick literature discovery and fact-checking. Free.

**Install Command:** `cd ~/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/brave-search && npm ci`

**ClawHub Page:** [clawhub.ai/steipete/brave-search](https://clawhub.ai/steipete/brave-search)

## 2. Agent Browser by TheSethRose

A fast Rust-based headless browser with Node.js fallback. Lets agents navigate, click, fill forms, and snapshot pages via structured commands, useful for full-text paper pages and paywalled abstracts.

**Strengths:**
- Real browser rendering for JavaScript-heavy pages
- Screenshot and PDF capture for archiving papers
- Video recording and network interception

**Limitations:**
- Broad capabilities require careful permission scoping
- Heavier resource footprint than simple HTTP fetching

Good for scraping full paper pages or research portals. Free.

**Install Command:** `npm install -g agent-browser && agent-browser install`

**ClawHub Page:** [clawhub.ai/TheSethRose/agent-browser](https://clawhub.ai/TheSethRose/agent-browser)

## 3. fast-io by dbalve

Intelligent workspaces for agentic teams with a consolidated MCP toolset for file storage, RAG, and collaboration. Researchers store papers, datasets, and notes; agents query them semantically once Intelligence is enabled for the workspace.

**Strengths:**
- generous storage, included credits
- RAG-powered AI chat with semantic search across indexed documents
- Share workspaces with human collaborators via secure URLs
- Collaboration features: anchored comments, version history, and audit logs

**Limitations:**
- Requires a Fastio account and API key
- Storage-focused; does not fetch papers directly

Good for storing and querying research data across a team. Business Trial.

**Connection:** Connect via Streamable HTTP at `https://mcp.fast.io/mcp`

## 4. Code by ivangdavila

Structured coding workflow with planning, implementation, verification, and testing phases. Useful for researchers writing analysis scripts, data processors, or experiment runners.

**Strengths:**
- Guides agents through planning before writing code
- Never auto-executes, keeps humans in control
- Stores preferences in local memory file on request

**Limitations:**
- Instruction-only; does not run code autonomously
- Best paired with a code execution environment

Good for structuring research code tasks. Free.

**Install Command:** Download from ClawHub (instruction-only skill)

**ClawHub Page:** [clawhub.ai/ivangdavila/code](https://clawhub.ai/ivangdavila/code)

## 5. SQL Toolkit by gitgoodordietrying

Query, design, migrate, and optimize SQL databases. Covers SQLite, PostgreSQL, and MySQL, schema design, query writing, migrations, indexing, backup/restore, and slow query debugging.

**Strengths:**
- Zero-setup SQLite prototyping with CSV import/export
- EXPLAIN-based query performance analysis
- Migration script building and version tracking

**Limitations:**
- Requires sqlite3, psql, or mysql binaries installed
- Instruction-only; does not execute queries autonomously

Good for managing research datasets in relational databases. Free.

**Install Command:** Download from ClawHub (instruction-only skill)

**ClawHub Page:** [clawhub.ai/gitgoodordietrying/sql-toolkit](https://clawhub.ai/gitgoodordietrying/sql-toolkit)

## 6. S3 by ivangdavila

Work with S3-compatible object storage covering security best practices, lifecycle policies, and access patterns. Supports AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, and MinIO.

**Strengths:**
- Presigned URL generation for sharing large datasets
- Lifecycle rules for cost optimization of archived papers
- Multipart upload handling for large files
- Provider-specific guidance for major platforms

**Limitations:**
- Instruction-only; requires an S3-compatible backend
- No built-in data indexing or search

Good for archiving large research datasets cheaply. Free.

**Install Command:** Download from ClawHub (instruction-only skill)

**ClawHub Page:** [clawhub.ai/ivangdavila/s3](https://clawhub.ai/ivangdavila/s3)

## 7. Filesystem Management by gtrusler

Advanced filesystem operations for Clawdbot, smart listing, searching, batch processing, and directory analysis.

**Strengths:**
- Pattern matching and full-text content search across local files
- Batch copy operations with dry-run preview
- Directory tree visualization and statistics

**Limitations:**
- Local filesystem only; no cloud storage
- Requires Node.js

Good for organizing local paper collections and datasets. Free.

**Install Command:** `clawdhub install filesystem`

**ClawHub Page:** [clawhub.ai/gtrusler/clawdbot-filesystem](https://clawhub.ai/gtrusler/clawdbot-filesystem)

## 8. Clawdbot Documentation Expert by NicholasSpisak

Clawdbot documentation expert with decision-tree navigation, search scripts, doc fetching, version tracking, and config snippets for all Clawdbot features.

**Strengths:**
- Covers 11 documentation categories including Concepts, Providers, and Automation
- Multiple search methods: keyword, sitemap, and full-text indexing
- Ready-to-use configuration snippets

**Limitations:**
- Focused on Clawdbot/OpenClaw docs specifically
- Not useful for domain-specific research literature

Good for researchers learning to build their own OpenClaw workflows. Free.

**Install Command:** Download from ClawHub (instruction-only skill)

**ClawHub Page:** [clawhub.ai/NicholasSpisak/clawddocs](https://clawhub.ai/NicholasSpisak/clawddocs)

## Which ClawHub Skill Should You Choose?

Begin with brave-search and agent-browser for web-based paper discovery. Add fast-io for storage and RAG across your paper collection. Layer sql-toolkit or s3 for structured data and large dataset management. Test in a dev OpenClaw setup first. Stack skills for complete flows: search, store, analyze, and share.

## Frequently asked questions

### How can AI agents help in research?

AI agents with ClawHub skills handle paper discovery, summarization, citation extraction, and RAG queries. They take over repetitive tasks, so researchers focus on analysis and experiments.

### What is the best ClawHub skill for web search?

Brave Search offers lightweight headless web search without a full browser. For pages that require JavaScript rendering, pair it with Agent Browser.

### What is ClawHub?

ClawHub is the skill directory for OpenClaw, OpenClaw's package manager for MCP-compatible tools like research APIs and storage.

### Are ClawHub skills free?

Most are open source and free. Fastio offers a 14-day Business Trial and plans from $29/mo. Some third-party API keys (like for Brave Search) may have their own pricing.

### How do I install a ClawHub skill?

Run `clawhub install user/skill-name` in your OpenClaw environment for supported skills. Instruction-only skills are downloaded as ZIP files from clawhub.ai.

## About Fast.io

Fast.io provides shared workspaces where people and AI agents work on the same files, with built-in semantic search and citation-backed chat over what they hold. Agents reach it through a remote MCP server at https://mcp.fast.io/mcp, a REST API at https://api.fast.io/current/, and a command line client published on npm as @vividengine/fastio-cli.