skill-audit
Pre-install security scanner for AI agent skills. 7.5% of 14,706 skills are malicious. Audit before you trust.
Profile →npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill skill-audit --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Skill Audit — Pre-Install Security Scanner ## Overview **7.5% of 14,706 OpenClaw skills are confirmed malicious.** This skill provides a structured 6-phase security review you run **before installing any third-party skill**. Research findings (2026): - RankClaw audited 14,706 skills → **1,103 malicious** (brand-jacking, prompt injection, RCE) - Vett.sh found **59 critical-risk droppers** disguised as legitimate tools - Cisco, CrowdStrike, NCC Group all published skill supply chain attack reports ## When to Use This Skill - Use when you're about to install a third-party skill from GitHub, ClawHub, or any registry - Use when you want to verify a skill's security before adding it to your agent - Use when the user says "install this skill" or "add this skill" - Use when reviewing skills for potential security issues ## How It Works ### Phase 1: Surface Scan Pattern detection in SKILL.md: - Instruction overrides: `ignore previous instructions`, `you are now...` - External fetches: `fetch()`, `curl`, `wget` to unknown domains - Shell pipes: shell download piped into an interpreter - Encoded payloads: `atob()`, base64 strings - Credential reads: `~/.env`, `process.env` + network calls #
- Overview
- When to Use This Skill
- How It Works
- Phase 1: Surface Scan
- Phase 2: Script Inspection
- Phase 3: Permission Audit
- Phase 4: Social Engineering Check
- Phase 5: Repo Intelligence
- Phase 6: Verdict
- Examples
- Example 1: Auditing a Suspicious Skill
- Example 2: Safe Skill Verification
- What Gets Detected
- 🔴 Critical Patterns (Do NOT Install)
What does the skill-audit skill do?
Pre-install security scanner for AI agent skills. 7.5% of 14,706 skills are malicious. Audit before you trust.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill skill-audit --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, a repository with 44,414 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.