Skillv1.1.0

ClawScan security

Daily Ai News · ClawHub's context-aware review of the artifact, metadata, and declared behavior.

Scanner verdict

ReviewMar 2, 2026, 7:05 AM

Verdict: Review
Confidence: high
Model: gpt-5-mini
Summary: The skill mostly matches a news-aggregator, but its documentation, declared requirements, and runtime code are inconsistent in multiple places (missing binary declaration, claimed web-search/Tavily support not implemented, conflicting docs), so you should review before installing.
Guidance: This skill appears to be a simple AI news aggregator, but the documentation, metadata, and code are not consistent. Before installing: (1) Inspect scripts/ai_news.py yourself — it only fetches HackerNews, GitHub (API), and ArXiv; it does NOT implement Tavily/Brave search despite the docs saying so. (2) If you want automatic sending, ensure the 'openclaw' CLI exists on your system (the code calls it via subprocess) — the skill metadata did not declare that binary. (3) Treat the Tavily/Brave API key guidance as optional/unclear: the script doesn't read TAVILY_API_KEY, so storing keys in ~/.openclaw/.env may be unnecessary and you should avoid putting secrets there unless the code explicitly uses them. (4) Consider running the script locally (python3 scripts/ai_news.py) to verify behavior and outputs before adding cron jobs or granting runtime access. (5) If you expect web-search integration, ask the author for the updated code or a clear changelog — the mismatch could be an unfinished feature or a packaging mistake.

Review Dimensions

Purpose & Capability: concernName/description claim a multi-source aggregator including web search (Brave/Tavily). The actual Python script implements HackerNews (Algolia), GitHub (GitHub API), and ArXiv feeds — there is no implementation for Brave or Tavily web search in the code. Docs also contradict each other (README states 'No API Key' while SKILL.md recommends TAVILY_API_KEY). This mismatch implies the declared capability (real-time web search integration) is not present in the shipped code.
Instruction Scope: concernSKILL.md instructs configuring TAVILY_API_KEY in ~/.openclaw/.env, installing an openclaw-tavily-search skill, and using 'openclaw configure --section web'. The script does not read any Tavily/Brave env vars or call any Tavily/Brave endpoints. SKILL.md also shows cron examples referencing the skill path; the script itself performs network fetches and can send messages via the 'openclaw' CLI, which the documentation uses but the declared required binaries do not include. These instructions are out-of-sync with the actual runtime behavior.
Install Mechanism: okNo install spec (instruction-only skill plus a small Python script). Nothing is downloaded or extracted by the skill itself, which minimizes installer risk.
Credentials: noteThe skill declares no required environment variables, but SKILL.md recommends storing a TAVILY_API_KEY and mentions Brave Search API keys. The script does not use these variables. Also the script invokes the 'openclaw' CLI via subprocess to send messages but 'openclaw' is not listed as a required binary. This is a documentation/manifest mismatch rather than direct credential exfiltration, but it could cause silent failures or misconfiguration if you follow the docs.
Persistence & Privilege: okalways is false and the skill does not request persistent platform privileges. It suggests adding a cron job (user-controlled) but does not modify other skills or global configs automatically.