So what happens when you boot OpenClaw? A file watcher scans the ~/.openclaw/skills/ directory. For each subdirectory it finds, the loader reads SKILL.md and parses the YAML frontmatter. It then checks every entry in the requires block against the current system.
Binaries are resolved via which and environment variables via process.env. Config values come from your settings file. If every requirement passes, the skill is added to the active tool registry. If any single check fails, the entire skill is skipped. This means you can drop a skill folder onto any machine and OpenClaw adapts without manual intervention.