---

name: openclaw-contrib-template
description: Use when a contributor (lawyer, developer, or legal researcher) wants to author a new legal AI skill for the OpenClaw public registry. Defines the exact contribution workflow — fork, template, PR, lawyer review, merge, versioning, and attribution — plus the CC-BY-SA licensing terms that govern all community skills.
license: MIT
metadata:
id: openclaw.contrib-template
category: openclaw
priority: P2
intent: [openclaw, contribution, skill-authoring, community, registry]
related: [openclaw-public-skill-registry, openclaw-eval-harness-shared, openclaw-skill-portability-claude-codex-gemini]
source: Louis — HAQQ Legal AI (github.com/sboghossian/mini-claude-for-legal)
version: "1.0"

OpenClaw — Contribution Template

Purpose

OpenClaw is the open-source layer of the HAQQ Legal AI skill ecosystem. Community members — lawyers, developers, legal researchers, and law students — can contribute legal AI skills that are reviewed, versioned, and published to the public registry. This skill defines the exact process for doing so.

Contribution workflow

Step 1 — Fork the registry repository

Fork github.com/sboghossian/mini-claude-for-legal. Work in a feature branch named skill/<your-skill-id> (e.g., skill/draft-mou-uae).

Step 2 — Create the skill file

Skills live under skills/<category>/<skill-id>/SKILL.md. Create that directory and file. Use the standard SKILL.md frontmatter template:

---
name: <slug matching your directory name>
description: <1-4 sentences, third-person, routing-focused. Start with "Use when…">
license: MIT
metadata:
  id: <category.slug>
  category: <one of: draft | review | kb | research | conversation | router | connector | ops | onboarding | output | ...>
  practice_area: <omit for non-substantive skills>
  jurisdictions: [<LB | KSA | UAE | DIFC | ADGM | QFC | EG | FR | UK | US | EU | OHADA | GCC | __multi__>]
  priority: <P0 | P1 | P2 | P3>
  intent: [<2–6 routing keywords>]
  related: [<related-skill-slugs>]
  source: <your name or org + link if applicable>
  version: "1.0"
---

# Human-Readable Title

[body — see structure guide below]

Step 3 — Write the body

The body length target is 120–320 lines of genuinely useful content. Choose the structure that fits the category:

• Drafting skills: When to use / Required inputs / Document structure / Jurisdictional notes / Drafting standards / Common mistakes / Related skills
• Review / analysis: When to use / Inputs / Review methodology / What to flag / Output format / Jurisdictional notes / Limits & escalation / Related skills
• Knowledge packs: Scope / substantive reference content / How to use / Caveats & currency
• Conversational / behavioral: When this applies / Behavior / Examples / Edge cases / Do not / Related skills

Quality bar — non-negotiable:

• Every sentence must add information a practitioner would act on.
• Do not fabricate statute numbers, article numbers, or case citations.
• If your skill covers MENA jurisdictions, distinguish civil-law (LB, KSA, UAE-onshore, EG, FR) from common-law (DIFC, ADGM, UK) handling.
• Include [[wikilink]] cross-references to related skills using category-slug form.

Step 4 — Submit a pull request

Open a PR from your feature branch against main. The PR description must include:

• Skill category and practice area
• Jurisdictions covered
• Brief rationale: what gap this fills
• Reviewer recommendation: suggest a lawyer (by jurisdiction/practice area) if you know one in the community

Step 5 — Lawyer review

Every skill that touches substantive law requires sign-off from at least one admitted lawyer in a covered jurisdiction before merge. The review process:

• Reviewer comments directly in the PR on any factual, statutory, or jurisdictional issue.
• Author revises and re-requests review.
• Reviewer approves or escalates to a second reviewer.
• Turnaround target: 14 days for community reviewers; expedited for HAQQ-seed skills.

Non-substantive skills (ops, tooling, formatting, connector) do not require lawyer review but still require a maintainer technical review.

Step 6 — Merge and version

On merge the skill receives a canonical version ("1.0"). Subsequent updates increment following semver-lite conventions:

• Patch (1.0 → 1.0.1): typo, minor wording correction, non-substantive.
• Minor (1.0 → 1.1): adds a jurisdiction, new section, or expands substantive content.
• Major (1.0 → 2.0): rewrites core guidance, changes the skill's primary behavior.

Step 7 — Author credit

The contributor's name (or GitHub handle, if preferred) is added to the skill's source field and to the registry author index. Attribution persists through all subsequent versions.

Licensing

All community-contributed skills are published under CC-BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International). This means:

• Anyone may use, adapt, and redistribute the skill.
• Derivative works must carry the same CC-BY-SA licence.
• Attribution to the original author(s) is required.

The underlying software and tooling of the OpenClaw registry is MIT-licensed.

What makes a good contribution

Strong contribution	Weak contribution
Covers a specific jurisdiction with named statutes/frameworks	Generic advice not tied to any legal system
Fills a gap not already covered by an existing skill	Near-duplicate of an existing skill
Written by or reviewed by someone with relevant practice experience	Pure AI-generated content without practitioner review
Includes concrete examples, thresholds, or checklists	Vague guidance that could mean anything
Correctly cross-references related skills	No cross-references

What not to submit

• Content that provides personalized legal advice rather than practitioner guidance.
• Skills whose factual claims you cannot verify (statute numbers, case citations) — omit such claims rather than guess.
• Skills that are brand-marketing for a specific firm or product.
• Duplicate skills — check the registry search before authoring.

Related skills

• [[openclaw-public-skill-registry]] — the registry that houses all contributed skills
• [[openclaw-eval-harness-shared]] — test your skill against the shared evaluation harness before submitting
• [[openclaw-skill-portability-claude-codex-gemini]] — adapt your skill for multiple AI providers