Merge PR #2959: feat(skills): add disabled_skills config to exclude skills from loading

feat(skills): add disabled_skills config to exclude skills from loading

README.md

@@ -1597,6 +1597,26 @@ When enabled, all incoming messages — regardless of which channel they arrive
 
 > This is designed for single-user, multi-device setups. It is **off by default** — existing users see zero behavior change.
 
+### Disabled Skills
+
+nanobot ships with built-in skills, and your workspace can also define custom skills under `skills/`. If you want to hide specific skills from the agent, set `agents.defaults.disabledSkills` to a list of skill directory names:
+
+```json
+{
+  "agents": {
+    "defaults": {
+      "disabledSkills": ["github", "weather"]
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Disabled skills are excluded from the main agent's skill summary, from always-on skill injection, and from subagent skill summaries. This is useful when some bundled skills are unnecessary for your deployment or should not be exposed to end users.
+
+| Option | Default | Description |
+|--------|---------|-------------|
+| `agents.defaults.disabledSkills` | `[]` | List of skill directory names to exclude from loading. Applies to both built-in skills and workspace skills. |
+
 ## 🧩 Multiple Instances
 
 Run multiple nanobot instances simultaneously with separate configs and runtime data. Use `--config` as the main entrypoint. Optionally pass `--workspace` during `onboard` when you want to initialize or update the saved workspace for a specific instance.

nanobot/agent/context.py

@@ -22,11 +22,11 @@ class ContextBuilder:
     _MAX_RECENT_HISTORY = 50
     _RUNTIME_CONTEXT_END = "[/Runtime Context]"
 
-    def __init__(self, workspace: Path, timezone: str | None = None):
+    def __init__(self, workspace: Path, timezone: str | None = None, disabled_skills: list[str] | None = None):
         self.workspace = workspace
         self.timezone = timezone
         self.memory = MemoryStore(workspace)
-        self.skills = SkillsLoader(workspace)
+        self.skills = SkillsLoader(workspace, disabled_skills=set(disabled_skills) if disabled_skills else None)
 
     def build_system_prompt(
         self,

nanobot/agent/loop.py

@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ class AgentLoop:
         session_ttl_minutes: int = 0,
         hooks: list[AgentHook] | None = None,
         unified_session: bool = False,
+        disabled_skills: list[str] | None = None,
     ):
         from nanobot.config.schema import ExecToolConfig, WebToolsConfig
 
@@ -184,7 +185,7 @@ class AgentLoop:
         self._last_usage: dict[str, int] = {}
         self._extra_hooks: list[AgentHook] = hooks or []
 
-        self.context = ContextBuilder(workspace, timezone=timezone)
+        self.context = ContextBuilder(workspace, timezone=timezone, disabled_skills=disabled_skills)
         self.sessions = session_manager or SessionManager(workspace)
         self.tools = ToolRegistry()
         self.runner = AgentRunner(provider)
@@ -197,6 +198,7 @@ class AgentLoop:
             max_tool_result_chars=self.max_tool_result_chars,
             exec_config=self.exec_config,
             restrict_to_workspace=restrict_to_workspace,
+            disabled_skills=disabled_skills,
         )
         self._unified_session = unified_session
         self._running = False

nanobot/agent/skills.py

@@ -28,10 +28,11 @@ class SkillsLoader:
     specific tools or perform certain tasks.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, workspace: Path, builtin_skills_dir: Path | None = None):
+    def __init__(self, workspace: Path, builtin_skills_dir: Path | None = None, disabled_skills: set[str] | None = None):
         self.workspace = workspace
         self.workspace_skills = workspace / "skills"
         self.builtin_skills = builtin_skills_dir or BUILTIN_SKILLS_DIR
+        self.disabled_skills = disabled_skills or set()
 
     def _skill_entries_from_dir(self, base: Path, source: str, *, skip_names: set[str] | None = None) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
         if not base.exists():
@@ -66,6 +67,9 @@ class SkillsLoader:
                 self._skill_entries_from_dir(self.builtin_skills, "builtin", skip_names=workspace_names)
             )
 
+        if self.disabled_skills:
+            skills = [s for s in skills if s["name"] not in self.disabled_skills]
+
         if filter_unavailable:
             return [skill for skill in skills if self._check_requirements(self._get_skill_meta(skill["name"]))]
         return skills

nanobot/agent/subagent.py

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ class SubagentManager:
         web_config: "WebToolsConfig | None" = None,
         exec_config: "ExecToolConfig | None" = None,
         restrict_to_workspace: bool = False,
+        disabled_skills: list[str] | None = None,
     ):
         from nanobot.config.schema import ExecToolConfig
 
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ class SubagentManager:
         self.max_tool_result_chars = max_tool_result_chars
         self.exec_config = exec_config or ExecToolConfig()
         self.restrict_to_workspace = restrict_to_workspace
+        self.disabled_skills = set(disabled_skills or [])
         self.runner = AgentRunner(provider)
         self._running_tasks: dict[str, asyncio.Task[None]] = {}
         self._session_tasks: dict[str, set[str]] = {}  # session_key -> {task_id, ...}
@@ -236,7 +238,10 @@ class SubagentManager:
         from nanobot.agent.skills import SkillsLoader
 
         time_ctx = ContextBuilder._build_runtime_context(None, None)
-        skills_summary = SkillsLoader(self.workspace).build_skills_summary()
+        skills_summary = SkillsLoader(
+            self.workspace,
+            disabled_skills=self.disabled_skills,
+        ).build_skills_summary()
         return render_template(
             "agent/subagent_system.md",
             time_ctx=time_ctx,

nanobot/cli/commands.py

@@ -591,6 +591,7 @@ def serve(
         channels_config=runtime_config.channels,
         timezone=runtime_config.agents.defaults.timezone,
         unified_session=runtime_config.agents.defaults.unified_session,
+        disabled_skills=runtime_config.agents.defaults.disabled_skills,
         session_ttl_minutes=runtime_config.agents.defaults.session_ttl_minutes,
     )
 
@@ -684,6 +685,7 @@ def gateway(
         channels_config=config.channels,
         timezone=config.agents.defaults.timezone,
         unified_session=config.agents.defaults.unified_session,
+        disabled_skills=config.agents.defaults.disabled_skills,
         session_ttl_minutes=config.agents.defaults.session_ttl_minutes,
     )
 
@@ -917,6 +919,7 @@ def agent(
         channels_config=config.channels,
         timezone=config.agents.defaults.timezone,
         unified_session=config.agents.defaults.unified_session,
+        disabled_skills=config.agents.defaults.disabled_skills,
         session_ttl_minutes=config.agents.defaults.session_ttl_minutes,
     )
     restart_notice = consume_restart_notice_from_env()

nanobot/config/schema.py

@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ class AgentDefaults(Base):
     reasoning_effort: str | None = None  # low / medium / high / adaptive - enables LLM thinking mode
     timezone: str = "UTC"  # IANA timezone, e.g. "Asia/Shanghai", "America/New_York"
     unified_session: bool = False  # Share one session across all channels (single-user multi-device)
+    disabled_skills: list[str] = Field(default_factory=list)  # Skill names to exclude from loading (e.g. ["summarize", "skill-creator"])
     session_ttl_minutes: int = Field(
         default=0,
         ge=0,

nanobot/nanobot.py

@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ class Nanobot:
             mcp_servers=config.tools.mcp_servers,
             timezone=defaults.timezone,
             unified_session=defaults.unified_session,
+            disabled_skills=defaults.disabled_skills,
             session_ttl_minutes=defaults.session_ttl_minutes,
         )
         return cls(loop)

tests/agent/test_skills_loader.py

@@ -250,3 +250,63 @@ def test_list_skills_openclaw_metadata_parsed_for_requirements(
     assert entries == [
         {"name": "openclaw_skill", "path": str(skill_path), "source": "workspace"},
     ]
+
+
+def test_disabled_skills_excluded_from_list(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    workspace = tmp_path / "ws"
+    ws_skills = workspace / "skills"
+    ws_skills.mkdir(parents=True)
+    _write_skill(ws_skills, "alpha", body="# Alpha")
+    beta_path = _write_skill(ws_skills, "beta", body="# Beta")
+    builtin = tmp_path / "builtin"
+    builtin.mkdir()
+
+    loader = SkillsLoader(workspace, builtin_skills_dir=builtin, disabled_skills={"alpha"})
+    entries = loader.list_skills(filter_unavailable=False)
+    assert len(entries) == 1
+    assert entries[0]["name"] == "beta"
+    assert entries[0]["path"] == str(beta_path)
+
+
+def test_disabled_skills_empty_set_no_effect(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    workspace = tmp_path / "ws"
+    ws_skills = workspace / "skills"
+    ws_skills.mkdir(parents=True)
+    _write_skill(ws_skills, "alpha", body="# Alpha")
+    _write_skill(ws_skills, "beta", body="# Beta")
+    builtin = tmp_path / "builtin"
+    builtin.mkdir()
+
+    loader = SkillsLoader(workspace, builtin_skills_dir=builtin, disabled_skills=set())
+    entries = loader.list_skills(filter_unavailable=False)
+    assert len(entries) == 2
+
+
+def test_disabled_skills_excluded_from_build_skills_summary(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    workspace = tmp_path / "ws"
+    ws_skills = workspace / "skills"
+    ws_skills.mkdir(parents=True)
+    _write_skill(ws_skills, "alpha", body="# Alpha")
+    _write_skill(ws_skills, "beta", body="# Beta")
+    builtin = tmp_path / "builtin"
+    builtin.mkdir()
+
+    loader = SkillsLoader(workspace, builtin_skills_dir=builtin, disabled_skills={"alpha"})
+    summary = loader.build_skills_summary()
+    assert "alpha" not in summary
+    assert "beta" in summary
+
+
+def test_disabled_skills_excluded_from_get_always_skills(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    workspace = tmp_path / "ws"
+    ws_skills = workspace / "skills"
+    ws_skills.mkdir(parents=True)
+    _write_skill(ws_skills, "alpha", metadata_json={"always": True}, body="# Alpha")
+    _write_skill(ws_skills, "beta", metadata_json={"always": True}, body="# Beta")
+    builtin = tmp_path / "builtin"
+    builtin.mkdir()
+
+    loader = SkillsLoader(workspace, builtin_skills_dir=builtin, disabled_skills={"alpha"})
+    always = loader.get_always_skills()
+    assert "alpha" not in always
+    assert "beta" in always

tests/tools/test_search_tools.py

@@ -323,3 +323,27 @@ async def test_subagent_registers_grep_and_glob(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
 
     assert "grep" in captured["tool_names"]
     assert "glob" in captured["tool_names"]
+
+
+def test_subagent_prompt_respects_disabled_skills(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    bus = MessageBus()
+    provider = MagicMock()
+    provider.get_default_model.return_value = "test-model"
+    skills_dir = tmp_path / "skills"
+    (skills_dir / "alpha").mkdir(parents=True)
+    (skills_dir / "alpha" / "SKILL.md").write_text("# Alpha\n\nhidden\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    (skills_dir / "beta").mkdir(parents=True)
+    (skills_dir / "beta" / "SKILL.md").write_text("# Beta\n\nshown\n", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    mgr = SubagentManager(
+        provider=provider,
+        workspace=tmp_path,
+        bus=bus,
+        max_tool_result_chars=4096,
+        disabled_skills=["alpha"],
+    )
+
+    prompt = mgr._build_subagent_prompt()
+
+    assert "alpha" not in prompt
+    assert "beta" in prompt