The latest articles on DEV Community by Hongmei @ OpenClaw (@summer899). https://dev.to/summer899 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3891624%2F2a03b448-de41-4fca-97e2-90582f3f5a77.png https://dev.to/summer899 en Hongmei @ OpenClaw Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:46:09 +0000 https://dev.to/summer899/building-openclaw-security-scanning-ai-agent-configs-and-skills-before-they-bite-2gno https://dev.to/summer899/building-openclaw-security-scanning-ai-agent-configs-and-skills-before-they-bite-2gno <h1> Building OpenClaw Security: Scanning AI Agent Configs and Skills Before They Bite </h1> <p>AI agents are moving from demos to production fast.<br><br> They can call tools, execute workflows, and interact with external systems — which is exactly why they introduce a new class of security risk.</p> <p>I built <strong>OpenClaw Security</strong> to answer a simple question:</p> <blockquote> <p>Before deploying an AI agent, can we quickly scan its configuration and skills for obvious security problems?</p> </blockquote> <p>This post shares the motivation, what the scanner does today, and where I’d love feedback from engineers shipping real agent systems.</p> <h2> Why I started this </h2> <p>In several agent projects, I noticed the same pattern:</p> <ul> <li>teams iterate quickly on prompts, tools, and skills</li> <li>capabilities grow week by week</li> <li>security review happens late (or not at all)</li> </ul> <p>Traditional AppSec tools are essential, but they often don’t understand agent-specific surfaces such as:</p> <ul> <li>tool permission scope</li> <li>skill-level side effects</li> <li>prompt-to-tool execution paths</li> <li>weak or missing guardrails in config</li> </ul> <p>That gap inspired OpenClaw Security.</p> <h2> What OpenClaw Security scans today </h2> <p>OpenClaw Security currently focuses on two practical inputs:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Agent config</strong></li> <li><strong>Skill definitions</strong></li> </ol> <p>The scanner looks for risky patterns and produces actionable findings.</p> <h3> 1) Config scanning </h3> <p>Examples of checks:</p> <ul> <li>overly broad permissions</li> <li>unsafe defaults (e.g., missing constraints)</li> <li>unrestricted external tool access</li> <li>weak runtime policy settings</li> </ul> <h3> 2) Skill scanning </h3> <p>Examples of checks:</p> <ul> <li>dangerous command execution patterns</li> <li>unvalidated input flowing into sensitive operations</li> <li>network/file/system operations with excessive privilege</li> <li>risky combinations of skill capability + missing guardrails</li> </ul> <p>The goal is not “perfect formal verification.”<br><br> The goal is a fast, useful <strong>first security pass</strong> that helps teams catch high-risk issues early.</p> <h2> A simple risk model </h2> <p>I use a practical model while designing checks:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Exposure</strong>: What can this agent/skill reach?</li> <li> <strong>Impact</strong>: If abused, what damage can happen?</li> <li> <strong>Control</strong>: What guardrails reduce misuse or prompt injection?</li> </ul> <p>A finding is most concerning when all three are high:<br> high exposure + high impact + weak control.</p> <p>This helps prioritize fixes instead of generating noisy “security theater.”</p> <h2> Example output format </h2> <p>A good scanner output should be easy to triage.<br><br> I aim for findings that include:</p> <ul> <li>severity</li> <li>location (config key / skill)</li> <li>why it matters</li> <li>concrete remediation suggestion</li> </ul> <p>For example:</p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight plaintext"><code> text [HIGH] skill.deploy_shell Reason: Executes shell commands with broad input surface. Risk: Prompt injection may trigger arbitrary command execution. Fix: Restrict command allowlist + require parameter validation + sandbox execution. ## Try it out I am currently looking for early feedback from the community. If you are building or deploying AI agents, you can try the scanner for free here: 👉 **[OpenClaw Security Scanner](https://openclawsecurity.agency)** I’d love to hear your thoughts: What other security checks would be most useful for your specific agent stack? Let me know in the comments! </code></pre> </div> ai security agents webdev