Setup & Installation
openclaw skills install @hubentu/coala
Or with the ClawHub CLI, for registry-managed skill folders outside a full OpenClaw workspace:
npx clawhub install coala
What This Skill Does
coala-client is a CLI tool for chatting with OpenAI-compatible LLMs and connecting to MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. It supports importing CWL toolsets as MCP servers and loading skills into chat context. Works with OpenAI, Gemini, and Ollama providers.
Combines LLM chat and MCP tool execution in a single CLI without needing separate clients for each provider or server.
When to use it
- Chat with a local Ollama model via terminal
- Import a CWL toolset and call its tools from the command line
- Switch between OpenAI and Gemini mid-session
- Load a skill into context with /skill to guide the LLM
- Run a one-off query against MCP tools with coala ask
Example Workflow
Here's how your AI assistant might use this skill in practice.
INPUT
User asks: how do I query gene TP53 data using an MCP toolset?
AGENT
- 1Run coala mcp-import gene-variant <URL-to-cwl> to import the toolset
- 2Run coala mcp-list gene-variant to inspect available tools and their schemas
- 3Start coala chat to enter interactive mode
- 4Call the tool directly with coala mcp-call gene-variant.ncbi_datasets_gene --args '{"data": [{"gene": "TP53", "taxon": "human"}]}'
OUTPUT
JSON response from the MCP tool with gene data for TP53
Requirements
Accounts, API keys, or tools you or your AI assistant may need to set up while using this skill.
OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable (for OpenAI provider)GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable (for Gemini provider)coala-client binary installed via uv