OpenClaw

Use OpenClaw with YouThumb to prepare thumbnails for your upcoming videos, one project per video. The skill gives the agent the API contract; your API key determines which account and credits it uses.

Install the skill for OpenClaw

Run the command on the machine where OpenClaw runs, from the workspace you use with the agent:
bash
npx skills add https://github.com/mikecodeur/skills --skill youthumb-api
Choose OpenClaw when prompted. To select it explicitly:
bash
npx skills add https://github.com/mikecodeur/skills --skill youthumb-api --agent openclaw
Choose an installation scope your OpenClaw instance can read. If the agent runs on a server, installing the skill on your laptop alone will not make it available there. Open a new session and ask it to use youthumb-api.

Connect your YouThumb account

In YouThumb, open Account → API Keys and create a key. Make it available as YOUTHUMB_API_KEY in OpenClaw's runtime:
bash
export YOUTHUMB_API_KEY="your-api-key"
A background service or container needs this variable in its own environment. Avoid putting the key in a shared chat or a tracked workspace file.

Verify the account

text
Use the youthumb-api skill and the API key from your environment.
List my persons and available templates. Do not generate anything.

Prepare a weekly batch

text
Here are the titles of my next three videos. For each one, create a
thumbnail project with my person "Mike" and the free preset, and write
a prompt that matches the topic. Create the projects but do not start
any generation. Show me the three prompts.
Review the prompts, then ask OpenClaw to start the ones you approve. Generations run one after the other: the API is rate limited, and each generation consumes credits.

Limits

The skill does not schedule anything by itself, publish to YouTube or edit your video. A recurring batch must be configured separately in your agent; installing the skill does not create a schedule.

Troubleshooting

  • Skill not found: check the installation scope and start a new session where the skill was installed.
  • 401: check the key and whether it was revoked. The API is strictly rate limited, so a 401 right after many calls can also mean the agent should wait before trying again.
  • 402: your credits are insufficient for the generation.
  • 429: too many calls; ask the agent to wait 30 to 45 seconds instead of retrying in a loop.
See Agents and the Developer API.