An agentic research tool for exploring human-curated collections and conceptual connection graphs on Are.na.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install arena-research-skill
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install arena-research-skill using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is Arena Research?
Arena Research is a sophisticated tool designed for agentic exploration of Are.na, a platform known for its high-signal, human-curated content. Unlike traditional search engines that focus on keywords, this skill allows users to dive into the organizational logic of collections, uncovering how people structure ideas across various topics like design, cultural analysis, and conceptual research. By leveraging Openclaw Skills, developers and researchers can automate the process of navigating the Are.na connection graph to find adjacent ideas and influential curators.
The skill enables deep-diving into specific blocks, whether they are links, text, or images, and identifies the most valuable external references. It is particularly effective for creative research where visual inspiration and human-vetted resources are more critical than real-time data or generic web results. By analyzing the structure of channels, users gain insights not just from the content itself, but from the way it is categorized and connected by the community.
Arena Research Use Cases
- Conducting design research and gathering visual inspiration for creative projects.
- Performing cultural analysis by exploring how different communities organize specific concepts.
- Building comprehensive reading lists or resource bibliographies based on expert curation.
- Identifying key thought leaders and curators within specific niche domains.
- Discovering conceptual neighbors and adjacent ideas through graph-based exploration.
How Arena Research Works
- Decompose the primary research question into multiple search strategies and keywords from different angles.
- Execute targeted searches across channels and blocks to assess depth, item counts, and relevance.
- Explore high-quality channels to extract specific content types like external links, text annotations, or images.
- Traverse the connection graph using block-level lookups to see where specific content is shared across different collections.
- Identify and profile top curators who have built significant authority or ownership in the topic area.
- Synthesize findings into a structured briefing, grouping insights by conceptual themes and providing a metadata audit trail.
Arena Research Setup
Navigate to the skill directory and ensure your environment variables are configured with the necessary API tokens.
cd ~/clawd/skills/arena-research
source ~/.config/env/global.env
Install dependencies and run the search command to begin your research:
bun run arena-search.ts search "your topic" --type Channel --save
Arena Research Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill organizes data through a file-based caching system and structured markdown output for research briefings. Use the following schema for understanding data organization:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Cache | Stored in data/cache/ with a default TTL to optimize API usage and speed. |
| Drafts | Generated research reports saved to ~/clawd/drafts/ with timestamped filenames. |
| API Wrapper | Handles search, channel, block, and user endpoints for Are.na v3. |
| Formatters | Converts raw JSON API responses into terminal-friendly or markdown-ready text. |
Arena Research Advanced Features
- Graph Traversal: Follow block connections to discover how different users contextualize the same content across the platform.
- Agentic Research Loop: Automates the decomposition, exploration, and synthesis of complex research tasks within Openclaw Skills.
- Multi-type Filtering: Narrow results specifically to Text, Image, Link, Attachment, or Embed types for focused discovery.
- Authentication Support: Access private channels and followed content using an authenticated ARENA_ACCESS_TOKEN.
- Smart Sorting: Order results by connections, score, or creation date to find the most influential collections first.
SKILL.md
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