A powerful management and monitoring skill for local Pi-hole instances that provides deep insights and control via CLI and FTL database queries.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install pihole-ctl
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 pihole-ctl 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 Pi-hole Controller (pihole-ctl)?
The pihole-ctl skill allows AI agents to interface directly with a local Pi-hole instance, serving as a comprehensive Network Guardian. It bridges the gap between natural language requests and the Pi-hole FTL database, enabling users to query network statistics, manage service states, and update blocklists through a simple conversational interface. By utilizing this integration within Openclaw Skills, developers and home lab enthusiasts can automate network health checks and ad-blocking management without manual terminal input.
This skill is designed for high performance and security, using native Python scripts to query the SQLite database safely. It provides real-time feedback on blocked ads, top clients, and domain activity, making it an essential addition to any setup involving Openclaw Skills for users who want to maintain a clean and efficient local network.
Pi-hole Controller (pihole-ctl) Use Cases
- Monitoring the total number of ads blocked in the last 24 hours.
- Identifying the most active or chatty clients on the local network.
- Toggling ad-blocking on or off for specific maintenance windows.
- Automating Gravity updates to ensure blocklists are always current.
- Auditing top blocked domains to verify network security policies.
How Pi-hole Controller (pihole-ctl) Works
- The user provides a natural language prompt such as "how many ads were blocked today?" or "pihole status".
- The Openclaw Skills agent parses the request and maps it to the corresponding management command or database query.
- For statistical requests, the agent executes the
query_db.pyscript to read the FTL database. - For administrative tasks, the agent triggers the Pi-hole CLI to modify the service state (enable/disable).
- The skill processes the JSON output or CLI results and returns a structured summary to the user.
Pi-hole Controller (pihole-ctl) Setup
To get started with this skill, ensure the environment has the necessary permissions to access the Pi-hole database and CLI tools.
- Add the current user to the pihole group to grant database read access:
sudo usermod -aG pihole $USER
- Verify the Python environment can access the FTL database:
python3 scripts/query_db.py --summary --hours 24
- Ensure the
piholecommand is available in the system PATH for management functions.
Pi-hole Controller (pihole-ctl) Data Schema & Taxonomy
The pihole-ctl skill interacts with the Pi-hole FTL database located at /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.db. It organizes output based on the following query parameters:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| --summary | Returns a high-level overview of network activity (Last 24h). |
| --hours | Defines the time window for the statistical query. |
| --top | Retrieves a list of top domains or clients based on query volume. |
| --status | Checks the current operational state of the Pi-hole service. |
Pi-hole Controller (pihole-ctl) Advanced Features
- Safe read-only SQLite integration using native Python
sqlite3libraries. - Support for identifying top-blocked domains to assist in network auditing.
- Remote management of the Gravity database through automated CLI triggers.
- Granular statistics retrieval that can be piped into other Openclaw Skills for advanced reporting.
SKILL.md
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