Navil Shield — Runtime Security for OpenClaw

VirusTotal scans skills before install. ClawSec checks file integrity. Navil Shield protects at runtime — watching what happens after install, while skills and MCP servers are actively executing.

Static scanning catches 1.7% of threats. Runtime monitoring catches the other 98.3%.

What This Skill Does

Navil Shield wraps every MCP server in your OpenClaw config with a transparent security proxy that:

• Intercepts every tool call in real-time and checks it against 568+ known attack patterns across 30 categories
• Detects behavioral anomalies using 11 statistical detectors with adaptive baselines
• Enforces policies — restrict which tools each agent can see and call
• Connects to the Community Threat Network — attack patterns discovered by other Navil users protect you within seconds
• Logs everything — full audit trail of every tool call, policy decision, and anomaly

Overhead: <3 microseconds per message. You will not notice it.

When to Use This Skill

• User says "secure my setup" or "protect my OpenClaw" or "check my security"
• User is concerned about MCP security, prompt injection, or data exfiltration
• User just heard about ClawHavoc or CVE-2026-25253
• User asks "is my setup safe?" or "audit my skills" or "scan for threats"
• User wants to monitor what their MCP servers are doing
• User wants to reduce token costs by scoping which tools agents can see
• Automatically when new MCP servers or skills are added to the config

First-Time Setup

When the user activates this skill for the first time, follow these steps exactly:

Step 1: Install Navil

pip install navil --break-system-packages 2>/dev/null || pip install navil

Verify installation:

navil --version

If pip is not available, try:

pip3 install navil --break-system-packages 2>/dev/null || pip3 install navil

Step 2: Find the OpenClaw MCP Config

Look for the OpenClaw configuration file. Check these locations in order:

1. ./openclaw.json (current workspace)
2. ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (user config)

If found, extract the MCP server configuration section.

Step 3: Wrap All MCP Servers

Run the one-command setup:

navil wrap <path-to-config> --dry-run

Show the user what will change. If they confirm:

navil wrap <path-to-config>

Tell the user: "Your original config has been backed up automatically. Every MCP server is now monitored by Navil's security proxy. To undo at any time: navil wrap --undo"

Step 4: Run Initial Scan

navil scan <path-to-config>

Present the security score (0-100) and any findings to the user in plain language. Group by severity: CRITICAL first, then HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW.

Step 5: Confirm Threat Network Connection

navil cloud status 2>/dev/null || echo "Running in community mode — threat intelligence active with 48h delay"

Tell the user: "You're connected to the Navil Community Threat Network. Attack patterns discovered by other users will automatically protect your setup. No personal data leaves your machine — only anonymized threat metadata."

Ongoing Protection

After initial setup, this skill provides continuous protection:

When the User Asks "Check My Security" or "Security Status"

Run:

navil scan <path-to-config>

Present the score and any new findings since last check.

When the User Installs a New Skill or MCP Server

After any skill installation from ClawHub or manual MCP config change:

1. Re-run navil scan on the updated config
2. If the new server is not yet wrapped, run navil wrap
3. Report any findings about the new addition

When the User Asks for a Full Audit

Run the penetration test suite:

navil pentest

This runs 11 SAFE-MCP attack simulations (no real network traffic) and reports which threats the current setup catches. Present results as a pass/fail table.

When the User Asks About Token Costs or Tool Bloat

Navil can scope which tools each agent sees, reducing schema tokens by up to 94%:

navil policy check --tool <tool-name> --agent <agent-name> --action read

Explain that creating a policy file at ~/.navil/policy.yaml with tool scopes reduces both security risk and inference cost. Offer to generate a starter policy based on current usage.

When the User Wants to Undo

navil wrap <path-to-config> --undo

This restores the original config from the automatic backup.

Telemetry Transparency

By default, Navil shares anonymized threat metadata with the Community Threat Network. Here is exactly what is sent:

• Sent: anomaly type (e.g. "RATE_SPIKE"), severity, confidence score, tool name, timing metadata
• NOT sent: raw tool arguments, tool responses, file contents, agent prompts, user data
• Agent IDs: one-way HMAC-SHA256 hashed — irreversible, cannot be linked to real identities
• Destination: https://navil-cloud-api.onrender.com/v1/telemetry (see source: navil/cloud/telemetry_sync.py)
• Opt-out: set NAVIL_DISABLE_CLOUD_SYNC=true to stop all telemetry
• Full audit: inspect navil/cloud/telemetry_sync.py in the repo to see exactly what is collected

What Navil Shield Does NOT Do

• It does not replace VirusTotal scanning or ClawSec file integrity checks — those catch different threats at different layers. Use all three together for defense in depth.
• It does not require an account or API key for the free Community tier.
• It does not slow down your agent — 2.7 microsecond overhead per message.
• It does not phone home with your data — only anonymized threat metadata is shared, and you can fully opt out with NAVIL_DISABLE_CLOUD_SYNC=true.

Upgrade to Navil Pro

The free Community tier includes full runtime protection with community threat intelligence (48-hour delay on new patterns).

For real-time threat intel, OIDC identity integration, custom policy rules, and fleet analytics:

navil cloud login

Plans start at $59/month. Details at https://navil.ai

Troubleshooting

• "navil: command not found" — Run pip install navil again, or check that your pip bin directory is in PATH.
• "No MCP servers found in config" — Verify the config path. OpenClaw configs are typically at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.
• "Redis not available" — The shim mode (what navil wrap uses) works without Redis. Redis is only needed for the full proxy mode.
• Undo everything — navil wrap --undo restores your original config from the automatic backup.

Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/navilai/navil
• Documentation: https://navil.ai/docs
• Community Threat Radar: https://navil.ai/radar
• Report an issue: https://github.com/navilai/navil/issues