The topic of civil servant capacity has been concerned and discussed in the academic field continuously and a large number of literature results have been formed. It is necessary to review and summarize the existing researches periodically to enhance knowledge accumulation and reproduction of this topic. Therefore，this paper takes the large sample literature of civil servant capacity in the past thirty years as the data source，uses CiteSpace to draw the knowledge map of civil servant capacity research，so as to analyze the evolution of research theme，research hotspot and development trend in the field of civil servant competence. It is found that the research on civil servants capacity has formed five topic areas of key abilities，including civil servants political ability，administrative ability，legal ability，governance ability and information technology ability. In the future，on the one hand，it is necessary to deepen and innovate the research topics of civil servant ability，especially to focus on the digital adaptability of civil servants in the digital era. On the other hand，it is urgently for the academia to apply scientific research methods and innovative research horizons in research of civil servants abilities.