Explore/MCP Server/Automation/skills

skills

MCP Server

The 'skills' CLI is an open agent skills ecosystem tool that allows users to install and manage skills for various AI agents. It supports multiple source formats for skill installation, including GitHub repositories, GitLab, and local paths. Users can target specific agents or skills, list available skills, and customize installation options.

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FirecrawlToolhouseGitHub CopilotSemantic KernelZapierWindsurfBoltComposioOpenCodeCodex CLILangChainSuperAgentE2BAutoGenBrowserbaseManusActivepiecesLovableLettaAntigravityRoo Coden8nApifyKiro CLIv0SteelAmpCursorClaude CodeAiderCrewAIJulepMakeDevinReplit AgentOpenClawContinueCline
Tags
agent-skillsclivercelai-agentsskill-managementdeveloper-tools
README.md

skills

The CLI for the open agent skills ecosystem.

<!-- agent-list:start -->

Supports OpenCode, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and 37 more.

<!-- agent-list:end -->

Install a Skill

npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills

Source Formats

# GitHub shorthand (owner/repo)
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills

# Full GitHub URL
npx skills add https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills

# Direct path to a skill in a repo
npx skills add https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/tree/main/skills/web-design-guidelines

# GitLab URL
npx skills add https://gitlab.com/org/repo

# Any git URL
npx skills add git@github.com:vercel-labs/agent-skills.git

# Local path
npx skills add ./my-local-skills

Options

OptionDescription
-g, --globalInstall to user directory instead of project
-a, --agent <agents...><!-- agent-names:start -->Target specific agents (e.g., claude-code, codex). See Available Agents<!-- agent-names:end -->
-s, --skill <skills...>Install specific skills by name (use '*' for all skills)
-l, --listList available skills without installing
--copyCopy files instead of symlinking to agent directories
-y, --yesSkip all confirmation prompts
--allInstall all skills to all agents without prompts

Examples

# List skills in a repository
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --list

# Install specific skills
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill frontend-design --skill skill-creator

# Install a skill with spaces in the name (must be quoted)
npx skills add owner/repo --skill "Convex Best Practices"

# Install to specific agents
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills -a claude-code -a opencode

# Non-interactive installation (CI/CD friendly)
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill frontend-design -g -a claude-code -y

# Install all skills from a repo to all agents
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --all

# Install all skills to specific agents
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill '*' -a claude-code

# Install specific skills to all agents
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --agent '*' --skill frontend-design

Installation Scope

ScopeFlagLocationUse Case
Project(default)./<agent>/skills/Committed with your project, shared with team
Global-g~/<agent>/skills/Available across all projects

Installation Methods

When installing interactively, you can choose:

MethodDescription
Symlink (Recommended)Creates symlinks from each agent to a canonical copy. Single source of truth, easy updates.
CopyCreates independent copies for each agent. Use when symlinks aren't supported.

Other Commands

CommandDescription
npx skills listList installed skills (alias: ls)
npx skills find [query]Search for skills interactively or by keyword
npx skills remove [skills]Remove installed skills from agents
npx skills checkCheck for available skill updates
npx skills updateUpdate all installed skills to latest versions
npx skills init [name]Create a new SKILL.md template

skills list

List all installed skills. Similar to npm ls.

# List all installed skills (project and global)
npx skills list

# List only global skills
npx skills ls -g

# Filter by specific agents
npx skills ls -a claude-code -a cursor

skills find

Search for skills interactively or by keyword.

# Interactive search (fzf-style)
npx skills find

# Search by keyword
npx skills find typescript

skills check / skills update

# Check if any installed skills have updates
npx skills check

# Update all skills to latest versions
npx skills update

skills init

# Create SKILL.md in current directory
npx skills init

# Create a new skill in a subdirectory
npx skills init my-skill

skills remove

Remove installed skills from agents.

# Remove interactively (select from installed skills)
npx skills remove

# Remove specific skill by name
npx skills remove web-design-guidelines

# Remove multiple skills
npx skills remove frontend-design web-design-guidelines

# Remove from global scope
npx skills remove --global web-design-guidelines

# Remove from specific agents only
npx skills remove --agent claude-code cursor my-skill

# Remove all installed skills without confirmation
npx skills remove --all

# Remove all skills from a specific agent
npx skills remove --skill '*' -a cursor

# Remove a specific skill from all agents
npx skills remove my-skill --agent '*'

# Use 'rm' alias
npx skills rm my-skill
OptionDescription
-g, --globalRemove from global scope (~/) instead of project
-a, --agentRemove from specific agents (use '*' for all)
-s, --skillSpecify skills to remove (use '*' for all)
-y, --yesSkip confirmation prompts
--allShorthand for --skill '*' --agent '*' -y

What are Agent Skills?

Agent skills are reusable instruction sets that extend your coding agent's capabilities. They're defined in SKILL.md files with YAML frontmatter containing a name and description.

Skills let agents perform specialized tasks like:

  • Generating release notes from git history
  • Creating PRs following your team's conventions
  • Integrating with external tools (Linear, Notion, etc.)

Discover skills at skills.sh

Supported Agents

Skills can be installed to any of these agents:

<!-- supported-agents:start -->
Agent--agentProject PathGlobal Path
Amp, Kimi Code CLI, Replit, Universalamp, kimi-cli, replit, universal.agents/skills/~/.config/agents/skills/
Antigravityantigravity.agent/skills/~/.gemini/antigravity/skills/
Augmentaugment.augment/skills/~/.augment/skills/
Claude Codeclaude-code.claude/skills/~/.claude/skills/
OpenClawopenclawskills/~/.openclaw/skills/
Clinecline.cline/skills/~/.cline/skills/
CodeBuddycodebuddy.codebuddy/skills/~/.codebuddy/skills/
Codexcodex.agents/skills/~/.codex/skills/
Command Codecommand-code.commandcode/skills/~/.commandcode/skills/
Continuecontinue.continue/skills/~/.continue/skills/
Cortex Codecortex.cortex/skills/~/.snowflake/cortex/skills/
Crushcrush.crush/skills/~/.config/crush/skills/
Cursorcursor.agents/skills/~/.cursor/skills/
Droiddroid.factory/skills/~/.factory/skills/
Gemini CLIgemini-cli.agents/skills/~/.gemini/skills/
GitHub Copilotgithub-copilot.agents/skills/~/.copilot/skills/
Goosegoose.goose/skills/~/.config/goose/skills/
Juniejunie.junie/skills/~/.junie/skills/
iFlow CLIiflow-cli.iflow/skills/~/.iflow/skills/
Kilo Codekilo.kilocode/skills/~/.kilocode/skills/
Kiro CLIkiro-cli.kiro/skills/~/.kiro/skills/
Kodekode.kode/skills/~/.kode/skills/
MCPJammcpjam.mcpjam/skills/~/.mcpjam/skills/
Mistral Vibemistral-vibe.vibe/skills/~/.vibe/skills/
Muxmux.mux/skills/~/.mux/skills/
OpenCodeopencode.agents/skills/~/.config/opencode/skills/
OpenHandsopenhands.openhands/skills/~/.openhands/skills/
Pipi.pi/skills/~/.pi/agent/skills/
Qoderqoder.qoder/skills/~/.qoder/skills/
Qwen Codeqwen-code.qwen/skills/~/.qwen/skills/
Roo Coderoo.roo/skills/~/.roo/skills/
Traetrae.trae/skills/~/.trae/skills/
Trae CNtrae-cn.trae/skills/~/.trae-cn/skills/
Windsurfwindsurf.windsurf/skills/~/.codeium/windsurf/skills/
Zencoderzencoder.zencoder/skills/~/.zencoder/skills/
Neovateneovate.neovate/skills/~/.neovate/skills/
Pochipochi.pochi/skills/~/.pochi/skills/
AdaLadal.adal/skills/~/.adal/skills/
<!-- supported-agents:end -->

[!NOTE] Kiro CLI users: After installing skills, manually add them to your custom agent's resources in .kiro/agents/<agent>.json:

{
  "resources": ["skill://.kiro/skills/**/SKILL.md"]
}

The CLI automatically detects which coding agents you have installed. If none are detected, you'll be prompted to select which agents to install to.

Creating Skills

Skills are directories containing a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter:

---
name: my-skill
description: What this skill does and when to use it
---

# My Skill

Instructions for the agent to follow when this skill is activated.

## When to Use

Describe the scenarios where this skill should be used.

## Steps

1. First, do this
2. Then, do that

Required Fields

  • name: Unique identifier (lowercase, hyphens allowed)
  • description: Brief explanation of what the skill does

Optional Fields

  • metadata.internal: Set to true to hide the skill from normal discovery. Internal skills are only visible and installable when INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS=1 is set. Useful for work-in-progress skills or skills meant only for internal tooling.
---
name: my-internal-skill
description: An internal skill not shown by default
metadata:
  internal: true
---

Skill Discovery

The CLI searches for skills in these locations within a repository:

<!-- skill-discovery:start -->
  • Root directory (if it contains SKILL.md)
  • skills/
  • skills/.curated/
  • skills/.experimental/
  • skills/.system/
  • .agents/skills/
  • .agent/skills/
  • .augment/skills/
  • .claude/skills/
  • ./skills/
  • .cline/skills/
  • .codebuddy/skills/
  • .commandcode/skills/
  • .continue/skills/
  • .cortex/skills/
  • .crush/skills/
  • .factory/skills/
  • .goose/skills/
  • .junie/skills/
  • .iflow/skills/
  • .kilocode/skills/
  • .kiro/skills/
  • .kode/skills/
  • .mcpjam/skills/
  • .vibe/skills/
  • .mux/skills/
  • .openhands/skills/
  • .pi/skills/
  • .qoder/skills/
  • .qwen/skills/
  • .roo/skills/
  • .trae/skills/
  • .windsurf/skills/
  • .zencoder/skills/
  • .neovate/skills/
  • .pochi/skills/
  • .adal/skills/
<!-- skill-discovery:end -->

Plugin Manifest Discovery

If .claude-plugin/marketplace.json or .claude-plugin/plugin.json exists, skills declared in those files are also discovered:

// .claude-plugin/marketplace.json
{
  "metadata": { "pluginRoot": "./plugins" },
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "my-plugin",
      "source": "my-plugin",
      "skills": ["./skills/review", "./skills/test"]
    }
  ]
}

This enables compatibility with the Claude Code plugin marketplace ecosystem.

If no skills are found in standard locations, a recursive search is performed.

Compatibility

Skills are generally compatible across agents since they follow a shared Agent Skills specification. However, some features may be agent-specific:

FeatureOpenCodeOpenHandsClaude CodeClineCodeBuddyCodexCommand CodeKiro CLICursorAntigravityRoo CodeGithub CopilotAmpOpenClawNeovatePiQoderZencoder
Basic skillsYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
allowed-toolsYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNo
context: forkNoNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
HooksNoNoYesYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo

Troubleshooting

"No skills found"

Ensure the repository contains valid SKILL.md files with both name and description in the frontmatter.

Skill not loading in agent

  • Verify the skill was installed to the correct path
  • Check the agent's documentation for skill loading requirements
  • Ensure the SKILL.md frontmatter is valid YAML

Permission errors

Ensure you have write access to the target directory.

Environment Variables

VariableDescription
INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLSSet to 1 or true to show and install skills marked as internal: true
DISABLE_TELEMETRYSet to disable anonymous usage telemetry
DO_NOT_TRACKAlternative way to disable telemetry
# Install internal skills
INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS=1 npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --list

Telemetry

This CLI collects anonymous usage data to help improve the tool. No personal information is collected.

Telemetry is automatically disabled in CI environments.

Related Links

License

MIT