| name | hpc |
| description | Launch and manage jobs on the HPC cluster (INVOKE ONLY when the user explicitly runs /hpc or asks to use this skill). |
/hpc — launch work on the HPC cluster
You run the hpc launcher yourself to put the user's work on the cluster. That is
the point of the tool — do not hand commands to the user to run, unless asked.
1. Find the launcher
-
Look for its path in the user's global ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, under an
## hpc-launcher location heading.
-
If it isn't there, discover it: run command -v hpc with the Bash tool
(Git Bash) and take the directory of that path. If that fails, ask the user
where the hpc-launcher folder is.
-
Record it so later calls skip discovery — append to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md:
## hpc-launcher location
The `hpc` launcher (for the /hpc skill) is at: `<absolute path>`
2. Read the launcher's own docs
<path>/README.md — what it does, setup, every command. Always.
<path>/clusters/<HPC_CLUSTER>.md — facts for the cluster this repo targets
(HPC_CLUSTER in .hpc.env; hpc clusters lists them). Read it when running or
configuring a job — partitions, filesystem, gotchas (e.g. Roihu's split login
hosts + 24 h SSH cert).
<path>/AGENTS.md, DESIGN.md, TODO.md — only when you need rationale,
limitations, or current status.
Read the live files. Do not rely on remembered defaults (partitions, modules,
torch module/wheel, walltimes) — they live in the cluster's clusters/<name>.env
profile and hpc-env.example, not in your memory.
3. Run it yourself
hpc is bash; use the Bash tool (Git Bash / MSYS), not PowerShell.
- Execute the commands directly —
hpc run, hpc test, hpc status, hpc logs,
hpc collect, hpc upload, hpc wait, hpc init, etc. Don't delegate them to
the user. (For unattended/scripted use, hpc wait blocks until a job is done and
exits its rc, and hpc status --json / hpc logs --once are non-interactive —
see the README.)
- Auth: the user's ssh-agent holds the cluster key. If an
hpc call fails on SSH
auth, ask the user to load it once (ssh-add their key), then keep running the
commands yourself.
- A project needs a
.hpc.env (run hpc init) before hpc run / hpc test.
4. Carry out the user's request, following the docs you just read.