| name | skills-submodule-guide |
| description | Guides how to update skills via submodule, add new skills submodules, and find skills in complex directory structures. Use when the user asks about updating imported skills, adding a new skill library, importing skill repos, or locating skills in assignable_skills. |
Skills Submodule Guide
When working with assignable skills submodules in Agent Topic Lab, follow these procedures.
1. Update Existing Skill Library
When upstream (e.g. AI-Research-SKILLs, anthropics/skills) has new commits:
./scripts/import_skill_repo.sh git@github.com:Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs.git ai-research
./scripts/import_skill_repo.sh git@github.com:anthropics/skills.git anthropics
Restart backend after update.
2. Add New Skills Submodule
- Ensure the repo contains
SKILL.md files (various structures supported).
- Run:
./scripts/import_skill_repo.sh <repo_url> [source_name]
source_name is optional; derived from URL if omitted (e.g. AI-Research-SKILLs → ai-research).- Commit:
_submodules/<source>/, libs/assignable_skills/<source>/, meta.json, .gitmodules.
Examples:
./scripts/import_skill_repo.sh git@github.com:Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs.git./scripts/import_skill_repo.sh git@github.com:anthropics/skills.git anthropics
3. Find Skills in Complex Directories
Discovery Rule
The import script recursively finds all SKILL.md:
- Skill dir = directory containing
SKILL.md
- slug = skill dir name
- category = parent dir name (or
general if at repo root)
Common Structures
| Pattern | Example | category | slug |
|---|
{category}/{skill}/SKILL.md | 01-model-architecture/litgpt/SKILL.md | 01-model-architecture | litgpt |
skills/{skill}/SKILL.md | skills/theme-factory/SKILL.md | skills | theme-factory |
{skill}/SKILL.md at root | 20-ml-paper-writing/SKILL.md | general | 20-ml-paper-writing |
Search Commands
find libs/assignable_skills/_submodules -name "SKILL.md"
cat libs/assignable_skills/ai-research/meta.json | python3 -c "
import json,sys
d=json.load(sys.stdin)
q='rag'
for sid,s in d['skills'].items():
if q in (s.get('name','')+s.get('description','')).lower():
print(sid, s.get('name'))
"
Path Mapping
- Default:
assignable_skills/{source}/{category}/{slug}.md
- Imported (submodule):
assignable_skills/_submodules/{source}/{skills_dir}/{category}/{slug}/SKILL.md — no symlinks; skills_dir in meta (e.g. "." for ai-research, "skills" for anthropics)
- Skill ID:
{source}:{slug} (e.g. ai-research:litgpt). Default source has no prefix.
Quick Reference
| Action | Command |
|---|
| Update/add skill library | ./scripts/import_skill_repo.sh <url> [source] |
| List sources | cat libs/assignable_skills/meta.json |
| List skills by source | cat libs/assignable_skills/<source>/meta.json |
| Find SKILL.md | find libs/assignable_skills/_submodules -name "SKILL.md" |
Related Docs
