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Operate the Skillpipe CLI to install, update, validate and propose AI agent skills from a Git-backed source of truth.
| name | skillpipe-cli |
| version | 0.7.0 |
| description | Operate the Skillpipe CLI to install, update, validate and propose AI agent skills from a Git-backed source of truth. |
| author | Skillpipe |
| tags | ["skillpipe","cli","skills","git","github","claude-code","hermes","openclaw","levante"] |
| targets | ["claude-code","hermes","openclaw","levante","custom"] |
Use the skillpipe CLI safely and correctly to:
propose pushes directly to the tracked branch (typically main); pass --pr only when the user explicitly wants a Pull Request for review.Trigger this skill whenever the user:
[REPO_NOT_CONNECTED], [SECRET_DETECTED], [REPO_ALREADY_CONNECTED]).skillpipe report-issue (see "Reporting bugs back to maintainers" below).Do not use this skill for editing skill content itself (that is a separate authoring task) — only for the mechanics of moving skills between the repo, the local config and the target.
Skillpipe has three moving parts the user needs to keep in mind:
<workspace>/.skillpipe/config.json — which repo is connected, which target adapter is active, default install path. Always per-workspace since v0.5.0: skillpipe init creates .skillpipe/ in the current working directory, and every later command resolves the home by walking up from cwd to the nearest .skillpipe/ (with SKILLPIPE_HOME env var as a last-resort override). Two workspaces on the same machine = two independent configs.<workspace>/.skillpipe/lock.json — per-skill record of {version, commit, target, installPath, path, installedAt}.claude-code → ~/.claude/skills/ (user) or <cwd>/.claude/skills/ (project)hermes → ~/.hermes/skills/ (user only; respects HERMES_HOME)openclaw → ~/.openclaw/skills/ (user) or <cwd>/skills/ (project)levante → ~/levante/skills/ (global) or <cwd>/.levante/skills/ (project)custom → whatever path the user configuredSkillpipe also maintains an internal clone of the connected repo, but treat it as an implementation detail. You always edit at the install path. propose handles syncing those edits into the internal cache before commit/push.
A skill is a folder under skills/<name>/ containing at minimum a SKILL.md with YAML frontmatter (name, description; optionally version, targets, tags) and a Markdown body.
install and update always materialize a real copy of the skill folder at the target's install path. There is no symlink mode, no --mode flag. Editing the install path is the supported edit surface; propose reads those edits back automatically.
For targets that support both global and project scopes (claude-code, openclaw, levante), the caller must pass --scope global or --scope project unless they pass --path. If they omit both, the CLI raises TARGET_SCOPE_REQUIRED with an explanatory re-run example. Do not guess.
When install <name> or install all finds a folder already present at <installPath>/<skillName> that the lockfile does not track as that skill in that path, the CLI treats it as a local conflict. Default behavior:
install all. Surface this prompt verbatim to the user; never auto-pick.USER_ABORTED with a hint. Re-run with --force to overwrite or --keep-local to skip silently. Choose the flag only after asking the user; never assume.Flags --force and --keep-local are mutually exclusive.
Before any command beyond skillpipe doctor will work, verify:
node --version).git on PATH.gh) installed and authenticated: gh auth status must succeed.repo connect, repo create, propose): network access to github.com.If any of these are missing, run skillpipe doctor first and fix what it reports before continuing.
Before running any state-changing command (install, update, propose, repo connect, repo create), run a read-only command first to understand the current state:
skillpipe doctor — confirms environment is healthy.skillpipe status — shows which repo is connected and what's installed.skillpipe list — shows what skills are available in the connected repo.This avoids the most common failure mode: writing to a target the user did not expect.
Run these commands in order. Stop and report the failure if any step errors.
skillpipe init — interactive; you must pick an agent explicitly (no default). For CI/scripts use skillpipe init --yes --target <name> — --yes alone errors out and lists available targets.skillpipe repo connect <https-or-ssh-url> — clones the repo into the internal cache and tracks the default branch. Add --branch <name> only if the user names a non-default branch. Add --init only when the repo is brand new and lacks a skillpipe.json. If the machine is already connected to a different repo the command refuses unless you pass --force.skillpipe list — confirm the expected skills appear.skillpipe install <name> for the skills the user wants, or skillpipe install all if they want everything.skillpipe status to see what's installed and whether any installed skill has a newer commit upstream.skillpipe update to pull and re-install everything that drifted. Add --dry-run first if the user is cautious or if many skills are affected.skillpipe update <name> to update a single skill.skillpipe update --all to update every skill in the repo, including ones not currently installed locally — only do this if the user explicitly asks for it. On dual-scope targets, add --scope global or --scope project if new skills may be installed.skillpipe add <name> -d "<short description>" — scaffolds <installPath>/<name>/SKILL.md directly under the current target's install path.<installPath>/<name>/SKILL.md — fill in goal, when-to-use, instructions. Keep the frontmatter name exactly equal to the folder name.skillpipe validate <name> — works even though the skill is not yet in the connected repo cache.skillpipe propose <name> -m "feat: <name> skill" — adopts the new skill into the repo cache, commits, and pushes to the tracked branch.propose commits on the tracked branch (e.g. main) and pushes. No PR is opened, no gh auth required when push succeeds. If the direct push is rejected (non-fast-forward or protected branch), Skillpipe automatically falls back to PR mode: it creates a feature branch from your commit, pushes it, opens a Pull Request via gh, then resets the local tracked branch back to origin/<branch> so the cache stays clean. Surface the PR URL the CLI prints — the change is not merged yet.--pr) — Skip the direct-push attempt: creates branch skillpipe/<name>-YYYY-MM-DD (override with --branch <name>), pushes it, and opens a PR via gh. Add --draft to open the PR as draft. Both --draft and --branch require --pr — passing them without it errors out.Only switch to --pr proactively when the user explicitly asks for review. Never pass --allow-secret-risk unless the user has explicitly asked for it and acknowledged the risk in this same session.
When you see that direct push was rejected and Skillpipe fell back to PR mode automatically, do not treat it as a failure. Surface the PR URL and explain that the change is not merged yet.
Edit the skill at its install path (e.g. ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md). Then run skillpipe validate <name> and skillpipe propose <name> -m "...". propose syncs the edits from the install path into Skillpipe's internal cache before committing — you do not pass any flag for this.
Use skillpipe repo create <name> only when the user is starting from zero. This calls gh repo create, clones it, and scaffolds the standard layout (skills/, agents/, workflows/, templates/, policies/, .github/workflows/validate-skills.yml, an example skill, skillpipe.json). Defaults to --private; pass --public only on explicit request.
When you, as an AI agent, hit a problem with the CLI itself — an error you cannot map to a known cause, a command that misbehaves, a discrepancy between these docs and what skillpipe actually does, a flow that blocks the user — file an issue in the public Skillpipe repository so a maintainer can fix it. skillpipe report-issue exists exactly for this purpose: it is non-interactive, fully driven by flags, and designed to be invoked by an agent without the user mediating.
skillpipe report-issue \
--title "<short, specific title>" \
--summary "<one paragraph describing what went wrong and the impact>" \
--command "<the exact skillpipe command that triggered the issue>" \
--error "<error output or stack trace you observed>" \
--expected "<what you expected to happen>" \
--actual "<what actually happened>" \
--severity <low|medium|high> \
--labels "<comma,separated,extra,labels>"
Contract:
--title and --summary are the only required flags. Add the rest only when you have real content for them — never fabricate context.stdout, followed by a newline. Capture it and surface it to the user so they can follow up.stderr. The issue is still created and the command exits 0.levante-hub/skillpipe. The SKILLPIPE_ISSUE_REPO env var overrides this; do not expose that override to the user unless they ask, since the public repo is the right default.agent-report and bug. --severity adds severity:<level>. --labels adds extras (deduplicated). Even if GitHub rejects applying labels, the body of the issue includes a ## Requested labels section so a maintainer can apply them by hand.When to invoke report-issue:
When not to invoke:
gh not installed, gh auth status failing, git not on PATH). Ask the user to fix it; that is not a Skillpipe bug.| Command | When to run | Notable flags |
|---|---|---|
skillpipe init | Once per machine | -y, --yes (requires --target), -t, --target <name> |
skillpipe repo connect <url> | Once per repo, per machine | -b, --branch <name>, --init, -f, --force |
skillpipe repo create <name> | When the user has no skills repo yet | --public / --private, -d, --description, -t, --target |
skillpipe list (alias ls) | Anytime — read-only | — |
skillpipe install <name|all> | Per skill, after connect | -t, --target <name>, -p, --path <dir>, --scope <global|project>, -f, --force, --keep-local |
skillpipe update [name] | Recurring | --all, --dry-run, --scope <global|project> |
skillpipe status | Anytime — read-only | — |
skillpipe add <name> | Authoring a new skill (scaffolds in the install path) | -d, --description <text>, -t, --target <name>, -y, --yes |
skillpipe validate [name] | Before every propose, and on demand | -r, --repo <dir>, --no-secrets |
skillpipe propose <name> | After local edits, to publish them | -m, --message <text> (required), --pr, --draft (with --pr), --branch <name> (with --pr), --allow-secret-risk |
skillpipe doctor | When anything is off | — |
skillpipe report-issue | When you hit a Skillpipe bug, an inconsistency, or a blocker you cannot resolve | --title (required), --summary (required), --command, --error, --expected, --actual, --severity <low|medium|high>, --labels <csv> |
Global flags: -v, --verbose for verbose logging; --help on any command for full usage.
The CLI prints typed errors as [CODE] message followed by a hint. Map them to actions:
| Code | Likely cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
CONFIG_NOT_FOUND | .skillpipe/config.json not found upward from cwd | Run skillpipe init in this workspace |
CONFIG_INVALID | Config file is corrupted or hand-edited badly | Inspect the file; if unsalvageable, re-run skillpipe init |
REPO_NOT_CONNECTED | No repo registered in config | Run skillpipe repo connect <url> |
REPO_NOT_FOUND | Local clone is missing | Re-run skillpipe repo connect <url> |
REPO_ALREADY_CONNECTED | A different repo is already connected on this machine | Confirm intent with the user, then re-run with --force |
REPO_CLONE_FAILED | Network, auth or URL problem | Verify URL and gh auth status; retry |
REPO_REMOTE_MISMATCH | Local clone points at a different remote than config expects | Stop. Ask the user before mutating; usually means a stale internal clone from a previous repo. Resolve by removing the stale clone, then re-running skillpipe repo connect. |
SKILL_NOT_FOUND | Name typo, skill not in repo, and no matching folder in cwd to adopt | skillpipe list to see actual names |
SKILL_INVALID | Frontmatter or body fails schema | Run skillpipe validate <name> for details |
VALIDATION_FAILED | One or more validators failed | Re-run validate, fix the issues it reports |
SECRET_DETECTED | Secret pattern found in a skill file | Remove the secret. Do not suggest --allow-secret-risk as a workaround |
TARGET_UNKNOWN | Adapter name not in registry, or --yes used without --target | Pass --target <claude-code|hermes|openclaw|levante|custom> |
TARGET_SCOPE_REQUIRED | The target supports both global and project scopes and the command omitted both --scope and --path | Re-run with --scope global or --scope project, or pass --path <dir> explicitly |
TARGET_NOT_INSTALLED | Target adapter present but install path missing | Pass --path <dir> or install first |
GH_NOT_AVAILABLE | gh CLI not installed | Tell the user to install GitHub CLI and re-run |
GH_NOT_AUTHENTICATED | gh auth status fails | Ask the user to run gh auth login themselves (interactive) |
GIT_NOT_AVAILABLE | git not on PATH | Tell the user to install git |
GIT_OPERATION_FAILED | Underlying git command failed | Read the underlying message; fix and retry |
WORKSPACE_DIRTY | Uncommitted changes in the internal clone | Either commit/stash via skillpipe propose, or have the user clean the workspace manually |
LOCKFILE_INVALID | .skillpipe/lock.json corrupted | Inspect; if unsalvageable, delete and re-run installs |
USER_ABORTED | User said no at a prompt, or install hit a local-folder conflict in a non-TTY context | Honor the abort. For install conflicts: ask the user whether to overwrite (re-run with --force) or skip (re-run with --keep-local). Never retry blindly. |
ISSUE_CREATE_FAILED | skillpipe report-issue could not open the GitHub issue (repo missing, no permission, network, gh not authenticated) | Verify gh auth status and that the destination repo accepts issues from the authenticated user. Retry once; if it keeps failing, report the original problem to the user directly instead of looping. |
If the code is UNKNOWN or unfamiliar, set SKILLPIPE_DEBUG=1 and re-run with --verbose to get a stack trace before guessing.
These rules are non-negotiable. Follow them even if they slow you down:
<workspace>/.skillpipe/config.json or <workspace>/.skillpipe/lock.json by hand. Always go through the CLI.skillpipe propose so validation, lockfile updates and adoption fire. By default propose pushes to the tracked branch; switch to --pr only when the user wants review.--allow-secret-risk unprompted. If the validator flags a secret, the secret must be removed from the file. Period.gh auth login on the user's behalf — it is interactive. Ask the user to run it themselves (suggest the ! gh auth login shortcut if they are inside Claude Code).skillpipe doctor. That folder may contain uncommitted local edits.skillpipe init — it always requires an explicit choice. If the user wants non-interactive, use --yes --target <name>.skillpipe validate <name> immediately before skillpipe propose <name>.--dry-run on update when the change set is large or when the user is uncertain.skillpipe install all or skillpipe update --all, since both can write many files.--scope global or --scope project on dual-scope targets unless the user gave an explicit --path. Never infer the scope from old config.repo connect --force only after confirming the user really wants to switch the connected repo on this machine.install local-folder conflict. If you see the prompt or USER_ABORTED, surface the conflict to the user with: (a) the skill name, (b) the conflicting path, (c) that overwriting would replace whatever lives there with the remote version. Then ask whether to overwrite (--force) or keep local (--keep-local).skillpipe report-issue before giving up. Closing the feedback loop is the whole point of that command — silent failure is worse than a noisy issue. Capture the URL it prints on stdout and share it with the user. Do not file an issue for user error, missing prerequisites, or feature requests — see the "Reporting bugs back to maintainers" section above.origin/<branch>.skillpipe install <name> before skillpipe repo connect — it will fail with REPO_NOT_CONNECTED. Run status first.skillpipe add — add scaffolds a file in the install path; it does not register the skill in the repo. The skill becomes part of the repo only after propose.skillpipe update as idempotent across machines: each machine has its own lockfile. Updating on machine A does not propagate to machine B until machine B also runs update.propose syncs from there automatically.git push from inside Skillpipe's internal repo cache — use skillpipe propose so validation runs and (optionally) a PR is opened.--force to install without telling the user first that a local folder will be overwritten. The conflict prompt exists to protect their work.init by guessing or scripting around it. The forced choice exists because silent defaults previously caused skills to land in the wrong adapter's directory.SKILLPIPE_HOME — overrides the workspace-local .skillpipe/ resolution. When set, the CLI uses that path directly instead of the upward search. Useful for testing.SKILLPIPE_DEBUG=1 — prints stack traces for non-typed errors.SKILLPIPE_ISSUE_REPO — overrides the destination repo for skillpipe report-issue. Defaults to levante-hub/skillpipe. Use only for testing against a sandbox; do not change it on the user's behalf.HERMES_HOME — overrides ~/.hermes/ for the Hermes adapter.OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR — overrides ~/.openclaw/ for the OpenClaw adapter."Set me up from scratch with this repo: "
skillpipe doctor
skillpipe init # interactive — user picks agent
# (or for CI:) skillpipe init --yes --target hermes
skillpipe repo connect <url>
skillpipe list
skillpipe install all --scope project # dual-scope targets need --scope; confirm first
"Update everything"
skillpipe status
skillpipe update --dry-run
skillpipe update # only after the user reviews the dry run
"I changed ~/.claude/skills/foo/SKILL.md, publish it"
skillpipe validate foo
skillpipe propose foo -m "fix(foo): <one-line summary>" # direct push to tracked branch
# Same edit, but open a Pull Request for review
skillpipe propose foo --pr -m "fix(foo): <one-line summary>"
"My agent just created a new skill in this project, publish it"
# Skill lives at <cwd>/.claude/skills/<name>/ (or equivalent for the target)
skillpipe propose <name> -m "feat: <name> skill"
# propose adopts the new skill into the internal cache, pushes to the tracked
# branch, and registers it in the lockfile. Add `--pr` instead if the user
# wants a Pull Request.
"install aborted with USER_ABORTED — local folder conflict"
# Re-run, having asked the user which they want:
skillpipe install <name> --force # replace the local folder with the remote version
skillpipe install <name> --keep-local # leave the local folder alone, skip this skill
"Why isn't my skill picking up changes?"
skillpipe status # is it installed? is the commit stale?
skillpipe update <name> # pull + re-install
# then verify in the target path (e.g. ~/.claude/skills/<name>/)
"Switch this machine to a different skills repo"
skillpipe status # confirm what's currently connected
skillpipe repo connect <new-url> --force # only after user confirms
"I hit a Skillpipe bug I cannot work around — file it"
skillpipe report-issue \
--title "install writes skill to the wrong target path" \
--summary "Installing brand-analysis into claude-code wrote to ~/.claude/ instead of <cwd>/.claude/, ignoring the per-workspace config." \
--command "skillpipe install brand-analysis" \
--error "<paste the observed error or unexpected output>" \
--expected "Skill installed at <cwd>/.claude/skills/brand-analysis/" \
--actual "Skill installed at ~/.claude/skills/brand-analysis/" \
--severity medium \
--labels cli
# stdout contains only the issue URL — share it with the user.