cowork-guide

# CoWork Guide > Complete reference for the CoWork Skills CLI tool ## Overview **CoWork Skills** (`cowork` / `co`) is a CLI tool for managing Claude Code skills and plugins: - Install skills from GitHub repositories - Generate skills from source code (Rust, TypeScript, Python) - Manage project-level skill configuration via Skills.toml - Search GitHub for skill repositories ## Installation ```bash # Clone and install git clone https://github.com/anthropics/cowork-skills cd cowork-skills/cli cargo install --path . # Initialize built-in skills cowork init ``` ## Commands Overview | Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | `cowork init` | Install built-in skills to ~/.claude/skills/ | | `cowork install` | Install skills from GitHub or local path | | `cowork generate` | Generate skills from a GitHub repository | | `cowork search` | Search GitHub for skill repositories | | `cowork plugins` | Manage Claude Code marketplace plugins | | `cowork config` | Manage project-level skill configuration | | `cowork list` | List all available skills | | `cowork status` | Show current configuration | | `cowork doctor` | Check for configuration issues | | `cowork test` | Generate trigger tests for skills | Use `co` as a short alias for `cowork`. --- ## cowork init Initialize built-in skills to ~/.claude/skills/. ```bash # Install all built-in skills cowork init # List available built-in skills cowork init --list # Install specific skills only cowork init -s memory-filesystem # Force overwrite existing cowork init --force ``` **Built-in Skills:** - `memory-filesystem` - CoALA-based memory system (remember, recall, reflect) --- ## cowork install Install skills from GitHub or local repositories. ### Basic Usage ```bash # Install from GitHub (user/repo format) cowork install ZhangHanDong/rust-skills # Install from full URL cowork install https://github.com/user/repo # Install current project to global cowork install # List installed repositories cowork install --list ``` ### Installation Options ```bash # Install specific skills only cowork install user/repo -s skill1 -s skill2 # Install to specific agents cowork install user/repo -a claude-code -a cursor # Install as plugin (preserves full repo structure) cowork install user/repo --plugin # Install to project local (.claude/skills/) cowork install user/repo --local # Force reinstall cowork install user/repo --reinstall # Update to latest version cowork install user/repo --update # Skip confirmation prompts cowork install user/repo -y ``` ### Uninstall ```bash cowork install --uninstall repo-name ``` ### Supported Agents Install skills to 16+ coding agents: | Agent | Flag | |-------|------| | Claude Code | `--agent claude-code` | | Cursor | `--agent cursor` | | Codex | `--agent codex` | | GitHub Copilot | `--agent github-copilot` | | Windsurf | `--agent windsurf` | | Goose | `--agent goose` | | Kiro | `--agent kiro-cli` | | Amp | `--agent amp` | | ... | See `cowork install --help` | --- ## cowork config Manage project-level skill configuration via Skills.toml. ### Initialize Configuration ```bash # Initialize with auto-detection of installed plugins/skills cowork config init # Skip auto-detection cowork config init --no-detect # Force overwrite existing cowork config init --force ``` Auto-detection scans: - `~/.claude/` for global plugins - `~/.claude/skills/` for global skills - `.claude/` for project plugins - `.claude/skills/` for project skills ### View Configuration ```bash # Show current config cowork config show # List available skill groups cowork config groups ``` ### Add Dependencies ```bash # Add from GitHub (global) cowork config add rust-skills ZhangHanDong/rust-skills # Add to project local cowork config add my-skills user/skills --local # Add specific skills cowork config add tokio user/tokio-skills -s tokio-runtime -s tokio-sync # Add as plugin cowork config add makepad user/makepad-skills --plugin # Add as disabled cowork config add old-lib user/old --disabled # Add with git ref cowork config add pinned user/repo --ref v1.0.0 # Add development link (symlink for testing) cowork config add dora-dev /path/to/dora-skills --dev ``` ### Install Dependencies ```bash # Install all dependencies from Skills.toml cowork config install ``` ### Sync Configuration ```bash # Sync enabled/disabled status with lock file cowork config sync # Also update remote repos (git pull) cowork config sync --update ``` ### Enable/Disable ```bash # Enable skill groups cowork config enable rust-core makepad # Enable individual skills cowork config enable memory-filesystem # Disable skills or groups cowork config disable rust-domains ``` ### Trigger Configuration ```bash # Set priority order cowork config priority dora-router rust-router makepad-router # Override specific trigger cowork config override "async" rust-router cowork config override "widget" makepad-router ``` ### Generate Output ```bash # Generate SKILLS.md from config cowork config apply # Generate to custom path cowork config apply -o ./docs/SKILLS.md # Generate dynamic router based on installed plugins cowork config router # Generate router with hooks for auto-triggering cowork config router --hooks ``` --- ## Skills.toml Project-level configuration file stored at `.cowork/Skills.toml`. ### Basic Structure ```toml [project] name = "my-project" description = "Project description" [skills.global] enabled = ["memory-filesystem"] disabled = [] [skills.install] rust-skills = "ZhangHanDong/rust-skills" [skills.groups] enabled = ["rust-core"] disabled = [] [triggers] priority = ["dora-router", "rust-router"] [triggers.overrides] "async" = "rust-router" ``` ### Dependency Forms **Simple form:** ```toml [skills.install] rust-skills = "ZhangHanDong/rust-skills" ``` **Detailed form:** ```toml [skills.install] tokio = { repo = "user/tokio-skills", skills = ["tokio-runtime", "tokio-sync"] } local = { path = "../my-local-skills" } pinned = { repo = "user/repo", ref = "v1.0.0" } makepad = { repo = "user/makepad-skills", plugin = true } my-project = { repo = "user/skills", local = true } old-lib = { repo = "user/old", enabled = false } ``` ### Dev Links Development symlinks for testing local skills: ```toml [skills.dev] my-skill = "/path/to/my-skill-project" dora-dev = { path = "/path/to/dora-skills" } dora-plugin = { path = "/path/to/dora-skills", plugin = true } ``` ### Skill Groups | Group | Skills | Description | |-------|--------|-------------| | `rust-core` | 8 | Basic Rust (ownership, concurrency, error handling) | | `rust-patterns` | 7 | Design patterns (domain modeling, performance) | | `rust-domains` | 7 | Domain-specific (web, CLI, fintech, embedded) | | `makepad` | 11 | Makepad UI framework | | `dora` | 8 | Dora-rs robotics framework | | `dora-hubs` | 9 | Dora hub integrations | --- ## cowork generate Generate skills from source code of any GitHub repository. ```bash # Generate from GitHub repo cowork generate user/repo # Specify language(s) cowork generate tokio-rs/tokio --lang rust cowork generate vercel/next.js --lang typescript # Only generate llms.txt cowork generate user/repo --llms-only -o ./output # Generate from existing llms.txt cowork generate --from-llms ./llms.txt # Specify git ref cowork generate user/repo --ref v1.0.0 ``` ### Supported Languages | Language | Parser | Extracts | |----------|--------|----------| | Rust | `syn` | pub fn, struct, enum, trait, impl | | TypeScript | `tree-sitter` | export function, class, interface, type | | Python | `tree-sitter` | def, class (excluding `_` private items) | ### Output 1. **llms.txt** - API documentation following llms.txt specification 2. **SKILL.md** - Generated skill files with triggers and references --- ## cowork search Search GitHub for skill repositories. ```bash # Search by keyword cowork search tokio # Search by GitHub topic cowork search agent-skill --topic # Limit results cowork search rust-skills --limit 5 # Show detailed results cowork search rust-skills --verbose ``` --- ## cowork plugins Manage Claude Code marketplace plugins. ```bash # List marketplace plugins cowork plugins list # Show plugin status cowork plugins status # Uninstall a plugin cowork plugins uninstall rust-skills # Enable/disable plugins cowork plugins enable rust-skills cowork plugins disable rust-skills # List marketplaces cowork plugins marketplaces # Remove a marketplace cowork plugins remove-marketplace rust-skills ``` --- ## Storage Locations | Location | Purpose | |----------|---------| | `~/.cowork/repos/` | Cloned GitHub repositories | | `~/.claude/skills/` | Global skills directory | | `~/.claude/<plugin>/` | Global plugins | | `.claude/skills/` | Project-local skills | | `.claude/<plugin>/` | Project-local plugins | | `.cowork/Skills.toml` | Project configuration | | `.cowork/Skills.lock` | Installed packages lock | --- ## Environment Variables | Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | `GITHUB_TOKEN` | Required for generate/search commands | --- ## Troubleshooting ### Check Configuration ```bash cowork doctor cowork status ``` ### Common Issues **Skills not loading:** 1. Check if skill exists: `cowork list` 2. Verify enabled status: `cowork config show` 3. Ensure triggers match: `cowork test triggers` **Installation fails:** 1. Check GitHub token: `echo $GITHUB_TOKEN` 2. Verify repo exists: `gh repo view user/repo` 3. Try with verbose: `cowork install user/repo --reinstall` **Plugin conflicts:** 1. Set trigger priority: `cowork config priority router1 router2` 2. Override specific triggers: `cowork config override "keyword" skill-name` 3. Check for conflicts: `cowork test --check-conflicts`