| category | custom |
| name | solve-challenge |
| description | Solves CTF challenges by performing first-pass triage, identifying the dominant category, and routing execution to the right specialized ctf-* skill. Use when the user gives you a challenge bundle, a remote service, a suspicious file, or only a vague challenge description and you must determine where to start. Do not use it when the category is already clear and a specialized skill can be invoked directly; this is the dispatcher and recon entrypoint, not the deepest reference for category-specific techniques. |
| license | MIT |
| compatibility | Requires filesystem-based agent (Claude Code or similar) with bash, Python 3, and internet access. Orchestrates other ctf-* skills. |
| allowed-tools | Bash Read Write Edit Glob Grep Task WebFetch WebSearch Skill |
| metadata | {"user-invocable":"true","argument-hint":"[category] [challenge-file-or-url]"} |
CTF Challenge Solver
You're a skilled CTF player. Your goal is to solve the challenge and find the flag.
Environment Setup
Two setup strategies depending on your workflow:
Pre-install (recommended before competitions)
Use the central installer entrypoint:
bash scripts/install_ctf_tools.sh all
Run a narrower mode when you only want one tool group:
bash scripts/install_ctf_tools.sh python
bash scripts/install_ctf_tools.sh apt
bash scripts/install_ctf_tools.sh brew
bash scripts/install_ctf_tools.sh gems
bash scripts/install_ctf_tools.sh go
bash scripts/install_ctf_tools.sh manual
The full package lists now live in scripts/install_ctf_tools.sh.
On-demand (during challenges)
Each category skill's SKILL.md has a Prerequisites section listing only the tools needed for that category. Install as you go.
Workflow
Step 0: CTFd Platform Detection
If the CTF platform URL is known, check if it runs CTFd and switch to API-driven navigation:
curl -s "$CTF_URL/api/v1/" | head -5
curl -s "$CTF_URL" | grep -oE '/themes/core/'
If CTFd is detected, ask the user for their API token (generated from CTFd Settings > Access Tokens). The token is not provided by default — the user must create one in the CTFd web UI first. Once provided, set the environment variables and proceed via API:
export CTF_URL="https://ctf.example.com"
export CTF_TOKEN="ctfd_..."
Invoke /ctf-misc and load its ctfd-navigation.md for the full API reference and Python client class.
Step 1: Recon
- Explore files -- List the challenge directory, run
file * on everything
- Triage binaries -- , , , on binaries
