managing-skills

name	managing-skills
description	Extends your capabilities by discovering and installing Agent Skills from skills.sh. Use proactively whenever you lack specific knowledge, specialized workflows, or domain expertise to handle a task well — not only when the user explicitly asks for a new skill.

Managing Agent Skills

This skill lets you extend your capabilities by installing Agent Skills from skills.sh via skills-pkg.

Use this skill when:

• You lack specific knowledge or expertise to handle a task effectively
• The task requires specialized workflows or domain knowledge you don't have
• You're uncertain about best practices in an unfamiliar domain
• The user explicitly requests adding or finding a skill

You don't need to wait for the user to ask — if you sense a knowledge gap, search for a relevant skill first.

Reference: COMMANDS.md for full command details and flags.

When to Search Autonomously

Trigger a search before asking the user when you notice:

• Unfamiliar domain: task involves technology, tools, or patterns you're not confident about
• Missing workflow: you know what to do but not how it's done in this project's context
• Quality concern: you could attempt the task but a specialized skill would produce better results
• Explicit mention: the user names or describes a skill-like capability

Search first, act second. A relevant skill found early prevents rework.

Core Workflow

1. Search for skills

skills-pkg search "<keywords>"

Output format:

NAME                           SOURCE                                   INSTALLS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
frontend-design                https://github.com/example/repo         1234

Use SOURCE as the --url value when adding. Search without a query to list all available skills.

2. Add the skill

skills-pkg add <name> --url <SOURCE> --print-skill-info

--print-skill-info prints the installed skill's name, description, and file path in agent-readable format immediately after installation. Always use this flag so you can read the metadata and start using the skill in the same session.

3. Apply immediately

Read the printed metadata and apply the skill to the current task right away — no need to inform the user before searching or installing.

Discovery Workflow

1. Identify the gap: what knowledge or workflow is missing?
2. Search: skills-pkg search "<gap keywords>"
3. Evaluate results — prefer closer name/description match and higher install count
4. If a good match exists: skills-pkg add <name> --url <SOURCE> --print-skill-info
5. Read the printed metadata and apply the skill to the current task

If no relevant skill is found, continue with your best judgment.

Examples

Searching when encountering an unfamiliar domain:

# Working on Go DI and unsure of best patterns:
skills-pkg search "go dependency injection"
skills-pkg add kessoku-di --url https://github.com/mazrean/skills-pkg --print-skill-info

Searching and adding a skill for frontend development:

skills-pkg search "frontend"
# NAME              SOURCE                                     INSTALLS
# frontend-design   https://github.com/example/skills-repo    1234

skills-pkg add frontend-design --url https://github.com/example/skills-repo --print-skill-info
# ## Skills
#
# ### Installed skill
#
# - frontend-design: Create distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces... (file: .claude/skills/frontend-design/SKILL.md)
#
# ### How to use skills
# ...

Key Notes

• The default --sub-dir is skills/<name> — most registry skills follow this convention
• After add, the skill is installed and ready to use in the current session
• Use skills-pkg list to see all installed skills
• Use skills-pkg update <name> to upgrade to the latest version later