find-skills

name	find-skills
description	Helps users discover and install agent skills when they ask questions like "how do I do X", "find a skill for X", "is there a skill that can...", or express interest in extending capabilities. This skill should be used when the user is looking for functionality that might exist as an installable skill.

Find Skills

This skill helps you discover and install skills from the open agent skills ecosystem.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks "how do I do X" where X might be a common task with an existing skill
• Says "find a skill for X" or "is there a skill for X"
• Asks "can you do X" where X is a specialized capability
• Expresses interest in extending agent capabilities
• Wants to search for tools, templates, or workflows
• Mentions they wish they had help with a specific domain (design, testing, deployment, etc.)

What is the Skills CLI?

The Skills CLI (npx skills) is the package manager for the open agent skills ecosystem. Skills are modular packages that extend agent capabilities with specialized knowledge, workflows, and tools.

Key commands:

• npx --yes skills find [query] - Search for skills by keyword (non-interactive)
• npx --yes skills check - Check for skill updates
• npx --yes skills update - Update all installed skills

Non-interactive use: When running via script or agent (no TTY), always prefix with npx --yes so npm auto-confirms installing the skills package on first run. Without it, npx prompts Ok to proceed? (y) and hangs.

Browse skills at: https://skills.sh/

How to Help Users Find Skills

Step 1: Understand What They Need

When a user asks for help with something, identify:

1. The domain (e.g., React, testing, design, deployment)
2. The specific task (e.g., writing tests, creating animations, reviewing PRs)
3. Whether this is a common enough task that a skill likely exists

Step 2: Search for Skills

Run the find command with a relevant query:

npx --yes skills find [query]

For example:

• User asks "how do I make my React app faster?" → npx --yes skills find react performance
• User asks "can you help me with PR reviews?" → npx --yes skills find pr review
• User asks "I need to create a changelog" → npx --yes skills find changelog

The command will return results like:

Install with bash /path/to/skill/scripts/install-skill.sh vercel-labs/agent-skills@vercel-react-best-practices

vercel-labs/agent-skills@vercel-react-best-practices
└ https://skills.sh/vercel-labs/agent-skills/vercel-react-best-practices

Step 3: Present Options to the User

When you find relevant skills, present them to the user with:

1. The skill name and what it does
2. The install command they can run
3. A link to learn more at skills.sh

Example response:

I found a skill that might help! The "vercel-react-best-practices" skill provides
React and Next.js performance optimization guidelines from Vercel Engineering.

To install it:
bash /path/to/skill/scripts/install-skill.sh vercel-labs/agent-skills@vercel-react-best-practices

Learn more: https://skills.sh/vercel-labs/agent-skills/vercel-react-best-practices

Step 4: Install the Skill

If the user wants to proceed, use the install-skill.sh script to install the skill and copy it to the user's custom skills directory:

bash /path/to/skill/scripts/install-skill.sh <owner/repo@skill-name>

For example, if the user wants to install vercel-react-best-practices:

bash /path/to/skill/scripts/install-skill.sh vercel-labs/agent-skills@vercel-react-best-practices

The script copies the skill into $USER_SKILLS_DIR/<skill-name>/ (default virtual path /mnt/skills/custom/<skill-name>/). Requires USER_SKILLS_DIR in the shell environment (set automatically in Docker sandbox).

Common Skill Categories

When searching, consider these common categories:

Category	Example Queries
Web Development	react, nextjs, typescript, css, tailwind
Testing	testing, jest, playwright, e2e
DevOps	deploy, docker, kubernetes, ci-cd
Documentation	docs, readme, changelog, api-docs
Code Quality	review, lint, refactor, best-practices
Design	ui, ux, design-system, accessibility
Productivity	workflow, automation, git

Tips for Effective Searches

1. Use specific keywords: "react testing" is better than just "testing"
2. Try alternative terms: If "deploy" doesn't work, try "deployment" or "ci-cd"
3. Check popular sources: Many skills come from vercel-labs/agent-skills or ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills

When No Skills Are Found

If no relevant skills exist:

1. Acknowledge that no existing skill was found
2. Offer to help with the task directly using your general capabilities
3. Suggest the user could create their own skill with npx --yes skills init

Example:

I searched for skills related to "xyz" but didn't find any matches.
I can still help you with this task directly! Would you like me to proceed?

If this is something you do often, you could create your own skill:
npx --yes skills init my-xyz-skill