env-lookup

name	env-lookup
description	Resolves environment variables, including tool-agnostic abstractions like $AI_CONFIG_DIR and $MEMORY_DIR. Use when any skill or agent needs to look up an environment variable or resolve a path from the environment.
model	haiku
tools	["Bash"]

Environment Variable Lookup

Platform Detection

Before looking up any variable, determine the platform by running uname 2>/dev/null:

• If output is Linux or Darwin → Unix. Look up variables with printenv <VAR>. Empty output or non-zero exit means the variable is not set.
• If the command fails or returns nothing → Windows. Look up variables with powershell -Command "[System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('<VAR>')". Empty output means the variable is not set.

Apply the platform-appropriate command for every lookup throughout this skill.

Variable Alias Resolution

$AI_CONFIG_DIR and $MEMORY_DIR are tool-agnostic abstractions that map to tool-specific variables depending on the executing environment. Before resolving either, determine which tool is running this skill:

• GitHub Copilot / GitHub Copilot CLI → $AI_CONFIG_DIR = $COPILOT_HOME
• Claude Code → $AI_CONFIG_DIR = $CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR
• Unknown tool → report that $AI_CONFIG_DIR cannot be resolved because the executing tool could not be identified.

$AI_CONFIG_DIR

1. Apply the alias resolution above to determine the concrete variable name.
2. Look up the concrete variable using the platform-appropriate command.
3. If not set, report that the variable was not found. If set, return its value.

$MEMORY_DIR

$MEMORY_DIR resolves to the _memory directory that is a sibling of the AI config directory (e.g. if $AI_CONFIG_DIR is /home/user/.config/ai/claude, then $MEMORY_DIR is /home/user/.config/ai/_memory).

1. Apply the alias resolution above to determine the concrete variable for $AI_CONFIG_DIR.
2. Look up the concrete variable using the platform-appropriate command.
3. If not set, report that $MEMORY_DIR could not be resolved because $AI_CONFIG_DIR is not set.
4. If set, append /../_memory to the value and return the result as the value of $MEMORY_DIR.

All other variables

Look up the variable using the platform-appropriate command. If not set, report that $<VAR> is not set in the environment. If set, return its value.