@skills-house/install

Install built Agent Skills from skills-dist/ into agent skill directories (Cursor, Claude, Codex, and the shared .agents/skills layout).

Use this during local development after pnpm build. End users typically install published skills with the skills.sh CLI instead.

Quick start

# Build skills first, then install to the current project
pnpm build
npx @skills-house/install add my-skill --from ./skills-dist --scope project

# Install for Cursor only
npx @skills-house/install add my-skill --from ./skills-dist --agent cursor --scope project

In a scaffolded skills-house project:

pnpm dev   # runs build + install:skills --scope project

CLI

npx @skills-house/install add <skill-name> [options]

The binary name is install-skills.

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | <skill-name> | Skill directory name inside the dist folder | | --agent <name> | Install for one agent: agents, codex, cursor, claude (default: all) | | --scope <scope> | global (user home) or project (current repo) — default: global | | --from <path> | Local dist directory (e.g. ./skills-dist) | | --copy | Copy files instead of symlinking | | --dry-run | Print actions without changing anything | | --help | Show help |

Examples

# Preview install
npx @skills-house/install add skill-auditor --from ./skills-dist --scope project --dry-run

# Global install for Claude
npx @skills-house/install add skill-auditor --from ./skills-dist --agent claude

# Copy instead of symlink (useful on Windows or sandboxes)
npx @skills-house/install add skill-auditor --from ./skills-dist --scope project --copy

Resolving skill sources

When --from is omitted, the CLI tries in order:

1. skills-dist/ in a nearby skills-house monorepo
2. The npm package @skills-house/skill-<name> (if published)

If neither works, it prints hints for cloning the repo or using npx skills add.

Install targets

| Agent | Global | Project | |-------|--------|---------| | agents | ~/.agents/skills/<skill> | .agents/skills/<skill> | | codex | ~/.codex/skills/<skill> | .agents/skills/<skill> | | cursor | ~/.cursor/skills/<skill> | .agents/skills/<skill> and .cursor/skills/<skill> | | claude | ~/.claude/skills/<skill> | .claude/skills/<skill> |

By default, skills are symlinked from skills-dist/ so rebuilds are picked up immediately. Use --copy when symlinks are not supported.

Shell scripts

Scaffolded projects and CI can call the bash scripts directly:

# Install all built skills (except test fixtures) to project scope
bash internal-scripts/install/install-skills.sh --scope project

# Install one skill for one agent
bash internal-scripts/install/install-skills.sh \
  --scope project --agent cursor --skill my-skill

# Remove installed skills
bash internal-scripts/install/remove-skills.sh --scope project --skill my-skill

Environment variables:

| Variable | Purpose | |----------|---------| | SKILLS_DIST_DIR | Override dist directory (default: <repo>/skills-dist) | | SKILLS_REPO_ROOT | Repo root for project-scope paths (set automatically in scaffolded projects) | | INIT_CWD | Used by pnpm when running lifecycle scripts; honored when SKILLS_REPO_ROOT is unset |

Consumer distribution

For installing skills from GitHub (no skills-house npm packages required):

npx skills add al4f/skills-house --skill skill-auditor -a cursor -y

See the install guide.

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 20
• bash (for the underlying install scripts)

Related packages

| Package | Role | |---------|------| | @skills-house/build | Compile source skills to skills-dist/ | | @skills-house/create | Scaffold a new skills-house project |

Monorepo development

pnpm --filter @skills-house/install build
pnpm --filter @skills-house/install test
pnpm pack:install

Publish tag format: v<semver>-install (legacy alias: v<semver>-cli).

git tag v0.0.1-install
git push origin v0.0.1-install

Learn more

• skills-house docs
• Agent Skills specification