askill

CLI tool for managing agent skills — install, update, list, and remove skills from git repositories.

Skills are the open format for giving AI agents new capabilities (agentskills.io). askill handles the lifecycle: installing, updating, and removing skills so you don't have to manage files manually.

Install

npm install -g askill

Quick Start

# First run auto-detects your agent client (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor)
askill install anthropics/skills/superpowers

# List installed skills
askill list

# Update all skills
askill update --all

# Remove a skill
askill remove superpowers

Commands

askill install [source[@version]] [--global]

Install a skill from a git repository.

# GitHub shorthand
askill install anthropics/skills/superpowers

# Pin to a branch or tag
askill install anthropics/skills/[email protected]

# Full git URL
askill install https://github.com/myorg/my-skill.git

# Global install (shared across projects)
askill install anthropics/skills/superpowers --global

# Restore all skills from lock file
askill install

askill update [skill-name | --all] [--global]

Update skills to the latest version matching their ref constraint.

askill update superpowers
askill update --all

askill list [--global]

Display installed skills with name, version, and source.

askill remove <skill-name> [--global]

Remove an installed skill and clean up manifest entries.

askill config set <key> <value>

Configure the agent client. Supported clients: claude-code, codex, gemini-cli, cursor.

askill config set client claude-code

How It Works

askill uses a two-file manifest system (like npm, Cargo, Poetry):

• skills.yaml — human-editable intent (source + version constraint)
• skills.lock — machine-generated pins (commit hash + integrity hash)

Both files live in your client's config directory (e.g., .claude/ for Claude Code) and are safe to commit to version control.

Scopes

| Scope | Flag | Example path (Claude Code) | |-------|------|---------------------------| | Project (default) | — | $CWD/.claude/skills/ | | Global | --global | ~/.claude/skills/ |

Supported Clients

| Client | Project dir | Global dir | |--------|------------|------------| | Claude Code | .claude/skills/ | ~/.claude/skills/ | | OpenAI Codex | .agents/skills/ | ~/.agents/skills/ | | Gemini CLI | .gemini/skills/ | ~/.gemini/skills/ | | Cursor | .cursor/skills/ | ~/.cursor/skills/ |

Companion Skill

askill ships with a companion skill (skill-hub/SKILL.md) that lets your agent manage skills conversationally:

"Install the superpowers skill" "What skills do I have?" "Update all my skills"

Development

npm install
npm run build
node dist/cli.js --help

License

MIT