claude-desktop-skills

CLI tool that packages skills from GitHub repos into .skill files for Claude Desktop.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• Git

Quick Start

npx claude-desktop-skills pack <owner/repo>

Then upload in Claude Desktop: Customize → Skills → + → Create skill → Upload a skill

Works with npx and bunx.

Commands

# Pack all skills from a repo
npx claude-desktop-skills pack <owner/repo>

# Pack a specific skill only
npx claude-desktop-skills pack <owner/repo> --skill <skill-name>

# Custom output directory
npx claude-desktop-skills pack <owner/repo> --output ./my-skills

# List skills in a repo (without packing)
npx claude-desktop-skills list <owner/repo>

# Search across cached repos
npx claude-desktop-skills find <query>

Output goes to skills-pack/<repo>-<timestamp>/ with a README and all .skill files.

Install globally (optional)

npm install -g claude-desktop-skills

How it works

1. Clones the GitHub repo locally (temp, removed after packing)
2. Scans for directories containing SKILL.md
3. Extracts name/description from YAML frontmatter
4. Zips each skill folder into a .skill file (the format Claude Desktop expects)

Why not npx skills?

vercel-labs/skills is a general-purpose skill manager for 55+ AI coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, etc.). It installs skills by symlinking into agent-specific directories like .claude/skills/.

claude-desktop-skills solves a different problem — it targets Claude Desktop, which doesn't read from .claude/skills/. Claude Desktop requires .skill files uploaded through its UI. No other tool produces this format.

| | claude-desktop-skills | vercel-labs/skills | |---|---|---| | Target | Claude Desktop | Claude Code + 55 agents | | Output | .skill zip files for upload | Symlinks to agent directories | | Workflow | npx claude-desktop-skills pack → upload in UI | npx skills add → ready to use | | Unique value | Only tool that produces .skill format | Multi-agent support |

TL;DR — Use vercel-labs/skills if you're in Claude Code or other coding agents. Use claude-desktop-skills if you need skills in Claude Desktop.