Migrate Skills Between Libraries

Goal

Move skills from one library workspace to another without losing metadata, breaking dependencies, or duplicating entries.

Guardrails

• Always use --dry-run before any mutating command in the target workspace.
• Always use --list to inspect the source library before importing.
• Always use --format json for structured output when scripting migrations.
• Never import skills without checking for name collisions in the target workspace first.
• Always run build-docs in the target workspace after migration.

Workflow

Export: Identify skills to migrate from the source library

1. List all skills in the source workspace.

cd /path/to/source-library
npx ai-agent-skills list --format json --fields name,tier,workArea,collections

2. For house copies, note the skill folder paths. For upstream picks, note the installSource.

Import: Add skills to the target workspace

3. For house copies, use vendor to copy the skill folder into the target:

cd /path/to/target-library
npx ai-agent-skills vendor /path/to/source-library --skill <name> --area <workArea> --branch <branch> --why "Migrated from source library." --dry-run
npx ai-agent-skills vendor /path/to/source-library --skill <name> --area <workArea> --branch <branch> --why "Migrated from source library."

4. For upstream picks, use catalog to re-catalog from the original source:

npx ai-agent-skills catalog <owner>/<repo> --skill <name> --area <workArea> --branch <branch> --why "Migrated from source library." --dry-run
npx ai-agent-skills catalog <owner>/<repo> --skill <name> --area <workArea> --branch <branch> --why "Migrated from source library."

5. Rebuild docs in the target workspace.

npx ai-agent-skills build-docs

6. Validate the target workspace.

npx ai-agent-skills validate

Gotchas

• Skill names must be unique per workspace. Check for collisions before importing.
• House copies are full folder copies — the source and target are independent after migration.
• Upstream picks re-catalog from the original upstream source, not the intermediate library.
• Dependencies (requires field) must also be migrated. Check info --format json for each skill's dependency graph.
• Collection membership does not transfer automatically. Use curate --collection <id> to add migrated skills to target collections.