Install Skills
Overview
The install-skills skill automates the process of installing skills from this repository into your coding agent's skill directory. When you install a skill, your agent gains access to it as an invocable slash command or reference document.
What "installing" means: Skills are copied or symlinked from skills/<name>/ into the agent's skill directory. The installer resolves the target path automatically for Windows and Unix-like systems. Symlinking keeps the installed skill pointing to the repo (changes propagate automatically); copying creates a standalone copy (useful for shipping skills without the full repo).
Supported Agent Targets
| Agent | Target Name | Skill Directory | Notes |
|---|
| Claude Code | claude | .claude/skills/ | Default; synced across Claude Code sessions |
| Cursor | cursor | .cursor/skills/ | Editor IDE; distinct from Claude Code |
| GitHub Copilot | copilot | .github/skills/ | Enterprise/premium feature |
| Pi | pi | .pi/agent/skills/ | Pi agent framework |
| Antigravity | antigravity | .antigravity/agent/skills/ | Google Antigravity IDE |
| OpenAI Codex | codex | .codex/skills/ | OpenAI Codex CLI / agent |
| Custom Path | --target-path <dir> | Custom directory | Any arbitrary directory |
Quick Start
Install all skills to Claude Code
cd /path/to/aigb-skills
bash skills/install-skills/scripts/install.sh --target claude --all --symlink
This creates symlinks in ~/.claude/skills/ for all skills in skills/.
Install a single skill
bash skills/install-skills/scripts/install.sh --target claude --skill python-code-style
Copy instead of symlink
bash skills/install-skills/scripts/install.sh --target claude --all
Omitting --symlink performs a copy instead, creating standalone skill directories.
Install to a custom directory
bash skills/install-skills/scripts/install.sh --target-path ~/my-custom-skills --skill deslop
Options Reference
Target Selection
--target <agent> -- Install to a standard agent directory (claude, cursor, copilot, pi, antigravity, codex)
--target-path <path> -- Install to a custom directory instead
Skill Selection
--all -- Install all skills in this repo (default if no --skill specified)
--skill <name> -- Install a single skill by name (e.g., python-code-style, deslop)
Installation Mode
--symlink -- Create symlinks (changes in repo are reflected immediately)
- (omitted) -- Copy skill directory (standalone copy)
Information
--help -- Show usage information
--list -- List all available skills in this repo
Step-by-Step: Setting Up Claude Code with aigb-skills
-
Identify the repo path
cd /path/to/aigb-skills
-
View available skills
bash skills/install-skills/scripts/install.sh --list
-
Install all skills (symlinked)
bash skills/install-skills/scripts/install.sh --target claude --all --symlink
This creates entries in ~/.claude/skills/ that point back to the repo.
-
Verify installation
Check that skill directories appeared in ~/.claude/skills/:
ls ~/.claude/skills/
# Output: agent-onboarding, deslop, doc-consistency, ...
-
Reload Claude Code
If Claude Code is open, restart it to refresh the skill list (or just run a new session).
-
Invoke a skill
Now you can use the skills in any Claude Code session. For example:
/python-code-style
Understanding the Installation Script
The install script (scripts/install.sh) handles:
- Path resolution -- automatically finds the repo root using
git rev-parse
- Target resolution -- chooses the canonical agent directory from
APPDATA on Windows or HOME on Unix-like systems
- Skill validation -- checks that each skill has a valid
SKILL.md
- Copy or symlink -- creates a copy or symlink depending on the
--symlink flag
- Shared inventory -- list and install reuse the same normalized skill walk
- Progress feedback -- prints status for each skill
- Error handling -- exits with non-zero on failure and prints error messages
The script is cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS) and requires only bash and standard Unix utilities.
Troubleshooting
"No such file or directory: .claude/skills"
The .claude/ directory doesn't exist yet. Claude Code creates it on first run. Either:
- Run Claude Code once (opens immediately)
- Manually create the directory:
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/
"Cannot create symlink: Permission denied"
On Windows or certain systems, symlinking requires elevated privileges. Use copy mode instead:
bash skills/install-skills/scripts/install.sh --target claude --all
"Skill validation failed for X"
The skill folder is missing a required SKILL.md file. Check:
ls skills/X/SKILL.md
If missing, the folder is not a valid skill and cannot be installed.
Claude Code doesn't see the installed skills
Restart Claude Code entirely (close all sessions and reopen). The skill list is loaded at startup.
Symlinking breaks after moving the repo
If you moved the repo to a different path and symlinks are now broken, reinstall:
bash skills/install-skills/scripts/install.sh --target claude --all --symlink
The script will overwrite broken symlinks.
References