find-skills

What this skill does

# Find Skills

Discover and install third-party agent skills from the open Agent Skills ecosystem powered by skills.sh.

## Overview

The **Agent Skills** format is an open standard for packaging procedural knowledge, workflows, and tools that AI agents load on demand. The `npx skills` CLI (maintained by Vercel Labs) serves as "npm for AI agents" -- enabling discovery and installation of community skills from any Git repository.

**skills.sh** is the public directory and leaderboard for the ecosystem, hosting thousands of skills across categories like frontend, backend, DevOps, and more.

### Built-in cc-arsenal Skills

Before installing third-party skills, note that cc-arsenal already provides:
- **agent-browser** -- AI-optimized headless browser automation (snapshot + refs system)
- **jira-cli** -- Interactive Jira issue, epic, and sprint management
- **create-skill** -- Specification-driven skill creation with live documentation fetching
- **find-skills** -- This skill (discovery and installation of third-party skills)

Only install external skills that provide capabilities not already covered above.

## Quick Start

### 1. Find Skills

```bash
# Interactive fuzzy search across skills.sh
npx skills find

# Search by keyword
npx skills find typescript
npx skills find react
npx skills find testing
```

### 2. Review Available Skills in a Repository

```bash
# List skills in a repository without installing
npx skills add owner/repo --list

# Example: list Vercel's official skills
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --list

# Example: list Anthropic's skills
npx skills add anthropics/skills --list
```

### 3. Install Skills

```bash
# Interactive installation (choose skills and target agents)
npx skills add owner/repo

# Install a specific skill for Claude Code
npx skills add owner/repo --skill skill-name -a claude-code

# Install globally (available across all projects)
npx skills add owner/repo --skill skill-name -a claude-code -g

# Install all skills from a repo to all detected agents
npx skills add owner/repo --all
```

## Essential Commands

| Command | Purpose |
|---------|---------|
| `npx skills find [query]` | Search skills.sh directory |
| `npx skills add <source>` | Install skills from a repository |
| `npx skills list` | View installed skills |
| `npx skills check` | Check for available updates |
| `npx skills update` | Update all installed skills |
| `npx skills remove [name]` | Uninstall a skill |
| `npx skills init [name]` | Create a new skill template |

## Installation Scopes

**Project scope** (default): Installs to `.claude/skills/` in the current project directory. Committed with the project and shared with team members.

**Global scope** (`-g` flag): Installs to `~/.claude/skills/` in the home directory. Available across all projects for the current user.

**Recommendation**: Install domain-specific skills (e.g., a framework skill) at project scope. Install general-purpose skills (e.g., code review, testing patterns) at global scope.

## Source Formats

The `add` command accepts multiple source formats:

```bash
# GitHub shorthand (most common)
npx skills add owner/repo

# Full GitHub URL
npx skills add https://github.com/owner/repo

# Direct path to a specific skill
npx skills add https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/skills/skill-name

# GitLab URL
npx skills add https://gitlab.com/org/repo

# Local directory (for development)
npx skills add ./my-local-skills
```

## Key Repositories

| Repository | Description |
|------------|-------------|
| `vercel-labs/agent-skills` | Vercel's official skill collection (React, Next.js, design) |
| `anthropics/skills` | Anthropic's example skills |
| `mgiovani/cc-arsenal` | This repository (browser, Jira, create-skill, find-skills) |

## Reference Files

For detailed command reference, load: [references/commands.md](./references/commands.md)
- All CLI subcommands with complete flag documentation
- Source format details and installation paths
- Troubleshooting common issues

For discovery patterns and best practices, load: [references/workflows.md](./references/workflows.md)
- Discovery strategies by domain and framework
- Global vs project installation guidance
- Security review of skill sources
- Combining third-party skills with cc-arsenal
- Managing updates and versions

## Resources

- **Directory**: https://skills.sh
- **CLI Repository**: https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills
- **Open Specification**: https://agentskills.io
- **Anthropic Skills Docs**: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/skills