skill-installer
Install Codex skills into $CODEX_HOME/skills from a curated list or a GitHub repo path. Use when a user asks to list installable skills, install a curated skill, or install a skill from another repo (including private repos).
When & Why to Use This Skill
The Skill Installer is a specialized utility designed to extend the functional capabilities of Claude agents by managing the installation of new skills. It streamlines the process of discovering curated tools from official repositories and deploying custom modules directly from public or private GitHub paths, providing a scalable way to enhance agent performance and versatility.
Use Cases
- Extending Agent Capabilities: Quickly browse and install curated skills from the official repository to add new, pre-verified features to your assistant.
- Custom Tool Integration: Deploy proprietary or third-party skills directly from GitHub repositories (including private ones) to tailor the agent for specific enterprise workflows.
- Environment Management: List currently available and installed skills to maintain an organized workspace and ensure the agent has the necessary tools for the task at hand.
- Automated Skill Deployment: Use helper scripts to batch-install functional modules into the agent's environment, reducing manual setup time for developers.
| name | skill-installer |
|---|---|
| description | Install Codex skills into $CODEX_HOME/skills from a curated list or a GitHub repo path. Use when a user asks to list installable skills, install a curated skill, or install a skill from another repo (including private repos). |
| short-description | Install curated skills from openai/skills or other repos |
Skill Installer
Helps install skills. By default these are from https://github.com/openai/skills/tree/main/skills/.curated, but users can also provide other locations.
Use the helper scripts based on the task:
- List curated skills when the user asks what is available, or if the user uses this skill without specifying what to do.
- Install from the curated list when the user provides a skill name.
- Install from another repo when the user provides a GitHub repo/path (including private repos).
Install skills with the helper scripts.
Communication
When listing curated skills, output approximately as follows, depending on the context of the user's request: """ Skills from {repo}:
- skill-1
- skill-2 (already installed)
- ... Which ones would you like installed? """
After installing a skill, tell the user: "Restart Codex to pick up new skills."
Scripts
All of these scripts use network, so when running in the sandbox, request escalation when running them.
scripts/list-curated-skills.py(prints curated list with installed annotations)scripts/list-curated-skills.py --format jsonscripts/install-skill-from-github.py --repo <owner>/<repo> --path <path/to/skill> [<path/to/skill> ...]scripts/install-skill-from-github.py --url https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/tree/<ref>/<path>
Behavior and Options
- Defaults to direct download for public GitHub repos.
- If download fails with auth/permission errors, falls back to git sparse checkout.
- Aborts if the destination skill directory already exists.
- Installs into
$CODEX_HOME/skills/<skill-name>(defaults to~/.codex/skills). - Multiple
--pathvalues install multiple skills in one run, each named from the path basename unless--nameis supplied. - Options:
--ref <ref>(defaultmain),--dest <path>,--method auto|download|git.
Notes
- Curated listing is fetched from
https://github.com/openai/skills/tree/main/skills/.curatedvia the GitHub API. If it is unavailable, explain the error and exit. - Private GitHub repos can be accessed via existing git credentials or optional
GITHUB_TOKEN/GH_TOKENfor download. - Git fallback tries HTTPS first, then SSH.
- The skills at https://github.com/openai/skills/tree/main/skills/.system are preinstalled, so no need to help users install those. If they ask, just explain this. If they insist, you can download and overwrite.
- Installed annotations come from
$CODEX_HOME/skills.