S
Skilldex
Get the CLI

skillpm install

Install a skill from the Skilldex registry, a GitHub repository, or a local directory.

Usage

skillpm install <source> [--scope <scope>] [--force] [--no-bridge] [--json]

Sources

| Source | Example | |---|---| | Registry, by qualified name | anthropics/pdf | | Registry, by bare name | pdf — if several owners publish that name, skillpm asks which one | | GitHub repository | git+https://github.com/user/repo | | GitHub subdirectory | git+https://github.com/user/repo/tree/main/skills/my-skill | | Local directory | ./my-skill or an absolute path |

Flags

| Flag | Default | Description | |---|---|---| | -s, --scope <scope> | project | Where to install: global, shared, or project | | -f, --force | false | Overwrite the skill if it is already installed at this scope | | --no-bridge | — | Do not link the skill into agent directories (.agents/skills, .claude/skills) | | --json | — | Output the result as JSON |

The default scope can be changed with skillpm config set defaultScope <scope>.

Examples

# Install from the registry into the current project
skillpm install anthropics/pdf

# Install for every project on this machine
skillpm install anthropics/pdf --scope global

# Install from GitHub
skillpm install git+https://github.com/user/repo/tree/main/skills/my-skill

# Install a skill you are writing
skillpm install ./my-skill

# Reinstall over an existing copy
skillpm install anthropics/pdf --force

Example output

✔ Installed "pdf" at project scope
✓ Score: 100/100 · Trust: verified
Linked into /path/to/project/.agents/skills/pdf
Linked into /path/to/project/.claude/skills/pdf

If the skill has warnings or errors, the full validation report is printed instead of the score line. Warnings never block an install.

What happens on install

  1. A registry name is looked up to find the skill's source repository.
  2. The repository is cloned (shallow) and the skill folder located.
  3. The skill is validated and scored.
  4. The folder is copied into the scope's skills/ directory and recorded in that scope's skilldex.json.
  5. The skill is linked into the agent directories for that scope: .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/, plus Qwen Code, Cline, and Antigravity directories when those agents are installed. A directory that already holds a different skill of the same name is left alone and reported.

Exit codes

| Code | Meaning | |---|---| | 0 | Installed | | 1 | Any error: not found, already installed without --force, ambiguous name in a non-interactive shell, network failure |