gh-skill-install - Man Page

gh skill install <repository> [<skill[@version]>] [flags]

Install agent skills from a GitHub repository or local directory into your local environment. Skills are placed in a host-specific directory at either project scope (inside the current git repository) or user scope (in your home directory, available everywhere).

A wide range of AI coding agents are supported, including GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Antigravity, Amp, Goose, Junie, OpenCode, Windsurf, and many more.

Supported --agent values:

• GitHub Copilot (github-copilot)
• Claude Code (claude-code)
• Cursor (cursor)
• Codex (codex)
• Gemini CLI (gemini-cli)
• Antigravity (antigravity)
• AdaL (adal)
• Amp (amp)
• Augment (augment)
• IBM Bob (bob)
• Cline (cline)
• CodeBuddy (codebuddy)
• Command Code (command-code)
• Continue (continue)
• Cortex Code (cortex)
• Crush (crush)
• Deep Agents (deepagents)
• Droid (droid)
• Firebender (firebender)
• Goose (goose)
• iFlow CLI (iflow-cli)
• Junie (junie)
• Kilo Code (kilo)
• Kimi Code CLI (kimi-cli)
• Kiro CLI (kiro-cli)
• Kode (kode)
• MCPJam (mcpjam)
• Mistral Vibe (mistral-vibe)
• Mux (mux)
• Neovate (neovate)
• OpenClaw (openclaw)
• OpenCode (opencode)
• OpenHands (openhands)
• Pi (pi)
• Pochi (pochi)
• Qoder (qoder)
• Qwen Code (qwen-code)
• Replit (replit)
• Roo Code (roo)
• Trae (trae)
• Trae CN (trae-cn)
• Universal (universal)
• Warp (warp)
• Windsurf (windsurf)
• Zencoder (zencoder)

Use --agent and --scope to control placement, or --dir for a custom directory. The default scope is project, and the default agent is github-copilot (when running non-interactively).

At project scope, several agents (including GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Antigravity, Amp, Cline, OpenCode, and Warp) share the .agents/skills directory. If you select multiple hosts that resolve to the same destination, each skill is installed there only once.

The first argument is a GitHub repository in OWNER/REPO format. Use --from-local to install from a local directory instead. Local skills are auto-discovered using the same conventions as remote repositories, and files are copied (not symlinked) with local-path tracking metadata injected into frontmatter.

Skills are discovered automatically using the skills/*/SKILL.md convention defined by the Agent Skills specification, including when the skills/ directory is nested under a prefix (e.g. terraform/code-generation/skills/...). For more information on the specification, see: https://agentskills.io/specification

The skill argument can be a name, a namespaced name (author/skill), or an exact path within the repository (skills/author/skill, packages/agent-skills/code-review, or any .../SKILL.md path). Namespaced names with one slash are matched by name. Use a SKILL.md suffix to force a one-directory path outside the standard conventions.

Performance tip: when installing from a large repository with many skills, providing an exact path instead of a skill name avoids a full tree traversal of the repository, making the install significantly faster.

When a skill name is provided without a version, the CLI resolves the version in this order:

1. Latest tagged release in the repository
2. Default branch HEAD

To pin to a specific version, either append @VERSION to the skill name or use the --pin flag. The version is resolved as a git tag or commit SHA.

Installed skills have source tracking metadata injected into their frontmatter. This metadata identifies the source repository and enables gh skill update to detect changes.

Use --all to install every discovered skill from the repository without prompting for skill selection. When run non-interactively, repository and either a skill name or --all are required.

--agent <string>

Target agent (see supported values above)

--all

Install all skills without prompting for skill selection

--allow-hidden-dirs

Include skills in hidden directories (e.g. .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/)

--dir <string>

Install to a custom directory (overrides --agent and --scope)

-f,  --force

Overwrite existing skills without prompting

--from-local

Treat the argument as a local directory path instead of a repository

--pin <string>

Pin to a specific git tag or commit SHA

--scope <string> (default "project")

Installation scope: {project|user}

--upstream

Install from the upstream source when a re-published skill is detected

gh skill add, gh skills add

0: Successful execution

1: Error

2: Command canceled

4: Authentication required

NOTE: Specific commands may have additional exit codes. Refer to the command's help for more information.

# Interactive: choose repo, skill, and agent
$ gh skill install

# Choose a skill from the repo interactively
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot

# Install a specific skill
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot git-commit

# Install all skills from a repository
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot --all

# Install a specific version
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot git-commit@v1.2.0

# Install from a large namespaced repo by path (efficient, skips full discovery)
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot skills/monalisa/code-review

# Install from a non-standard nested path (efficient, skips full discovery)
$ gh skill install monalisa/skills-repo packages/agent-skills/code-review

# Install from a local directory
$ gh skill install ./my-skills-repo --from-local

# Install a specific local skill
$ gh skill install ./my-skills-repo git-commit --from-local

# Install for Claude Code at user scope
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot git-commit --agent claude-code --scope user

# Pin to a specific git ref
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot git-commit --pin v2.0.0

# Install skills from hidden directories (e.g. .claude/skills/)
$ gh skill install owner/repo --allow-hidden-dirs

gh-skill(1)

gh-skill(1).