Command Reference: OpenSkills Complete Command Cheat Sheet

What You'll Learn

• Master all 7 OpenSkills commands
• Understand global options and their use cases
• Quickly find command parameters and flag meanings
• Use non-interactive commands in scripts

Command Overview

OpenSkills provides the following 7 commands:

Command	Purpose	Use Cases
install	Install skills	Install new skills from GitHub, local path, or private repository
list	List skills	View all installed skills and their locations
read	Read skills	Load skill content for AI agents (usually called automatically by agents)
update	Update skills	Refresh installed skills from source repository
sync	Sync	Write skill list to AGENTS.md
manage	Manage	Interactively delete skills
remove	Delete	Delete specific skills (scriptable way)

Tip

Use npx openskills --help to view a brief description of all commands.

Global Options

Certain commands support the following global options:

Option	Short	Purpose	Applicable Commands
--global	-g	Install to global directory ~/.claude/skills/	install
--universal	-u	Install to universal directory .agent/skills/ (multi-agent environment)	install
--yes	-y	Skip interactive prompts, use default behavior	install, sync
--output <path>	-o <path>	Specify output file path	sync

Command Details

install - Install Skills

Install skills from GitHub repository, local path, or private git repository.

openskills install <source> [options]

Parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
<source>	✅	Skill source (GitHub shorthand, git URL, or local path)

Options:

Option	Short	Default	Description
--global	-g	false	Install to global directory ~/.claude/skills/
--universal	-u	false	Install to universal directory .agent/skills/
--yes	-y	false	Skip interactive selection, install all found skills

source parameter examples:

# GitHub shorthand (recommended)
openskills install anthropics/skills

# Specify branch
openskills install owner/repo@branch

# Private repository
openskills install git@github.com:owner/repo.git

# Local path
openskills install ./path/to/skill

# Git URL
openskills install https://github.com/owner/repo.git

Behavior:

• Lists all found skills for selection during installation
• Use --yes to skip selection and install all skills
• Installation location priority: --universal → --global → default project directory
• Creates .openskills.json metadata file in skill directory after installation

---

list - List Skills

List all installed skills.

openskills list

Options: None

Output format:

Available Skills:

skill-name           [description]            (project/global)

Behavior:

• Sorted by location: project skills first, global skills after
• Within the same location, sorted alphabetically
• Displays skill name, description, and location label

---

read - Read Skills

Read one or more skills' contents to standard output. This command is primarily used for AI agents to load skills on demand.

openskills read <skill-names...>

Parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
<skill-names...>	✅	List of skill names (supports multiple, separated by space or comma)

Options: None

Examples:

# Read single skill
openskills read pdf

# Read multiple skills
openskills read pdf git

# Comma-separated (also supported)
openskills read "pdf,git,excel"

Output format:

Skill: pdf
Base Directory: /path/to/.claude/skills/pdf

---SKILL.md contents---

[SKILL.END]

Behavior:

• Searches for skills across 4 directory priority levels
• Outputs skill name, base directory path, and complete SKILL.md content
• Displays error message for skills not found

---

update - Update Skills

Refresh installed skills from recorded sources. If no skill name is specified, updates all installed skills.

openskills update [skill-names...]

Parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
[skill-names...]	❌	List of skill names to update (defaults to all)

Options: None

Examples:

# Update all skills
openskills update

# Update specific skills
openskills update pdf git

# Comma-separated (also supported)
openskills update "pdf,git,excel"

Behavior:

• Only updates skills with metadata (i.e., skills installed via install command)
• Skips skills without metadata and prompts
• Updates installation timestamp after successful update
• Uses shallow clone (--depth 1) when updating from git repository

---

sync - Sync to AGENTS.md

Synchronize installed skills to AGENTS.md (or other custom file), generating a skill list available to AI agents.

openskills sync [options]

Options:

Option	Short	Default	Description
--output <path>	-o <path>	AGENTS.md	Output file path
--yes	-y	false	Skip interactive selection, sync all skills

Examples:

# Sync to default file
openskills sync

# Sync to custom file
openskills sync -o .ruler/AGENTS.md

# Skip interactive selection
openskills sync -y

Behavior:

• Parses existing file and pre-selects enabled skills
• Project skills are selected by default on first sync
• Generates Claude Code compatible XML format
• Supports replacing or appending skill section in existing file

---

manage - Manage Skills

Interactively delete installed skills. Provides a friendly deletion interface.

openskills manage

Options: None

Behavior:

• Displays all installed skills for selection
• No skills are selected by default
• Deletes immediately after selection, no secondary confirmation needed

---

remove - Delete Skills

Delete specified installed skills (scriptable way). More convenient than manage when used in scripts.

openskills remove <skill-name>

Parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
<skill-name>	✅	Name of skill to delete

Options: None

Examples:

openskills remove pdf

# You can also use alias
openskills rm pdf

Behavior:

• Deletes entire skill directory (including all files and subdirectories)
• Displays deletion location and source
• Displays error and exits if skill not found

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

Task	Command
View all installed skills	openskills list
Install official skills	openskills install anthropics/skills
Install from local path	openskills install ./my-skill
Install skill globally	openskills install owner/skill --global
Update all skills	openskills update
Update specific skills	openskills update pdf git
Interactively delete skills	openskills manage
Delete specific skill	openskills remove pdf
Sync to AGENTS.md	openskills sync
Custom output path	openskills sync -o custom.md

Common Pitfalls

1. Command Not Found

Issue: "command not found" when executing command

Causes:

• Node.js not installed or version too low (requires 20.6+)
• Not using npx or not globally installed

Solution:

# Use npx (recommended)
npx openskills list

# Or global install
npm install -g openskills

2. Skill Not Found

Issue: openskills read skill-name shows "Skill not found"

Causes:

• Skill not installed
• Skill name misspelled
• Skill installation location not in search path

Solution:

# Check installed skills
openskills list

# View skill directory
ls -la .claude/skills/
ls -la ~/.claude/skills/

3. Update Failed

Issue: openskills update shows "No metadata found"

Causes:

• Skill not installed via install command
• Metadata file .openskills.json was deleted

Solution: Reinstall skill

openskills install <original-source>

Summary

OpenSkills provides a complete command-line interface covering skill installation, listing, reading, updating, synchronizing, and management. Mastering these commands is the foundation for efficient OpenSkills usage:

• install - Install new skills (supports GitHub, local, private repository)
• list - View installed skills
• read - Read skill content (used by AI agents)
• update - Update installed skills
• sync - Sync to AGENTS.md
• manage - Interactively delete skills
• remove - Delete specific skills

Remember global option purposes:

• --global / --universal - Control installation location
• --yes - Skip interactive prompts (suitable for CI/CD)
• --output - Custom output file path

Coming Up Next

Next, we'll learn Installation Sources Explained.

You will learn:

• Detailed usage of three installation methods
• Use cases for each method
• Configuration for private repositories