Find Skills

Modified by basicly on 2026-10-02 from vercel-labs/skills find-skills at 3694740 (MIT, see LICENSE.txt).

Find a skill that already does the job before anyone writes a new one. Search the installed catalog first, then the open skills registry at skills.sh. Install nothing without the consent of the user.

When to use it

• The user asks "is there a skill for X" or "find a skill for X".
• The user asks "how do I do X" or "can you do X", and X is a common, specialized task.
• The user wants to extend the agent with a domain: design, testing, deployment.
• Before the skill-creator skill drafts a new skill.

Rules

• Ask before every install, and before any network call other than the search. An install adds third-party instructions that the agent will follow.
• Install at project level. Never pass -g (user level) or -y (no prompts). Without -y, the CLI asks the user to confirm too.
• Recommend nothing on a search result alone. Check the quality first.
• Convert a kept skill to a source. In a basicly repository, a hand-installed SKILL.md is not a catalog source, and the next basicly skills-build does not know it. Rewrite a skill that the project keeps as a skill.yaml source with basicly catalog new skill <slug>; the catalog-authoring skill gives the format and the skill-creator skill tests it.

Step 1: Understand the need

Name the domain (React, testing, deployment), the specific task (write tests, review a pull request) and whether the task is common enough that a skill likely exists.

Step 2: Search the installed catalog

The agent already lists the installed skills. Read that list first. To see every source and where it comes from:

basicly catalog dump

The projected skills are in .claude/skills/<slug>/SKILL.md and .agents/skills/<slug>/SKILL.md. When an installed skill fits, use it and stop here.

Step 3: Search skills.sh

The skills CLI (npx skills) is the package manager of the open agent skills ecosystem. It downloads from the network, so ask the user before the first search.

npx skills find <query>
npx skills find <query> --owner <owner>

For example requests, search terms and a sample presentation, read search.

The leaderboard at https://skills.sh/ ranks skills by total installs.

Step 4: Check the quality

1. Installs: prefer a skill with 1K or more installs. Be careful under 100.
2. Owner: an official source (vercel-labs, anthropics, microsoft) is more trustworthy than an unknown author.
3. Stars: check the source repository. Treat a repository with fewer than 100 stars with skepticism.
4. Content: read the SKILL.md and every script of the skill before the install. A skill runs with the permissions of the agent.

Step 5: Present the options

For each relevant skill, give the name and what it does, the install count and the owner, the install command, and the link at skills.sh.

Step 6: Install after consent

When the user agrees, install at project level and let the CLI prompt:

npx skills add <owner/repo@skill>

npx skills update updates the installed skills; it is also a network call. In a basicly repository, convert a skill that stays into a skill.yaml source (see the rules).

When nothing is found

1. Say that no existing skill matched.
2. Offer to do the task directly.
3. When the user does the task often, offer to create a skill with the skill-creator skill.

I searched for skills related to "xyz" and found no match.
I can still do this task directly. Do you want me to go ahead?

If you do this often, I can create a skill for it and test it.