Installing, Updating, and Managing Skills

You installed three skills last week. Today you cannot remember which ones, they might be outdated, and one of them seems to conflict with another. You dig through hidden directories trying to find where the files live, delete the wrong one, and break your Claude Code session. Skills are only useful if you can manage them efficiently.

This guide covers the full lifecycle: finding skills, installing them, keeping them updated, and removing the ones you no longer need.

What You’ll Walk Away With

• Complete CLI reference for the skills tool
• Understanding of where skills are stored for each editor
• Patterns for team-wide skill management
• Strategies for resolving conflicts between skills

The Skills CLI

The skills tool is distributed as an npm package. You do not need to install it globally — npx runs it directly.

Core Commands

Command	What It Does
npx skills add <owner/repo>	Install a skill from a GitHub repository
npx skills remove <owner/repo>	Remove an installed skill
npx skills list	List all installed skills
npx skills update	Update all installed skills to their latest versions
npx skills search <query>	Search the skills.sh marketplace

Installing a Skill

npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills

This clones the skill repository’s instructions and places them in the correct directory for your AI agent. A single repository can contain multiple skills — for example, vercel-labs/agent-skills includes skills for React best practices, web design guidelines, and Vercel composition patterns.

You can install skills from any GitHub repository, not just those listed on skills.sh:

# Official skills from well-known organizations
npx skills add anthropics/claude-code
npx skills add cloudflare/skills
npx skills add stripe/agent-toolkit

# Community skills
npx skills add your-org/internal-conventions

Listing Installed Skills

npx skills list

This shows all currently installed skills with their source repository and version.

Removing a Skill

npx skills remove vercel-labs/agent-skills

Updating All Skills

npx skills update

This pulls the latest version of every installed skill from its source repository.

Tip

Copy-paste prompt for skill discovery:

“Search the skills marketplace for skills that match my project’s tech stack. My project uses Astro, React, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript, and Drizzle ORM. For each matching skill, show the install count, a brief description, and the install command.”

Where Skills Live

Skills are stored in different locations depending on your editor:

Cursor

Skills for Cursor are stored as rules files:

.cursor/rules/
  vercel-labs-agent-skills.md
  anthropics-claude-code.md

Cursor reads all .md files in .cursor/rules/ and includes them in the AI’s context. You can also create custom rules files here manually.

Claude Code

Claude Code stores skills in a dedicated directory:

.claude/skills/
  vercel-labs-agent-skills/
    instructions.md
  anthropics-claude-code/
    instructions.md

Claude Code reads these at session start and applies them throughout the conversation. You can view what Claude Code sees by checking the system prompt at the beginning of a session.

Codex

Codex reads skills from its instructions configuration:

.codex/
  instructions.md    # Combined skill instructions

Skills are merged into the instructions file that Codex reads at startup.

Team-Wide Skill Management

Committing Skills to Your Repository

Skills are plain markdown files. Commit them to your repository so every team member gets the same instructions:

# Install a skill
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills

# Commit the skill files
git add .claude/skills/ .cursor/rules/
git commit -m "Add Vercel agent skills (React best practices, web design, composition patterns)"

When a new developer clones the repository, the skills are already in place. No additional setup required.

Creating a Project-Specific Skill

Not every skill comes from the marketplace. You can create project-specific skills by writing your own instruction files.

Cursor

Create .cursor/rules/project-conventions.md:

# Project Conventions

## File Structure
- Components go in `src/components/` with PascalCase names
- API routes go in `src/pages/api/` with kebab-case names
- Utility functions go in `src/lib/` with camelCase names

## Code Style
- Use TypeScript strict mode
- Prefer interfaces over types for object shapes
- Use named exports, never default exports
- Add JSDoc comments to all public functions

## Testing
- Every component must have a test file: `Component.test.tsx`
- Use React Testing Library, not Enzyme
- Test behavior, not implementation details

Claude Code

Create .claude/skills/project-conventions/instructions.md:

# Project Conventions

## File Structure
- Components go in `src/components/` with PascalCase names
- API routes go in `src/pages/api/` with kebab-case names
- Utility functions go in `src/lib/` with camelCase names

## Code Style
- Use TypeScript strict mode
- Prefer interfaces over types for object shapes
- Use named exports, never default exports
- Add JSDoc comments to all public functions

## Testing
- Every component must have a test file: `Component.test.tsx`
- Use React Testing Library, not Enzyme
- Test behavior, not implementation details

Codex

Add to .codex/instructions.md:

# Project Conventions

## File Structure
- Components go in `src/components/` with PascalCase names
- API routes go in `src/pages/api/` with kebab-case names
- Utility functions go in `src/lib/` with camelCase names

## Code Style
- Use TypeScript strict mode
- Prefer interfaces over types for object shapes
- Use named exports, never default exports
- Add JSDoc comments to all public functions

Tip

Copy-paste prompt for generating a project skill:

“Analyze the codebase and identify patterns we consistently follow: file naming conventions, import ordering, component structure, error handling patterns, and testing approaches. Generate a project conventions skill file that documents these patterns so the AI follows them automatically in future sessions.”

Resolving Skill Conflicts

When two skills give contradictory instructions, the AI typically follows whichever instruction appears later in its context or whichever is more specific.

Common Conflicts and Resolutions

Two React skills with different component patterns. Remove the less authoritative one. If vercel-labs/agent-skills and a community skill disagree, the Vercel skill is more likely to reflect current best practices.

A framework skill conflicts with your project skill. Your project skill should win. Make it more specific: instead of “use named exports,” write “In this project, always use named exports (overriding any other convention).”

A skill is outdated. Run npx skills update to pull the latest version. If the skill author has not updated it, consider removing it and using Context7 MCP for live documentation instead.

Tip

Copy-paste prompt for conflict detection:

“Read all installed skill files and identify any contradictions between them. For each conflict, tell me which skill has the more current or authoritative guidance, and recommend which one to keep.”

When This Breaks

“npx skills: command not found.” Ensure Node.js is installed and npx is in your PATH. The skills CLI requires Node.js 18 or later.

Skills install but the AI does not follow them. Check that the skill files are in the correct directory for your editor. Run npx skills list to verify installation, then check the file paths listed.

Skills directory is in .gitignore. If someone added .claude/ or .cursor/ to .gitignore, skill files will not be committed to the repository. Remove the broad ignore pattern and add specific ignores for files that should not be committed (like MCP auth tokens), while allowing skill files.

Too many skills slow down the AI. Each skill consumes context window space. If you have more than 10 skills, audit them and remove any that overlap or that you no longer need.

Skills update pulls breaking changes. Pin a specific commit when stability is critical:

npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills@abc1234

What’s Next

Top Frontend Skills The best skills for React, Next.js, and frontend development.

Building Custom Skills Create and publish your own skills for the marketplace.