skillfile

Track AI skills and agents declaratively, like dependencies. Pin them. Patch them. Deploy everywhere.

Fetch from GitHub, GitLab, local files, or direct URLs. Lock to exact revisions. Deploy to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Factory, Gemini CLI, Junie, Opencode, Windsurf, and Antigravity.

skillfile is a file manager, not a framework. It keeps your installed prompts reproducible and lets you carry local edits forward with patch files.

Install

curl -fsSL https://github.com/eljulians/skillfile/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

Or:

cargo install skillfile

Prebuilt binaries are published on GitHub Releases.

Quick start

skillfile init
skillfile add github skill anthropics/skills skills/
skillfile install

The same flow works for GitLab:

skillfile add gitlab skill my-group/my-project skills/
skillfile install

Skillfile.lock pins upstream content to exact SHAs or refs so another machine gets the same files.

What it manages

Sources:

• github
• gitlab
• local
• url

Entities:

• skill
• agent

GitLab project paths may include subgroups. Self-hosted GitLab is supported through GITLAB_HOST.

Example Skillfile

install  claude-code  global
install  codex        global

github  skill  anthropics/skills  skills/slack-gif-creator
gitlab  skill  my-group/platform-skills  skills/release
local   skill  skills/team/reviewer/SKILL.md
url     agent  triager  https://example.com/agents/triager.md

Format details live in SPEC.md.

Common commands

skillfile init
skillfile add
skillfile install
skillfile install --update
skillfile status
skillfile diff <name>
skillfile pin <name>
skillfile resolve <name>

Run skillfile add with no arguments for the interactive picker, or use explicit subcommands such as:

skillfile add github skill owner/repo skills/SKILL.md
skillfile add gitlab skill group/project skills/SKILL.md
skillfile add local skill skills/my-skill/SKILL.md
skillfile add url agent https://example.com/agent.md --name my-agent

Patches

Edit an installed file, then pin it:

skillfile pin browser
skillfile install --update

Pinned changes are stored in .skillfile/patches/. If upstream changes conflict, use skillfile diff and skillfile resolve.

Auth

GitHub:

• GITHUB_TOKEN
• GH_TOKEN

GitLab:

• GITLAB_TOKEN
• GITLAB_PRIVATE_TOKEN
• GITLAB_HOST for self-hosted instances

skillfile init can also save token settings in user config.

Platforms

Supported install targets:

• claude-code
• codex
• cursor
• copilot
• factory
• gemini-cli
• junie
• opencode
• windsurf
• antigravity

Some platforms support skills only; see skillfile init or skillfile --help for the exact target behavior.

Notes

Important

skillfile downloads markdown and installs it where your AI tools expect it. It does not sandbox or verify the content.

Shell completions are available via skillfile completions <bash|zsh|fish|powershell|elvish>.