Installing Skills for AI Tools
In this article: A Skill teaches an AI tool how to do a specific job. It is a folder containing a SKILL.md file, and it follows the Agent Skills open standard, so the same Skill works in every AI tool listed below without modification.Installing
A Skill downloaded from this website is a ZIP file which contains one folder. Extract that folder into the skills directory of your AI tool, then start a new session. The directory of each AI tool is listed in the next section. Claude apps and LM Studio import a Skill through their settings instead of a directory: open the Skills page in settings and add the ZIP file.
An AI tool reads only the name and description of a Skill until you actually use it, therefore installing a Skill you don't need at the moment consumes almost no resources.
Directories of AI Tools
Most AI tools look for Skills in 2 directories: one for all projects, and one for the current project only. Use the directory for all projects unless you want to share the Skill with your team through the repository of the project.-
Claude Code (Documentation)
- For all projects: ~/.claude/skills
- For one project: .claude/skills
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Claude apps (Documentation)
- Add the ZIP file on the Skills page in settings.
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Codex (Documentation)
- For all projects: ~/.agents/skills
- For one project: .agents/skills
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Cursor (Documentation)
- For all projects: ~/.agents/skills or ~/.cursor/skills
- For one project: .agents/skills or .cursor/skills
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Gemini CLI (Documentation)
- For all projects: ~/.agents/skills or ~/.gemini/skills
- For one project: .agents/skills or .gemini/skills
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LM Studio (Documentation)
- Add the ZIP file on the Skills page in settings.
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Windsurf (Documentation)
- For all projects: ~/.codeium/windsurf/skills
- For one project: .windsurf/skills
Codex, Cursor and Gemini CLI all read .agents/skills, so putting a Skill there makes it available to all 3 of them at once.