managing-local-skills | local-skills | ClaudePluginHub

Skill

managing-local-skills

From local-skills

Manages Claude Code skills from plugin marketplaces using the local-skills CLI. Use when the user wants to add, update, remove, list, or inspect skills from a marketplace, or when managing the project's .claude/skills/ directory with version-tracked skills. Triggers on "install a skill", "add skill from marketplace", "update skills", "list available skills", "remove skill", or "local-skills".

Install

$

npx claudepluginhub vgeshel/local-skills --plugin local-skills

Tool Access

This skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.

Preview

`local-skills` is a CLI tool for extracting and managing Claude Code skills from plugin marketplaces. It installs skills into `.claude/skills/` with version tracking, modification detection, and update management.

SKILL.md

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Last CommitFeb 2, 2026

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Managing Skills with local-skills CLI

local-skills is a CLI tool for extracting and managing Claude Code skills from plugin marketplaces. It installs skills into .claude/skills/ with version tracking, modification detection, and update management.

Prerequisites

The tool must be installed from npm before use:

npm install -g local-skills

Or you can install per-project:

npm install --save-dev local-skills

Verify installation:

local-skills --help

Commands

Add a skill

local-skills add <specifier>

The specifier format is <plugin>@<marketplace>/<skill>[:<version>]:

Part	Description
`plugin`	Plugin name in the marketplace
`marketplace`	GitHub `owner/repo` or full git URL
`skill`	Skill name (or `*` for all)
`version`	Optional git ref (tag, branch)

Examples:

# Add a single skill from a GitHub marketplace
local-skills add superpowers@anthropics/claude-code/tdd

# Pinned to a specific tag
local-skills add superpowers@anthropics/claude-code/tdd:v2.0

# All skills from a plugin
local-skills add superpowers@anthropics/claude-code/*

# From a full git URL
local-skills add my-plugin@https://gitlab.com/team/repo.git/my-skill

List skills

local-skills ls [source]

Options:

--long, -l — Show descriptions
--installed — Only installed skills
--not-installed — Only non-installed skills

Examples:

# List all installed skills
local-skills ls --installed

# List skills from a remote marketplace with descriptions
local-skills ls anthropics/claude-code --long

# List skills not yet installed from a marketplace
local-skills ls anthropics/claude-code --not-installed

Show skill details

local-skills info <skill>

Displays source, version, and content information for an installed skill.

Update a skill

local-skills update <skill-name>

Options:

--force, -f — Overwrite locally modified files

Update behavior:

Skills pinned to a specific commit SHA (40-char hex) are skipped automatically
If skill files were modified locally, update is refused unless --force is passed
If the state file is missing, modification check is skipped

Remove a skill

local-skills remove <skill-name>

Removes the skill directory from .claude/skills/ and cleans up tracking files.

Tracked Files

Both files should be committed to version control:

.claude/local-skills.json — Manifest declaring what skills are installed and from where (source, ref, SHA)
.claude/local-skills-state.json — Content hashes for installed skill files, used to detect local modifications

How It Works

Parses the specifier to identify the plugin, marketplace, skill, and optional version
Shallow-clones the marketplace git repo
Reads .claude-plugin/marketplace.json to find the plugin
Copies the skill directory to .claude/skills/<skill-name>/
Records the source, ref, and commit SHA in the manifest
Computes a content hash and stores it in the state file

Workflow Guidance

When a user asks to add skills from a marketplace:

Check if local-skills is installed: local-skills --help
If not installed, install it: npm install -g local-skills
If the user knows the marketplace, use local-skills ls <marketplace> --long to show available skills
Use local-skills add with the appropriate specifier
Verify installation with local-skills ls --installed

When a user asks to update skills:

Check current state: local-skills ls --installed
Run local-skills update <skill-name> for each skill
If update fails due to local modifications, inform the user and suggest --force only if they confirm

When a user asks about available skills:

Use local-skills ls <marketplace> --long to browse a marketplace
Use local-skills info <skill> for details on an installed skill