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/skill-installer

@49f948f official
by openaiopenai/skills28k stars
1,977
Run it yourself

Install Codex skills into $CODEX_HOME/skills from a curated list or a GitHub repo path. Use when a user asks to list installable skills, install a curated skill, or install a skill from another repo (including private repos).

Use this Skill: https://skilld.dev/gh/openai/skills/skill-installer

Nothing lands on disk. Nothing to clean up.

Fork this Skill

Edit a local copy. It keeps the author and licence.

SKILL.md

≈61 tokens for metadata: the name and description. ≈721 when used: this file. ≈56 more on demand in 1 file.

Description uses 3.0% of example budget

Before choosing a Skill, your Agent reads its name and description. All available Skills share that space.

  • A shorter description leaves more room for other Skills. This entry exceeds our 1% size suggestion.

In our Claude Code example, all Skill names and descriptions share 8,000 characters. This Skill uses ≈243 characters, or 3.0%.

The 1% threshold is a size suggestion. Longer descriptions can still fit.

Your model, settings, and other Skills decide how much text your Agent can read.

Example settings and source

The example uses a 200k-token context and default Claude Code settings. The count includes the name, description, separators, and when_to_use when present. Codex also counts local file paths.

Skit's source and limits: Codex 0.160.1, Claude Code 2.1.292.

Skill Installer

Helps install skills. By default these are from https://github.com/openai/skills/tree/main/skills/.curated, but users can also provide other locations.

Use the helper scripts based on the task:

  • List skills when the user asks what is available, or if the user uses this skill without specifying what to do. Default listing is .curated, but you can pass --path skills/.experimental when they ask about experimental skills.
  • Install from the curated list when the user provides a skill name.
  • Install from another repo when the user provides a GitHub repo/path (including private repos).

Install skills with the helper scripts.

Communication

When listing skills, output approximately as follows, depending on the context of the user's request. If they ask about experimental skills, list from .experimental instead of .curated and label the source accordingly: """ Skills from {repo}:

  1. skill-1
  2. skill-2 (already installed)
  3. ... Which ones would you like installed? """

After installing a skill, tell the user it will be available on their next turn.

Scripts

All of these scripts use network, so when running in the sandbox, request escalation when running them.

  • scripts/list-skills.py (prints skills list with installed annotations)
  • scripts/list-skills.py --format json
  • Example (experimental list): scripts/list-skills.py --path skills/.experimental
  • scripts/install-skill-from-github.py --repo <owner>/<repo> --path <path/to/skill> [<path/to/skill> ...]
  • scripts/install-skill-from-github.py --url https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/tree/<ref>/<path>
  • Example (experimental skill): scripts/install-skill-from-github.py --repo openai/skills --path skills/.experimental/<skill-name>

Behavior and Options

  • Defaults to direct download for public GitHub repos.
  • If download fails with auth/permission errors, falls back to git sparse checkout.
  • Aborts if the destination skill directory already exists.
  • Installs into $CODEX_HOME/skills/<skill-name> (defaults to ~/.codex/skills).
  • Multiple --path values install multiple skills in one run, each named from the path basename unless --name is supplied.
  • Options: --ref <ref> (default main), --dest <path>, --method auto|download|git.

Notes

  • Curated listing is fetched from https://github.com/openai/skills/tree/main/skills/.curated via the GitHub API. If it is unavailable, explain the error and exit.
  • Private GitHub repos can be accessed via existing git credentials or optional GITHUB_TOKEN/GH_TOKEN for download.
  • Git fallback tries HTTPS first, then SSH.
  • The skills at https://github.com/openai/skills/tree/main/skills/.system are preinstalled, so no need to help users install those. If they ask, just explain this. If they insist, you can download and overwrite.
  • Installed annotations come from $CODEX_HOME/skills.

Source: SKILL.md on GitHub

Skill behaviors

skilld matched fixed text patterns in SKILL.md and file names. Patterns miss obfuscated code.

skilld run checks every file with the same patterns. It asks for approval before it loads a Skill with a behavior marked Needs approval.

Third-party checks

3 warnings1mo5 checks · Risk SAFE
  • Gen Agent Trust Hub1mo

    This skill is a utility designed to manage and install other agent skills from GitHub repositories. It performs operations such as downloading repository archives and executing git commands for sparse checkouts. These actions are fundamental to the skill's intended purpose and incorporate security best practices, such as path validation and secure archive extraction.

  • Socket1mo

    2 alerts: gptSecurity, gptAnomaly

  • Snyk1mo

    Risk: MEDIUM · 1 issue

  • Runlayer8mo

    2/6 files flagged

  • ZeroLeaks6mo

    Score: 93/100 · 2 sections analyzed

Provenance

Signed by skilld at 49f948f. This ties the file your Agent reads to that commit on GitHub. It does not review the instructions.

Last checked against GitHub last month.

Activeupdated 5 months ago

Capability

Other metadata
metadata
{
  "short-description": "Install curated skills from openai/skills or other repos"
}

Topics

  • skill-management
  • github
  • installation
  • codex
  • openai
  • repository
  • private-repos

README badge

README badge for openai/skills/skill-installer

What it does

Installs Codex skills from the curated openai/skills repo or from any public/private GitHub repo path into $CODEX_HOME/skills. Handles listing available skills, installing by name, and cloning from arbitrary repos with fallback to git sparse checkout on auth failures.

Generated from the current SKILL.md.

Frequently asked

Can I install skills from private GitHub repos?
Yes. The skill installer falls back to git sparse checkout if direct download fails due to auth errors, and will use existing git credentials or GITHUB_TOKEN/GH_TOKEN environment variables.
What happens if I try to install a skill that's already installed?
The installer aborts and does not overwrite the existing skill directory.
Can I install multiple skills at once?
Yes. Pass multiple --path arguments to install-skill-from-github.py to install several skills in one run.
Do I need to do anything after installing a skill?
Yes. You must restart Codex for it to pick up the newly installed skills.
What are system skills and do I need to install them?
System skills are preinstalled at $CODEX_HOME/skills/.system and do not need to be installed separately.

Generated from the current SKILL.md. These answers refresh after source changes.