How to use the od-contribute agent skill for OpenDesign

What the od-contribute skill makes the agent do

An agent skill is a folder of instructions and helper scripts that an AI agent loads when your request matches it. This one is built for the OpenDesign project. Once installed, the agent asks you what kind of contribution you want to make, checks your prerequisites, runs validation scripts on your work, drafts the text in English, and then pushes a branch and opens a pull request or issue on GitHub for you, using your own GitHub account.

The skill only works with the nexu-io/open-design repository. It does not work on private repositories or other projects.

• Ship a Skill or Design System you made with OpenDesign (opens a pull request)
• Translate README, QUICKSTART or CONTRIBUTING into another language (opens a pull request)
• Fix a doc typo, a dead link, or write a blog or use-case post (opens a pull request)
• Report a bug and turn it into a clear GitHub issue (opens an issue, no pull request)

What you need before you install

The skill relies on tools that must already be on your computer and set up. The agent's first step is a prerequisite check, and if something is missing it prints an install or login hint and stops.

• GitHub CLI (gh), installed and authenticated
• git
• jq, curl and tar (used by the installer)
• A GitHub account with permission to fork nexu-io/open-design
• Optional: a .gh-token file in the skill folder, for sandboxed agents

Install the od-contribute skill

Download the od-contribute ZIP from the skill's page on this directory. Then choose one of two ways to install it.

For Claude Code, unzip the folder into ~/.claude/skills/ to make it available everywhere, or into .claude/skills/ inside a specific project to limit it to that project. For the Claude apps, upload the ZIP under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into .claude/skills/ in your project folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

How to trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need special syntax. Ask in plain language and the agent will match your request to the skill. The listed trigger phrases are: contribute to open design, ship my OD skill, ship my OD design system, translate OD docs, report an OD bug, and od-contribute.

The agent replies in the language you write in. Generated pull request titles, commit messages, branch names and bodies are always in English, because maintainers review in English.

• 'I want to contribute to Open Design.'
• 'Ship my OD skill. It's in my Downloads folder.'
• 'Translate OD docs into Korean.'
• 'I found an OD bug, help me report it.'

Walk through a contribution step by step

The agent first asks you to pick one of four contribution types. For a Skill or Design System, it asks for the local path to your file or folder, sniffs the type, copies the artifact into a workspace, and runs the matching validation script. If validation fails, it shows you the failing lines and asks you to fix them. It never pushes a failing artifact.

For a translation, it looks for missing or outdated translations, asks which one to work on, translates while keeping code blocks, brand names and file names unchanged, and validates the result against the English source. For a bug report, it skips the pull request and helps you write an issue. In every path it drafts the text, shows it for your approval, and then pushes and opens the pull request or issue.

Safety notes: scripts, network and your GitHub account

This skill runs bundled scripts on your machine and uses the network. It gives the agent Bash access and works through your GitHub account, so the agent can create forks, branches, pull requests and issues under your name. These are public and visible to everyone.

Only install this skill if you are comfortable with that. If you are not, or if you do not want the agent to have Bash access and GitHub credentials, choose a different approach. You can read the scripts in the scripts folder before you run anything.

• Forks, branches, PRs and issues are created under your GitHub account and are public
• The bundled scripts run locally, including check-prereqs.sh and the create-pr.sh and create-issue.sh scripts
• The skill needs network access to reach GitHub
• Use the optional .gh-token file only if your agent sandbox requires it

Tips for a smooth first contribution

Keep your contribution small. A typo fix is a typo fix, and the agent is set up to avoid overstating what a change does. If you are unsure whether your work is ready, ask the agent to run the validation step and show you the result.

If the agent asks whether to fork the repository and you have not forked it yet, the default answer is yes. You can also fork it yourself with the command shown here.

• Check the trigger list above so your first message matches a contribution type
• Have your GitHub CLI login working before you start
• Review the draft pull request or issue text before you approve it