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Guide · Agent skill

How to use the Sharing Skills agent skill (share-skills)

Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

Sharing Skills (share-skills) is an agent skill that teaches an AI agent how a skill folder should be laid out, how to name it, and how to bundle it into a tar.gz archive for someone else to unpack. It is for developers and teams who write their own skills and want to hand them off in a consistent way. By the end of this guide you will know what a skill folder contains, how to install the skill, how to ask for it, and how to check a folder before you share it.

Sharing Skillsspinabot/brigade · MIT

Quick start

  1. 1Download and unzip. Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it on your machine.
  2. 2Place the skill folder. Put it in ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or in the project's .claude/skills/ folder. Alternatively, upload it in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
  3. 3Ask for help with the skill. Describe a packaging or layout task in plain words, such as asking how to bundle a skill folder for a teammate.
  4. 4Check the folder against the checklist. Confirm the folder name matches the name field, the description is present, and no secrets are inside.
  5. 5Archive the folder. From the skills/ directory, run tar -czf with the archive name and the folder name.
  6. 6Unpack and verify on the other side. The recipient unpacks into their skills/ directory and confirms the name and requires-* keys still fit their setup.

What the skill makes the agent do

A skill is a folder that gives an agent instructions for a task. This skill focuses on structure and packaging rather than writing the skill's content. When you ask for help with it, the agent works from the skill's guidance on the SKILL.md format, where skills live, how to version a shared skill, and how to bundle a folder.

The skill is a companion to skill-creator. Skill-creator helps you write a skill; share-skills covers laying it out correctly and bundling it to hand off.

  • Explains where skills live and how to name them
  • Explains the SKILL.md format and its frontmatter
  • Shows how to bundle a skill folder into a tar.gz archive and unpack it
  • Gives a checklist to confirm a folder is correct before sharing

Install the Sharing Skills skill

Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it. For a personal setup, place the skill folder in ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, place it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

If you use the Claude apps instead, upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

  • Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
  • Project install: the project's .claude/skills/ folder
  • Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

Understand the skill folder and SKILL.md format

Each skill is a folder under a skills/ directory. The folder name is the skill's identity and must match the name field in its frontmatter, in lowercase. At minimum the folder holds a SKILL.md file, and it can also hold supporting files such as scripts, reference docs and assets.

A SKILL.md file is Markdown with a YAML frontmatter block at the top, followed by the skill body. The description field holds the 'use when' guidance that tells the agent when to reach for the skill. Optional eligibility keys (os, requires-bins, requires-any-bins, requires-env) state what the skill needs; omit any that do not apply.

  • name must equal the folder name, in lowercase
  • description says when to use the skill
  • Open the body with a short overview of what the skill does
  • Reference supporting files by relative path inside the folder
skills/ my-skill/ SKILL.md reference.md # optional supporting docs scripts/run.sh # optional helper scripts

Package a skill folder to share it

To share a skill, bundle its entire folder so supporting files travel with it, then hand over the archive. Run the archive command from the skills/ directory so the archive contains the folder itself.

The recipient unpacks the archive into their own skills/ directory. After unpacking, they should confirm the folder name still matches the name in frontmatter and that the requires-* keys are accurate for their environment.

# from the skills/ directory, archive a single skill folder tar -czf my-skill.tar.gz my-skill/ # recipient unpacks into their own skills/ directory tar -xzf my-skill.tar.gz -C ./skills/

Keep the skill ready to share

If you plan to share a skill, record changes so recipients can tell revisions apart. The skill suggests a Changelog section at the bottom of SKILL.md, or a sibling CHANGELOG.md file.

Run the checklist before you archive the folder. It is short and catches the most common layout mistakes.

  • name equals the folder name (lowercase)
  • description is present and free of product names
  • Eligibility keys reflect real requirements; omit them when there are none
  • Supporting files sit inside the folder and are referenced by relative path
  • The body never instructs calling a tool the runtime does not have

Safety notes before you share

The skill does not run scripts and does not use the network, and it lists no required tools. Its risk lies in what you package. The archive bundles the whole folder, so any credentials or private files inside it travel with it. Check the folder for secrets before you create the archive.

  • Remove credentials, tokens and private files from the folder first
  • Do not share skills that contain secrets

What people use it for

  • Packaging an internal skill so a teammate can unpack it into their own skills/ directory
  • Standardising how a team lays out its skills, with consistent folder names and frontmatter
  • Checking a skill folder against the pre-share checklist before publishing it to a community
  • Adding a Changelog section or CHANGELOG.md so recipients can see what changed between revisions

Frequently asked questions

Do I need anything installed to use the Sharing Skills skill?

The skill lists no required tools, binaries or environment variables. It does not run scripts or use the network. The archive commands in the guide use tar, which is available on most systems.

Is the Sharing Skills agent skill free?

The skill is published under the MIT licence, which the directory lists for this item. Check the licence file in the repository for the full terms.

Will this skill write my skill for me?

No. It covers folder layout, the SKILL.md format and packaging. For writing the skill's content, the source points to the companion skill-creator skill.

What is the difference between share-skills and skill-creator?

Skill-creator helps you write a skill. Share-skills helps you lay the folder out correctly and bundle it so someone else can unpack and use it.

Why does my shared skill not load after unpacking?

Check that the folder name matches the name field in the frontmatter, in lowercase. Also confirm that the requires-* eligibility keys match what the recipient's environment has.

Can I share a skill that has API keys in it?

You should not. The archive bundles the entire folder, so credentials or private files would travel with it. Remove them before you run the archive command.

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Our verdict

Use this skill if you write your own agent skills and want to share them with teammates or a community in a consistent, correctly packaged way. Skip it if you only use existing skills, or if you need help writing a skill's content, where skill-creator is the better fit.

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