Install Skills

Goal

Install, list, and remove shared skills from Git repositories or local paths.

Prerequisites

PromptKit CLI (promptarena) installed

Install a Skill

Install a skill from a Git repository:

promptarena skill install @anthropic/pdf-processing

Install a specific version (Git tag or ref):

promptarena skill install @anthropic/pdf-processing@v1.0.0

Install from a local directory:

promptarena skill install ./path/to/my-skill

What happens:

For @org/name references, the CLI clones the repository from https://github.com/org/name
If a version is specified, it checks out that Git tag or ref
The skill is installed to the user-level directory: ~/.config/promptkit/skills/org/name/
The CLI verifies the directory contains a valid SKILL.md file

Install to Project Level

Use the --project flag to install into the project-local directory instead of user-level:

promptarena skill install @anthropic/pci-compliance --project

This installs to .promptkit/skills/anthropic/pci-compliance/ relative to the current directory. Project-level skills take priority over user-level skills during resolution.

Install into a Workflow Stage Directory

Use the --into flag to install a skill directly into a specific directory — useful for placing skills alongside workflow stage configurations:

promptarena skill install @anthropic/pci-compliance --into ./skills/billing

This installs to ./skills/billing/pci-compliance/. The --into flag is mutually exclusive with --project.

List Installed Skills

See all installed skills grouped by location:

promptarena skill list

Expected output:

Project:
  @anthropic/pci-compliance  (.promptkit/skills/anthropic/pci-compliance)

User:
  @anthropic/pdf-processing  (~/.config/promptkit/skills/anthropic/pdf-processing)

Remove a Skill

Remove an installed skill:

promptarena skill remove @anthropic/pdf-processing

This removes the skill directory from the installed location.

Using Installed Skills in Pack YAML

Reference installed skills in your pack’s skills array using the @org/name prefix:

{
  "skills": [
    {"path": "@anthropic/pci-compliance"},
    {"path": "@anthropic/refund-processing"},
    {"path": "skills/local-skill", "preload": true}
  ]
}

The runtime resolves @org/name references from the installed skill directories automatically.

Skill Discovery

When the runtime encounters a skill reference, it resolves in this order:

Inline — skill defined directly in the pack JSON
Local directory — relative path resolved from the pack file location
Project-level — .promptkit/skills/org/name/
User-level — ~/.config/promptkit/skills/org/name/

The first match wins, so project-level installations override user-level ones.