Skillsmith

Shared skills, safe for production.

Once more than one team is publishing agent skills, the problem stops being finding them and starts being managing them. Which team is this scoped to? Which version is installed where? Has it been flagged by a security scan? What happens to the ones nobody maintains anymore?

Skillsmith is a registry for sharing, scanning, and tracking agent skills across teams. Skills are published to a registry scoped to your team and versioned immutably, so drift across installs is visible instead of silent. Flagged or suspicious skills are quarantined pending security review. Skills that go stale can be deprecated instead of quietly rotting in someone's repo.

Installation

Quick Setup (MCP)

Skillsmith is MCP-compatible — pick the snippet for your agent. SMI-4580: snippets sourced from packages/cli/src/templates/mcp-server.template.snippets.ts so this README and the website docs cannot drift.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "@skillsmith/mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@skillsmith/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SKILLSMITH_API_KEY": "sk_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Code after editing settings.json.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "@skillsmith/mcp-server": {
      "command": "<paste output of: which skillsmith-mcp (macOS/Linux) or where skillsmith-mcp (Windows)>",
      "env": {
        "SKILLSMITH_API_KEY": "sk_live_...",
        "SKILLSMITH_CLIENT": "cursor"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor 2.4+ required, Node >=22.22 (Cursor's own bundled Node meets this). SKILLSMITH_CLIENT routes installs to ~/.cursor/skills instead of the default ~/.claude/skills.

Setup: run npm install -g @skillsmith/mcp-server, then run which skillsmith-mcp (macOS/Linux) or where skillsmith-mcp (Windows) and paste that path into command above — Cursor's bundled Node cannot resolve packages via npx (a real ENOENT on a missing Resources/app/resources/lib directory), so pointing directly at the installed binary is the only form confirmed to work inside Cursor. Prefer to try npx first anyway? Replace command with "npx" and add "args": ["-y", "@skillsmith/mcp-server"] — simpler, but may hit the same ENOENT, plus EBADENGINE or ENOTEMPTY on repeated installs. After saving: enable the server in Cursor's Settings → MCP panel and start a new chat — a correctly-configured entry still shows disconnected until toggled on there — then reload the window.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "@skillsmith/mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@skillsmith/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SKILLSMITH_API_KEY": "sk_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code 1.108+ required. Workspace-scoped (commit to repo if team-shared, or use user settings.json instead).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "@skillsmith/mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@skillsmith/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SKILLSMITH_API_KEY": "${env:SKILLSMITH_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Supports ${env:VAR} interpolation; export SKILLSMITH_API_KEY in your shell instead of inlining the secret.

[mcp_servers.@skillsmith/mcp-server]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@skillsmith/mcp-server"]

[mcp_servers.@skillsmith/mcp-server.env]
SKILLSMITH_API_KEY = "sk_live_..."

Codex reads ~/.agents/skills. When installing via CLI, pass --client agents.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "@skillsmith/mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@skillsmith/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SKILLSMITH_API_KEY": "sk_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Read by any agent honouring the cross-agent skill convention.

After adding to your MCP client settings and restarting, you can search for skills immediately.

API Key Configuration (Optional)

For higher rate limits and usage tracking, authenticate with your API key.

Easiest — CLI login (interactive):

npm install -g @skillsmith/cli
skillsmith login

This opens skillsmith.app/account/cli-token in your browser. Generate a key, copy it, and paste it when prompted. The key is stored securely in your OS keyring.

MCP server config — add the key to your settings:

The per-client snippets above already include the env.SKILLSMITH_API_KEY slot — replace the sk_live_... placeholder with the value from skillsmith login.

Get your API key at skillsmith.app/account/cli-token.

Quota note: the monthly figure is a hard limit only where enforced. Edge functions hard-block on monthly quota for Community only, and only when ENFORCE_COMMUNITY_QUOTA is 'true'. The MCP server's own monthly quota counts only skill_suggest and the tier-gated tools, and hard-blocks them by default (SKILLSMITH_ENFORCE_MCP_QUOTA=false turns that off).

The MCP server falls back to a built-in public key when none is set, so keyless MCP use is Community-rate and shares one 30/min bucket per edge endpoint (search, get, recommend, …) with every other keyless client. The 10-call trial (100/min per IP) applies to direct HTTP requests that do not successfully authenticate, including ones with a malformed or expired credential; normal keyless MCP requests authenticate with the built-in key and never reach it. When enabled, a per-IP daily budget can also apply to that shared key (ENFORCE_ANON_BUDGET; off by default).

Note: Never paste API keys in chat. Configure via settings.json only.

CLI Installation (Development)

The CLI is available for local development:

# From the repository root
npm run build
node packages/cli/dist/index.js search "testing"

Related MCP server: agentskill-mcp

The four questions

Once more than one team is publishing skills, these are the questions that matter:

1. Which team is this scoped to? Every skill in the registry is scoped to a team.

2. Which version is installed here? Versions are immutable; skill_diff (Individual tier) and skill_outdated report drift for what's installed on the machine you run them from.

3. Has it been flagged by the security scan? Skills pulled from the public index are scored automatically; flagged or suspicious ones are quarantined pending review — unflagged means it wasn't flagged, not that it was formally approved. Each skill carries one of eight trust tiers, from Official to Unverified (Security Guide).

4. What happens to the ones nobody maintains? Stale skills can be deprecated instead of quietly rotting in someone's repo.

How it works

• Publish — skills are published to a registry scoped to your team, versioned immutably.

• Version — every publish creates a new immutable version; nothing is overwritten in place.

• Drift detection — skill_diff (Individual tier) and skill_outdated show what's installed and where it has fallen behind, at the point you check.

• Deprecate — skills that go stale can be deprecated instead of quietly rotting in someone's repo.

Scopes and permissions

Skills are scoped to your team's registry. Team owners and admins control who can publish and manage skills; members install and search.

Start solo

Search, install, and manage skills for yourself, free. When your team needs the same skill, the registry is already there.

MCP Tools

Skillsmith registers 43 tools. 19 of the 43 work on the free Community tier. Higher tiers add version tracking, team features and enterprise controls. Tools above your tier return an upgrade message. Pricing.

Community (free)

Individual

Team

Enterprise

The automatic session-start namespace audit is a Team and Enterprise feature. The audit and rename tools above can be run by hand on any tier.

Local-first by design. Skillsmith caches the registry in a local SQLite database at ~/.skillsmith/skills.db, shared across the MCP server, the CLI, and the VS Code extension. Search is FTS5 (SQLite's built-in keyword search) by default; semantic search is opt-in (SKILLSMITH_USE_HNSW=true) and runs over local ONNX embeddings (an open ML model format that runs on CPU — no API call). Inside the Local Skill Database walks through the schema, the FTS5 / HNSW search paths, and how sync (a Team+ tier feature) keeps the cache fresh.

Architecture

Skillsmith uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP):

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  MCP Client (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.)             │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│  │  Skillsmith MCP Server                          ││
│  │  └── @skillsmith/mcp-server                     ││
│  │      ├── search, get_skill, skill_compare       ││
│  │      ├── install_skill, uninstall_skill         ││
│  │      ├── skill_recommend, skill_validate        ││
│  │      ├── skill_outdated, skill_diff, ...        ││
│  │      └── 43 tools across four tiers             ││
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│                          │                          │
│                          ▼                          │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│  │  ~/.skillsmith/skills.db (SQLite + FTS5)        ││
│  │  ~/.claude/skills/ (installed skills)           ││
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Usage

Once configured, your MCP client can use Skillsmith tools:

"Search for testing skills"
→ Uses search tool to find testing-related skills

"Show me details for community/jest-helper"
→ Uses get_skill tool to retrieve full skill information

"Install the jest-helper skill"
→ Uses install_skill tool to add it to ~/.claude/skills

"Compare jest-helper and vitest-helper"
→ Uses skill_compare tool to show side-by-side comparison

"Are any of my installed skills out of date?"
→ Uses skill_outdated tool to check for staleness and missing dependencies

"Do any of my skills clash with each other?"
→ Uses skill_inventory_audit tool to find name collisions and suggest renames

CLI Usage (Development)

# From the repository, after building
node packages/cli/dist/index.js search "testing" --tier verified --min-score 80
node packages/cli/dist/index.js get community/jest-helper
node packages/cli/dist/index.js install community/jest-helper

Documentation

• Security Guide - Understanding skill trust, safety, and protections

• 5-Minute Setup - Quick start guide

• Configuration Guide - Complete setup and usage

• Status - Live status and uptime history for Skillsmith's core services

Development

Skillsmith uses Docker-first development. All commands run inside Docker to ensure consistent native module support across all platforms.

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop (v24+) or Docker Engine with Docker Compose

• Git (for cloning the repository)

• Node.js (optional, only for local tooling outside Docker)

Quick Start

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/smith-horn/skillsmith.git
cd skillsmith

# 2. Create your local environment file
cp .env.example .env

# 3. Start the development container
docker compose --profile dev up -d

# 4. Install dependencies (first time only)
docker exec -w /app skillsmith-dev-1 sh -c 'sh scripts/lib/node-modules-mount-gate.sh && npm install'

# 5. Build and test
docker exec skillsmith-dev-1 npm run build
docker exec skillsmith-dev-1 npm test

Running Commands in Docker

All npm commands should be run inside the Docker container:

Container Management

# Start development container
docker compose --profile dev up -d

# Check container status
docker ps | grep skillsmith

# View container logs
docker logs skillsmith-dev-1

# Stop container
docker compose --profile dev down

# Restart after Dockerfile changes
docker compose --profile dev down
docker compose --profile dev build --no-cache
docker compose --profile dev up -d

After Pulling Changes

When you pull changes that modify package.json or package-lock.json:

docker exec -w /app skillsmith-dev-1 sh -c 'sh scripts/lib/node-modules-mount-gate.sh && npm install'
docker exec skillsmith-dev-1 npm run build

Troubleshooting

Container won't start

docker compose --profile dev down
docker volume rm skillsmith_node_modules
docker compose --profile dev up -d

The wipe does not block startup at the entrypoint's node_modules pre-check — the root volume re-seeds from the image, so that check passes rather than exiting (SMI-6674); later startup steps are a separate matter. What the wipe does leave is a mixed dependency state, so don't follow it with a bare install. Print and follow the ordered refresh sequence instead (ADR-158; SMI-6614):

( cd <main-checkout-path> && sh scripts/lib/print-deps-refresh-advice.sh <main-checkout-path> )

Native module errors (ERR_DLOPEN_FAILED)

Native modules like better-sqlite3 and onnxruntime-node may need rebuilding:

docker exec -w /app skillsmith-dev-1 sh -c 'sh scripts/lib/node-modules-mount-gate.sh && npm rebuild'

Tests fail with shared library errors

If you see errors about ld-linux-aarch64.so.1 or similar, ensure you're running inside Docker (not locally):

# Wrong - don't run locally
npm test

# Correct - run in Docker
docker exec skillsmith-dev-1 npm test

Why Docker?

Skillsmith uses native Node.js modules (better-sqlite3, onnxruntime-node) that require glibc. Docker provides a consistent Debian-based environment with glibc, avoiding compatibility issues on systems using musl libc (like Alpine Linux).

See CLAUDE.md for full development workflow and skill configuration.

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js >=22.22 (Docker with glibc)

• Protocol: MCP (Model Context Protocol)

• Database: SQLite with FTS5

• Embeddings: all-MiniLM-L6-v2 via onnxruntime-node

• Testing: Vitest

• CI/CD: GitHub Actions

License

Skillsmith is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0.

You CAN:

• Use Skillsmith for personal or internal business purposes

• Modify the source code for your own use

• Self-host for your team

• Contribute bug fixes and improvements

You CANNOT:

• Offer Skillsmith as a managed service to third parties

• Circumvent license key enforcement features

For the full license text, see the LICENSE file.

Author

Smith Horn Group Ltd

Skillsmith is not affiliated with Anthropic. Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic.