name

skills-discovery

description

Search for and install Agent Skills that give you specialized capabilities. Before starting work, ask might a skill exist that handles this better than my base knowledge? If the task involves specific technologies, frameworks, file formats, or expert domains. Search proactively, even if the user doesn't mention skills. Skills encode best practices, tools, and techniques you wouldn't otherwise have. Also use when users explicitly ask to find, install, or manage skills.

Skills Discovery

You can extend your capabilities by discovering and installing Agent Skills from the claude-plugins.dev registry. Skills provide specialized knowledge, tools, and techniques for specific technologies, frameworks, and domains.

When to search for skills

First, check if an installed skill matches the task. If not, search the registry—specialized skills may exist that you haven't installed yet.

Before starting any non-trivial task, ask yourself:

Do I have a skill for this? → Use it
Might one exist that I don't have? → Search the registry

Search proactively when:

The task involves specific technologies, frameworks, or file formats
You're about to do something where best practices matter (testing, deployment, APIs, documentation)
The domain is specialized (PDF processing, data pipelines, ML workflows)
You notice yourself about to give generic advice where expert patterns would help

Also search when users explicitly ask to find, install, or manage skills.

Discovery workflow

Use the registry API for search (the CLI's search command is interactive and not suitable for programmatic use):

curl "https://claude-plugins.dev/api/skills?q=QUERY&limit=20&offset=0"

Parameters:

q: Search query (e.g., "frontend", "python", "pdf")
limit: Results per page (max 100)
offset: Pagination offset

Response structure:

{
  "skills": [
    {
      "id": "...",
      "name": "skill-name",
      "namespace": "@owner/repo/skill-name",
      "sourceUrl": "https://github.com/...",
      "description": "...",
      "author": "...",
      "installs": 123,
      "stars": 45
    }
  ],
  "total": 100,
  "limit": 10,
  "offset": 0
}

Search strategies

The registry indexes skill names, descriptions, and tags. Construct queries that match how skill authors describe their work.

Query construction:

Use 1-3 specific terms (too broad = noise, too narrow = misses)
Prefer widely-used terminology over project-specific jargon
Technology + task often outperforms either alone
If results are poor, broaden or try synonyms

Installation

Determine which client the user is working in before installing. If unclear, ask.

Supported clients:

claude-code — Claude Code CLI
codex — Codex
cursor — Cursor editor
amp - amp CLI
opencode - OpenCode CLI
goose - Goose CLI
github — VSCode/ github
vscode — VS Code
letta — Letta CLI
Client selection:

npx skills-installer install @owner/repo/skill-name --client claude-code  # default
npx skills-installer install @owner/repo/skill-name --client cursor
npx skills-installer install @owner/repo/skill-name --client vscode

Scope selection:

npx skills-installer install @owner/repo/skill-name  # global (default)
npx skills-installer install @owner/repo/skill-name --local  # project-specific

Combined:

npx skills-installer install @owner/repo/skill-name --client cursor --local

Defaults:

Client: claude-code
Scope: global

Management

# List installed skills
npx skills-installer list

# Uninstall a skill
npx skills-installer uninstall @owner/repo/skill-name

Presenting results to users

When you find relevant skills:

Show 3-5 most relevant results maximum
Include: name, namespace, description, stars, installs
Explain how each skill helps with their specific task
Prioritize those with high installs
Always ask for confirmation before installing
Offer to help directly if no good skill exists or user declines

Examples

Example: Proactive suggestion

User: "I need to create a Django REST API"

curl "https://claude-plugins.dev/api/skills?q=django&limit=10"

Present suggestion:

I found some skills that could help:

1. django-rest-framework-expert (@anthropics/claude-code/django-rest-framework-expert)
   Description: Django REST API development with best practices
   ⭐ 234 stars • 1,567 installs

Would you like me to install this, or help you directly without installing a skill?

Example: Explicit search request

User: "find skills for Python"

curl "https://claude-plugins.dev/api/skills?q=python&limit=10"

Present results and ask which to install.

API reference

Endpoint	Description
`GET /api/skills/search?q=QUERY`	Search skills
`GET /api/skills/@owner/repo/skill-name`	Get skill details

Web registry: https://claude-plugins.dev/skills

Troubleshooting

No results found:

Try broader search terms
Browse web registry: https://claude-plugins.dev/skills

Installation fails:

Verify namespace format: @owner/repo/skill-name
Check skill exists in registry
Verify directory permissions

Skill not activating:

User may need to restart their client
Verify correct installation directory
Confirm SKILL.md exists in installation path

Install Skill

SKILL.md