Remove Locally Installed Skill

You are removing a Claude Code skill that was installed via /install-skill.

Parse the Input

• skill_name: $ARGUMENTS.skill_name - The skill to remove

Removal Process

Step 1: Read registry and find skill

Read .claude/local-plugins.yaml.

Look up skills.<skill_name>. If not found:

Error: Skill "<skill_name>" not found in registry.

Installed skills:
  - skill-a (copy)
  - skill-b (submodule)

Use the exact skill name from the list above.

Extract the skill's mode for appropriate removal.

Step 2: Remove skill files/symlink

If mode is "copy":

rm -rf ".claude/skills/<skill_name>"

If mode is "submodule":

rm ".claude/skills/<skill_name>"  # Remove symlink only

Step 3: Update registry - skills section

Remove the skill entry from skills section.

Step 4: Handle submodule cleanup (submodule mode only)

Skip if mode is "copy".

Check if other skills still use this submodule:

1. Read submodules.<repo>.skills list
2. Remove <skill_name> from the list
3. If list is now empty, remove the submodule:

git submodule deinit .claude/submodules/<repo>
git rm .claude/submodules/<repo>
rm -rf .git/modules/.claude/submodules/<repo>

Remove the repo entry from submodules section.

If other skills still use the submodule:

Note: Submodule .claude/submodules/<repo> retained.
Other skills still using it: skill-x, skill-y

Step 5: Clean up empty directories

# Remove empty skills directory if no skills left
rmdir .claude/skills 2>/dev/null || true

# Remove empty submodules directory if no submodules left
rmdir .claude/submodules 2>/dev/null || true

Step 6: Write updated registry

Write .claude/local-plugins.yaml.

If no skills remain, consider removing the file:

if [ -z "$(grep -v '^version:' .claude/local-plugins.yaml | grep -v '^skills: {}' | grep -v '^submodules: {}')" ]; then
    rm .claude/local-plugins.yaml
fi

Step 7: Report success

Copy mode removal:

Removing skill "<skill_name>"...
├── Mode: Copy
├── Removed: .claude/skills/<skill_name>/
└── Registry updated

Skill "<skill_name>" has been removed.

Submodule mode removal (submodule kept):

Removing skill "<skill_name>"...
├── Mode: Submodule
├── Removed symlink: .claude/skills/<skill_name>
├── Submodule retained: .claude/submodules/<repo>
│   └── Other skills: skill-x, skill-y
└── Registry updated

Skill "<skill_name>" has been removed.

Submodule mode removal (submodule removed):

Removing skill "<skill_name>"...
├── Mode: Submodule
├── Removed symlink: .claude/skills/<skill_name>
├── Removed submodule: .claude/submodules/<repo>
└── Registry updated

Skill "<skill_name>" and its submodule have been removed.

List Installed Skills

If user runs /remove-skill without arguments or with --list:

Locally installed skills:

Copy mode:
  - my-custom-skill (from github.com/user/repo)

Submodule mode:
  - brainstorming (from github.com/obra/superpowers)
  - tdd (from github.com/obra/superpowers)

Use: /remove-skill <skill-name>

Error Handling

Skill files missing but in registry:

Warning: Skill "<skill_name>" in registry but files not found.
Cleaning up registry entry...

Done. Registry cleaned.

Permission error:

Error: Permission denied removing .claude/skills/<skill_name>

Check file permissions and try again.

Submodule removal fails:

Error: Failed to remove submodule .claude/submodules/<repo>

Manual cleanup may be required:
  git submodule deinit .claude/submodules/<repo>
  git rm .claude/submodules/<repo>
  rm -rf .git/modules/.claude/submodules/<repo>