---

Skillporter

Skillporter, is the package manager for AI agent skills. It is a zero runtime dependency CLI and MCP server that installs, pins, audits, synchronizes and rolls back SKILL.md packages across 19 AI coding and autonomous agent harnesses, including Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Hermes Agent, OpenHands and Goose.

uvx skillporter diagnose .                        # run the CLI without installing it (uv)
pipx install skillporter                          # install the CLI globally (PEP 668 safe)
npx @shanmukhdheekonda/skillporter diagnose .     # run the CLI without installing it (npm)

---

Why skills need a package manager

Every AI agent harness reads skills from a different directory (.claude/skills/, .agents/skills/, .github/skills/, .windsurf/skills/, $HERMES_HOME/skills/, ~/.openclaw/skills/), and each one resolves them differently.

• A skill placed in .claude/skills/ is invisible to OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, Zed, and Windsurf.
• Hand-rolled symlinks break inside Docker builds, CI checkouts, git worktree, and Windows checkouts.
• Manual copies across directories silently drift out of sync across teammates, while naive removals from shared .agents/skills/ directories break other agents.
• An upstream skill can change under you between two sync runs, and an agent loads whatever it finds into its system context.

Skillporter treats skills the way a package manager treats dependencies: one manifest, one lockfile, one resolution step, and one install path that every harness can read.

What Skillporter does

Capability	How it works
Universal source resolution	Fetches from GitHub shorthand (owner/repo), Git URLs, local paths, or archives without executing bundled scripts.
Shared-path deduplication	Writes .agents/skills/<skill> once across 8 primary harnesses and preserves it during single-harness remove.
Static supply-chain assessment	Inspects Python ASTs, JS/TS, Markdown instructions, and bounded Base64/Hex/PowerShell payloads before any file is written.
Deterministic lockfiles	Pins resolved_commit, tree_hash, per-file SHA-256 file_hashes, and pin_state in skillporter.lock.
Portable .skillpack environments	Packages managed skills, provenance, lockfiles, and profiles into a SHA-256 verified offline archive (export / import / diff).
Granular harness & profile control	Supports --exclude-harness, --isolated, --on-conflict, move, adopt, harness inspection, and named profile switching.
Crash-safe transactions	Stages multi-harness installs behind a write-ahead journal.json and snapshots replaced copies into .skillporter/backups/.
Agent skill & hardened MCP server	Ships an official skillporter skill (self-skill install) plus a workspace-bounded JSON-RPC 2.0 MCP server (--allow-writes opt-in).

Installation

# Option A: run immediately without a global install, via uvx or npx
uvx skillporter diagnose .
npx @shanmukhdheekonda/skillporter diagnose .

# Option B: install from PyPI with uv or pipx (PEP 668 safe)
uv tool install skillporter
pipx install skillporter

# Option C: standalone verified release installer (Linux and macOS)
# Verifies SHA256SUMS.txt and the GitHub OIDC provenance attestation
# (`gh attestation verify`) or an out-of-band pinned digest
# (`SKILLPORTER_SHA256=<64-hex>`). Never falls back to mutable `main`.
curl -fsSL https://github.com/Shanmukh-l33t/skillporter/releases/download/v3.1.0/install.sh -o install.sh
SKILLPORTER_VERSION=v3.1.0 sh install.sh

Python 3.9 or newer is required, and the standalone installer checks for it before unpacking anything. The package ships with no runtime dependencies, so there is nothing else to audit or pin.

Quick start (60 seconds)

# 1. Run the zero residue interactive demo (heals broken symlinks and SHA-256 drift in a temp dir)
skillporter demo

# 2. Install a skill across harnesses (validates spec, runs static security scan, deduplicates .agents/skills)
skillporter add anthropics/skills --skill pdf --harness all

# 3. Inspect and security scan skills (text, JSON, or SARIF 2.1.0 for GitHub Code Scanning)
skillporter scan .
skillporter scan . --format sarif > skillporter.sarif

# 4. Initialize manifest, synchronize transitive dependencies, and verify the reproducible lockfile in CI
skillporter init
skillporter sync
skillporter lock --check

# 5. Diagnose reachability, audit provenance and override logs, or roll back to a verified snapshot
skillporter status
skillporter audit .
skillporter rollback pdf

# 6. Export, compare, and restore your entire skill environment across machines (works offline)
skillporter export my-environment.skillpack
skillporter diff my-environment.skillpack
skillporter import my-environment.skillpack --dry-run

# 7. Give your AI coding agents native control over Skillporter
skillporter self-skill install --harness detected

Supply chain security

Agent skills are untrusted supply chain packages: an agent loads SKILL.md directly into its system context and executes bundled scripts. Skillporter is built around that assumption rather than around convenience.

• Silent skill drift and unpinned upstream changes: skillporter.lock pins resolved Git commits, SHA-256 tree digests, and per-file hashes, blocking unexpected upstream mutations during sync.
• Known static supply chain hazards: inspects Python ASTs, JavaScript and TypeScript scripts, Markdown instructions, and bounded Base64, Hex and PowerShell payloads for embedded credentials, prompt injection override patterns, hidden Unicode and comments, shell pipe RCE, unsafe deserialization, symlink escapes, and multi-file staged execution before installation.
• Unsafe archive and filesystem operations: blocks Zip-Slip and Tar-Slip inputs (../, ..\, drive paths, Windows reserved device names, Unicode NFC/NFD collisions, symlinks, special files, decompression bombs) and stages installs transactionally with crash recovery journals.
• Unscoped agent filesystem writes: constrains skillporter mcp to the workspace root with default-deny write permissions (SKILLPORTER_MCP_ALLOW_WRITES=1 opt-in) and separates conflict overrides (--force) from security risk overrides (--allow-risky).

Important security note: static scanning (STATIC_SECURITY_ASSESSMENT) inspects files for known dangerous patterns and structural anomalies. A clean static scan is not proof that a skill is safe at runtime. Novel natural-language prompt injections or dynamically fetched payloads can still steer an agent at runtime.

How the scan is graded and where its limits are is documented in SECURITY.md.

Lockfile, sync and rollback

skillporter.lock is the reproducible record of what is installed:

• Pins resolved_commit, tree_hash, per-file SHA-256 file_hashes, pin_state (PINNED_COMMIT, PINNED_CONTENT or UNPINNED_MUTABLE), dependencies, and adapter version.
• skillporter sync honors locked Git commit SHAs even when upstream branches move, and rejects unexpected upstream content changes without --force.
• skillporter lock --check verifies the lockfile in CI and fails on mismatch.
• skillporter audit reports installed origins, lockfile drift, and .skillporter/audit.jsonl events, so any risk override is visible after the fact.

Rollback is transactional rather than a re-download. Replacements are staged in .skillporter/tmp/txn-* behind a write-ahead journal.json, prior versions are snapshotted into .skillporter/backups/, and skillporter rollback restores a skill together with its dependency graph from SHA-256 verified backups.

Harness support matrix (19 harnesses)

Skillporter distinguishes support status (NATIVE, COMPATIBLE, ADAPTED) from verification evidence (RUNTIME_VERIFIED, INTEGRATION_TESTED, FIXTURE_TESTED, DOCUMENTATION_VERIFIED). An adapter is never marked RUNTIME_VERIFIED unless it has been tested against a live harness runtime.

Harness	Project Path	User / Global Path	Support	Verification Evidence
Hermes Agent	.hermes/skills/	$HERMES_HOME/skills/<cat>/<name>	NATIVE	RUNTIME_VERIFIED
Claude Code	.claude/skills/	~/.claude/skills/	NATIVE	INTEGRATION_TESTED
OpenAI Codex	.agents/skills/	~/.agents/skills/	NATIVE	INTEGRATION_TESTED
Cursor	.agents/skills/, .cursor/skills/ (+2 compat)	~/.agents/skills/, ~/.cursor/skills/	NATIVE	INTEGRATION_TESTED
GitHub Copilot	.github/skills/ (+2 compat)	~/.copilot/skills/ (+1 compat)	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Gemini CLI	.agents/skills/, .gemini/skills/	~/.agents/skills/, ~/.gemini/skills/	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Google Antigravity	.agents/skills/ (+1 compat)	~/.gemini/config/skills/	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Windsurf	.windsurf/skills/	~/.codeium/windsurf/skills/	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Cline	.cline/skills/ (+3 compat)	~/.cline/skills/	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Roo Code	.roo/skills/ (+1 compat)	~/.roo/skills/ (+1 compat)	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
OpenCode	.opencode/skills/ (+2 compat)	~/.config/opencode/skills/ (+2 compat)	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Zed	.agents/skills/	~/.agents/skills/	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Replit Agent	.agents/skills/ (+1 compat)	~/.config/agents/skills/	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
JetBrains Junie	.junie/skills/ (+1 compat)	~/.junie/skills/ (+1 compat)	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
OpenClaw	.openclaw/skills/ (+2 compat)	~/.openclaw/skills/ (+1 compat)	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
OpenHands	.agents/skills/ (+2 compat)	~/.agents/skills/ (+1 compat)	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Goose	.agents/skills/ (+1 compat)	~/.agents/skills/ (+1 compat)	NATIVE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Continue	.continue/skills/ (.continue/rules/ adapted)	~/.continue/skills/	COMPATIBLE	FIXTURE_TESTED
Aider / AiderDesk	.aider-desk/skills/ (CONVENTIONS.md adapted)	~/.aider-desk/skills/	ADAPTED	FIXTURE_TESTED

Each harness record ships its detection rules, path precedence, and vendor documentation reference. skillporter matrix prints the same matrix from the installed CLI, and skillporter detect reports which harnesses exist on the current machine.

MCP server

skillporter mcp runs a hardened JSON-RPC 2.0 Model Context Protocol server so an agent can query a workspace instead of shelling out. It exposes 13 tools (diagnose, detect, scan, inspect, matrix, status, diff, add, install, sync, remove, export, import), is read-only by default, refuses paths outside the workspace root, and requires an explicit opt-in before any write tool becomes available:

skillporter mcp                                   # read-only
skillporter mcp --allow-writes                    # enable write tools
SKILLPORTER_MCP_ALLOW_WRITES=1 skillporter mcp    # same, via the environment

Client setup for Claude Code and other MCP clients is covered in the MCP guide.

CLI reference

Command	Description
skillporter status [path]	Unified environment control center: manifest, lockfile, profiles, managed vs. unmanaged skills, and drift
skillporter export [file.skillpack]	Package managed skills, provenance, lockfile, and profiles into a SHA-256 verified portable .skillpack archive
skillporter import <file.skillpack>	Validate integrity, run static security checks, preview conflicts (--dry-run), and restore an environment offline
skillporter diff <target>	Compare current workspace against a .skillpack archive, project directory, or profile:<name>
skillporter profile <action>	Create (save), inspect (list, show), switch (use --prune), or remove (delete) named skill profiles
skillporter harness <action>	List, inspect capabilities and shared peers, or check status across all 19 supported harnesses
skillporter add <source>	Resolve, validate, security scan, and install skills (--exclude-harness, --on-conflict, --isolated, --dry-run)
skillporter install <dir>	Security scan and install a local skill directory (--exclude-harness, --on-conflict, --isolated, --dry-run)
skillporter move <skill>	Relocate an installed skill across harnesses safely (--from, --to, --isolated, --dry-run)
skillporter adopt [skills]	Bring existing unmanaged on-disk skills under Skillporter tracking, backup, and export (--all)
skillporter remove <skill>	Safely remove a skill while preserving shared .agents/skills/ still owned by other harnesses (--dry-run, --json)
skillporter sync [path]	Resolve pinned and transitive dependencies, verify lockfile hashes, and synchronize harnesses (--dry-run, --json)
skillporter outdated [skill]	Check managed skills against upstream versions and SHA-256 tree hashes without modifying files
skillporter update [skill]	Fetch, security gate, back up, and update tracked skills (--dry-run, --allow-risky, --json)
skillporter rollback <skill>	Atomically restore a skill and its dependency graph from SHA-256 verified .skillporter/backups/ (--dry-run, --json)
skillporter lock [path] [--check]	Write or CI verify (--check) the deterministic skillporter.lock
skillporter scan [path]	Run static security and supply chain assessment (--format text|json|sarif, --max-risk-score)
skillporter audit [path]	Inspect installed skill origins, security posture, lockfile drift, and .skillporter/audit.jsonl events
skillporter diagnose [path]	Check reachability, broken symlinks, SHA-256 content drift, duplicates, and spec compliance
skillporter doctor [path] [--fix]	Comprehensive workspace health check and tamper safe repair (--dry-run, --json)
skillporter validate [path]	Validate SKILL.md against the Agent Skills specification (--format text|json|sarif)
skillporter inspect <source>	Inspect local or remote package structure, security posture, and adapted rule previews
skillporter graph [path]	Render or export (--json) the topological skill dependency graph
skillporter self-skill [install]	Bootstrap the official skillporter AI agent skill into detected or selected harnesses
skillporter sandbox run <skill>	[Experimental] Opt in, non-mutating dry run behavioral trace
skillporter explain <finding>	Explain any diagnostic, lockfile, validation, or sec-* finding code with remediation commands
skillporter search / info / pack / publish	Search the catalog, inspect metadata, build a deterministic .tar.gz with provenance.json, or publish
skillporter detect / matrix / demo	Detect installed harnesses, print the 19 harness matrix, or run the zero residue demo
skillporter mcp	Run the hardened JSON-RPC 2.0 MCP server (read-only by default; --allow-writes opt in)

Exit codes

• 0: clean, or the operation succeeded
• 1: policy or diagnostic finding (drift, broken symlink, spec error, security block, lockfile mismatch, cycle or conflict)
• 2: usage or runtime error (invalid argument, unknown harness, missing path)

Documentation

• Website: overview, interactive terminal demo, and live 19-harness matrix.
• Documentation home: the full guide set, from installation through lockfiles, scanning, and CI.
• Install: installation channels and provenance verification options.
• FAQ: frequently asked questions.
• Blog: engineering articles and release write-ups.

The same guides are versioned in the repository under docs/ if you prefer to read them on GitHub.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. The short version:

• Open an issue before starting a large architectural change.
• New harness adapters must link the vendor documentation that proves the skill discovery path, and must not claim a verification level that has not been tested.
• The core library stays on the Python standard library, with zero runtime dependencies.

Full setup instructions, the required local quality gates, and the adapter checklist are in CONTRIBUTING.md. To report a vulnerability, follow SECURITY.md instead of opening a public issue.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.