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 gemini - Gemini CLI windsurf - Windsurf editor antigravity - Antigravity trae - Trae qoder - Qoder codebuddy - CodeBuddy 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