Agent skills marketplaces › How to install agent skills

How to install agent skills in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot and OpenClaw

There are three ways to install an agent skill. Run an installer: npx skills add owner/repo writes to the right folder for 79 agents. Use your agent's own marketplace: /plugin install in Claude Code, /plugins in Codex CLI, copilot plugin install, Cursor's Marketplace, openclaw skills install. Or copy the skill's folder into the agent's skills directory. Then start a new session and confirm the skill is listed.

Folders and commands read in each agent's documentation and the skills CLI's agent table on November 13, 2026.

Where each agent looks

Agent	Project folder	Personal folder	Its own marketplace	Check it loaded
Claude Code	`.claude/skills/`	`~/.claude/skills/`	`/plugin install name@marketplace`	`/skills`, or type `/` and the name
Codex	`.agents/skills/`, from the start folder up to the repo root	`$HOME/.agents/skills/`	`/plugins` in Codex CLI; Plugins tab in the ChatGPT desktop app	`/skills` or type `$`
Cursor	`.agents/skills/` or `.cursor/skills/`; also reads `.claude/skills/` and `.codex/skills/`	`~/.cursor/skills/` or `~/.agents/skills/`	cursor.com/marketplace plugins; team marketplaces	Customize › Skills
GitHub Copilot	`.github/skills/`, `.claude/skills/` or `.agents/skills/`	`~/.copilot/skills/` or `~/.agents/skills/`	`copilot plugin install name@awesome-copilot`; `gh skill install`	Type `/` in VS Code chat; `/skills reload` in Copilot CLI
OpenClaw	`<workspace>/skills/` or `<workspace>/.agents/skills/`	`~/.openclaw/skills/`	`openclaw skills install @owner/skill` (ClawHub)	`openclaw skills check`

Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Windsurf and 70-odd others are in the skills CLI's agent table. A skill in .agents/skills/ reaches Codex, Cursor and Copilot at once; Claude Code needs .claude/skills/.

Way 1: the skills CLI, for any agent

# one skill, one agent, this project
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill web-design-guidelines -a claude-code

# everything in a repo, choose agents interactively, all projects
npx skills add anthropics/skills -g

npx skills list      # what's installed
npx skills update    # pull newer versions

It needs Node.js 22.20 or later. It records each skill's commit and a hash of its files in skills-lock.json; commit that file so everyone on the repo gets the same version. Telemetry (which feeds skills.sh's leaderboard) turns off with DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1. Tessl's CLI works the same way across agents: npx tessl i github:anthropics/skills --skill docx.

Way 2: the agent's own marketplace

Source	Command	Note
Anthropic official (Claude Code)	`/plugin install commit-commands@claude-plugins-official`	In a session it opens the details pane first; `claude plugin install …` in a shell
anthropics/skills (Claude Code)	`/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills` `/plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills`	The docx, pdf, pptx and xlsx skills
Any GitHub marketplace (Claude Code)	`/plugin marketplace add owner/repo` `/plugin install plugin@name`	Anthropic doesn't review third-party marketplaces
Codex	`$skill-installer gh-address-comments`	Built-in skill; installs curated skills or a GitHub folder URL. Codex picks new skills up on its own; restart it if one doesn't appear. More in Codex skills
GitHub Copilot	`gh skill preview owner/repo skill` `gh skill install owner/repo skill`	Public preview, GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later; GitHub doesn't verify skills
Cursor	Customize › From GitHub Repository	The repo needs `.cursor-plugin/marketplace.json`; skills arrive inside a plugin
ClawHub (OpenClaw)	`openclaw skills install @openclaw/demo`	Plugins: `openclaw plugins install clawhub:<package>`
Agensi	Connect your agent to Agensi's MCP server	Nothing is written to disk; skills load on demand

SkillsMP has no installer: open the listing's GitHub folder and use Way 1 or Way 3. Which marketplace to pick is on the comparison page; Anthropic's options are explained in Claude skills marketplace.

Way 3: copy the folder

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/anthropics/skills /tmp/anthropic-skills
mkdir -p .claude/skills .agents/skills
cp -R /tmp/anthropic-skills/skills/webapp-testing .claude/skills/   # Claude Code
cp -R /tmp/anthropic-skills/skills/webapp-testing .agents/skills/   # Codex, Cursor, Copilot

Copy the whole folder, not just SKILL.md: its scripts, references and assets are part of the skill. Read them before you copy; Are agent skills safe? has the ten checks.

When a skill doesn't show up

Wrong folder for the agent. Claude Code doesn't read .agents/skills/; Codex doesn't read .claude/skills/.
Frontmatter. SKILL.md should open with a --- block. The standard requires name and description (Claude Code falls back to the folder name), Cursor wants name to match the folder, and without a description agents rarely pick a skill on their own.
Extra fields. claude.ai and the Skills API reject frontmatter beyond the standard six fields; Claude Code accepts more.
Old session. Codex: restart if an edit doesn't appear. Copilot CLI: /skills reload.
Too many skills. Claude Code's skill listing gets 1% of the context window; past that it drops the descriptions of the skills you use least, so Claude can't match them. /skill-doctor shows what to turn off.

Installed isn't the same as used. Zest's free Claude Code skills usage page has a one-line command that counts the skills Claude Code actually ran on your machine; Zest itself, from the company that publishes this site, shows the same for each engineer on a team.

Questions

How do I install skills in Claude Code?

From a marketplace, run /plugin install name@marketplace in a session (Anthropic's official marketplace is already added). From a GitHub repo, run npx skills add owner/repo -a claude-code. By hand, copy the skill's folder into .claude/skills/ in your project or ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects.

Where do I put a skill for Codex?

In .agents/skills/ in your repository (Codex scans from the folder you start in up to the repo root) or $HOME/.agents/skills/ for all repos. Inside Codex, $skill-installer installs curated skills, and /plugins in Codex CLI browses plugins.

Does one skill folder work for every agent?

Mostly. .agents/skills/ is read by Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot and many others; Claude Code reads .claude/skills/, which Cursor and Copilot also read. Keeping the frontmatter to the standard fields (name, description, license, compatibility, metadata, allowed-tools) avoids errors outside Claude Code.

Why doesn't my skill show up?

The usual causes: the folder is in the wrong place for that agent, SKILL.md has no frontmatter or no description, the name doesn't match the folder (Cursor requires it), or the agent needs a new session. In Copilot CLI, run /skills reload; in Codex, restart if an update doesn't appear.

Do I need a marketplace to install a skill?

No. A skill is a folder, so copying it into the right directory works everywhere. Marketplaces add search, version pinning, updates and, in some cases, security checks.