skern init # Initialize .skern/ in current project
skern skill create <name> # Scaffold a new skill
skern skill edit <name> # Edit skill metadata or body
skern skill search <query> # Search skills by name/description
skern skill recommend <query> # Recommend: reuse, extend, or create
skern skill list [--scope user|project|all] # List skills in registry
skern skill show <name> # Display skill details
skern skill validate <name> # Validate against Agent Skills spec
skern skill remove <name> # Remove skill from registry
skern skill install <name>... --platform <p> # Install one or more skills to platform
skern skill uninstall <name>... --platform <p> # Remove one or more skills from platform
skern platform list # List detected platforms
skern platform status # Skill x platform installation matrix
skern completion [bash|zsh|fish] # Generate shell completions
skern version # Print version info
Initialize the .skern/ directory in the current project. This creates the project-scoped skill registry.
skern initScaffold a new SKILL.md file in the registry.
skern skill create <name> [flags]Flags:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--author |
Author name |
--author-type |
human or agent |
--author-platform |
Platform name (e.g., claude-code) |
--description |
Skill description |
--tags |
Comma-separated list of tags |
--scope |
user or project (default: user) |
--force |
Bypass overlap block |
--from-template <dir> |
Seed from a skill directory containing SKILL.md and optional companion files (see below) |
Overlap detection runs automatically during creation. See Overlap Detection for details.
--from-template <dir> accepts a skill directory — a directory containing
a SKILL.md plus any optional companion files. Skern parses the template's
frontmatter and recursively copies every sibling file and subdirectory
(references/, templates/, VENDORED.md, …) into the new skill.
Anything else is rejected with a clear error:
--from-template <file>→ "must point to a skill directory containing a SKILL.md file … pass the parent directory instead"--from-template <dir-with-no-SKILL.md>→ "directory has no SKILL.md; a skill template must be a directory containing a SKILL.md file"
The new skill's name is always taken from the CLI argument. Other CLI
flags (--description, --tags, --author*, --version) override the
template's values when explicitly set; otherwise the template's values are
preserved.
Edit a skill's metadata fields or open the body in an editor.
skern skill edit <name> [flags]When called with field flags, the specified fields are updated directly. When called without field flags, the skill body is opened in $EDITOR (defaults to vi).
Flags:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--scope |
user or project |
--description |
New description |
--author |
New author name |
--author-type |
human or agent |
--author-platform |
Platform name |
--version |
New version string |
--modified-by |
Name of modifier (appends to modified-by list) |
--modified-by-type |
human or agent |
--modified-by-platform |
Platform name for modifier |
Search skills by name or description.
skern skill search <query> [flags]Flags:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--tag |
Filter results to skills with this tag |
Get recommendations on whether to reuse, extend, or create a skill.
skern skill recommend <query> [flags]Flags:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--name |
Agent-suggested skill name |
--threshold |
Minimum relevance score (default: 0.3) |
--scope |
user, project, or all |
List all skills in the registry.
skern skill list [--scope user|project|all] [flags]Flags:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--scope |
user, project, or all |
--tag |
Filter results to skills with this tag |
--with-platforms |
Include installed_on per-skill: the detected platforms where the skill is currently installed at the same scope |
Also runs pairwise overlap detection across all listed skills and appends a "Potential duplicates" section when matches are found (score >= 0.6). In --json mode, these appear in the duplicates array.
Skills that cannot be parsed are reported as parse warnings rather than silently skipped. In text mode these appear as warning lines; in --json mode they appear in the parse_warnings array.
When --with-platforms is set, the JSON output contains an installed_on array on every skill — empty for skills not installed on any detected platform. Without the flag the field is omitted entirely so consumers can distinguish "queried, none" from "not queried".
Display full details for a skill, including author provenance and modification history.
skern skill show <name>Validate a skill against the Agent Skills spec.
skern skill validate <name>See Validation for the full list of checks.
Remove a skill from the registry.
skern skill remove <name>Install one or more skills to a single platform.
skern skill install <name>... --platform <platform>Each invocation targets exactly one platform. Agents are expected to specify the platform they are running on; --platform all is no longer accepted. To deploy a skill across multiple platforms, loop the call per platform.
Multiple skill names can be passed in a single call. Each skill's outcome is reported as a separate entry in the skills array. A failure on one skill does not abort the batch — the command exits non-zero only when every install fails.
The response includes a capacity block reporting the platform's installed-skill count after the operation, the threshold for that scope, and remaining headroom. Use it to decide whether to evict stale skills before the next install.
Flags:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--platform |
One of: claude-code, codex-cli, opencode, cursor, gemini-cli, github-copilot, windsurf, continue (required) |
--scope |
user or project |
--force |
Overwrite existing installation |
--enforce-budget |
Refuse the operation if it would push the platform's installed-skill count past the per-scope threshold |
Remove one or more skills from a platform.
skern skill uninstall <name>... --platform <platform>Mirrors install semantics: one platform per call, multiple skills allowed, partial failures are reported per-skill, and the response includes a post-op capacity block.
Flags:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--platform |
One of: claude-code, codex-cli, opencode, cursor, gemini-cli, github-copilot, windsurf, continue (required) |
--scope |
user or project |
List all detected platforms.
skern platform listShow a matrix of skills and their installation status across platforms.
skern platform status [--scope user|project]Generate shell completion scripts.
skern completion bash
skern completion zsh
skern completion fishPrint version, commit, and build date.
skern version