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

What is an agent skill?

A skill is a set of instructions, plus optional reference files and scripts, that teaches an agent one job. The SKILL.md file opens with frontmatter that names the skill and describes when to use it. Claude Code and Codex both follow the Agent Skills open standard, so one folder can work in several agents.

Claude Code loads every skill's description at the start of a session so it knows what is available. The full instructions load only when the skill is used. That is why a precise description matters more than anything else in the file.

How do I install a skill in Claude Code?

Copy the skill folder into one of these locations (Claude Code docs):

Claude uses a skill when your request matches its description. You can also call it directly with /skill-name.

Every skill page in the Agent Skills Directory includes a ready project-level copy command. For example:

tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-seo.git "$tmp/repo"
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -R "$tmp/repo/"skills/seo-schema .claude/skills/
rm -rf "$tmp"

How do I install a Claude Code plugin from a marketplace?

Plugins bundle skills with agents, hooks and MCP servers. Installing one takes two steps: add the marketplace, then install the plugin from it.

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community
/plugin install <plugin-name>@claude-community

Claude Code adds the official Anthropic marketplace, claude-plugins-official, automatically the first time you start it interactively. Install from it with /plugin install <name>@claude-plugins-official. To install from your shell without the interactive panel, use claude plugin install <name>@<marketplace>. Run /plugin and open the Discover tab to browse. (Claude Code docs: discover plugins)

Anthropic's own warning is worth repeating: plugins and marketplaces can execute code on your machine with your user privileges, so install only from sources you trust.

How do I install a skill in Codex?

Codex reads skills from these folders (OpenAI Codex docs):

• Repository: .agents/skills in the folder where you launch Codex, and in parent folders up to the repository root.
• User: $HOME/.agents/skills.
• Admin: /etc/codex/skills.

Codex also ships a skill installer. Call $skill-installer and name a curated skill, or ask it to fetch a skill from another repository. In the CLI or IDE extension, run /skills or type $ to mention a skill by name. Codex requires name and description in the frontmatter.

How do I install a skill with the skills CLI?

The skills CLI installs a skill folder from GitHub into the right place for the agent you choose. It supports Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot and many others.

npx skills add https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/tree/main/skills/<skill-name>

It installs at project scope by default. Add -g for a user-level install and -a to pick the agent. The CLI sends anonymous install telemetry by default; set DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 to turn it off.

How do I check a skill before I install it?

Read it. A skill is plain text plus whatever scripts it bundles, and an agent will follow those instructions with the permissions you give it. Before you install:

1. Open the SKILL.md and read what it tells the agent to do.
2. List the bundled scripts and what they run.
3. Look for environment variables, credentials and outside hosts the skill reads or calls.
4. Check the license.

Every full skill page in the directory has a Before you install panel that summarizes the scripts, credentials and network calls found in the skill's files, plus its license. The directory's security status for external skills is "not scanned", and the page says so, so the source review stays your call.

Why isn't my skill loading?

Work through these in order:

• The frontmatter is not on line one. Claude Code reads frontmatter only when the opening --- is the first line of the file.
• The description does not match how you ask. The agent decides from the description alone. Add the words you actually type, and a "NOT FOR" clause so it stops firing on near misses.
• The folder is in the wrong place. Personal skills go in ~/.claude/skills/, project skills in .claude/skills/, Codex skills in .agents/skills/.
• The name and folder disagree. The directory's checks require the name field to match the folder name, and agents work best when they do.
• A plugin was installed but not reloaded. Run /reload-plugins in Claude Code.

How do I roll skills out to a whole team?

Commit the skills to .claude/skills/ (Claude Code) or .agents/skills/ (Codex) in the shared repository, so everyone who clones it gets the same versions. For plugins, team admins can add a marketplace to the project's .claude/settings.json under extraKnownMarketplaces.

When a team needs several agents working together across business systems, with handoffs and approvals, that is the job Suede AI Agent Studio is built for: multi-agent automation for businesses.

Quotable facts

• Claude Code personal skills live in ~/.claude/skills/; project skills live in .claude/skills/.
• Codex reads repository skills from .agents/skills and user skills from $HOME/.agents/skills.
• Claude Code adds the official claude-plugins-official marketplace automatically on first interactive start.
• Claude Code loads skill descriptions at session start and the full skill body only when the skill is used.