Commands

skill - Install agent skills

Install, remove, or upgrade ConTree agent skills for Codex and Claude Code.

Spec format

Commands accept specs -- a kind:hint URI that identifies the skill type and target path:

| Spec | Resolves to | Skill type | |------|------------|------------| | claude: | .claude/skills/contree (project) | ClaudeSkill | | claude:~ | ~/.claude/skills/contree (global) | ClaudeSkill | | codex: | .codex/skills/contree (project) | CodexSkill | | codex:~ | ~/.codex/skills/contree (global) | CodexSkill | | opencode: | .opencode/skills/contree (project) | OpenCodeSkill | | opencode:~ | $OPENCODE_HOME/skills/contree (or ~/.config/opencode/skills/contree) | OpenCodeSkill | | amp: | .amp/skills/contree (project) | AmpSkill | | amp:~ | ~/.config/agents/skills/contree (global) | AmpSkill | | cline: | .cline/skills/contree (project) | ClineSkill | | cline:~ | $CLINE_DIR/skills/contree (or ~/.cline/skills/contree) | ClineSkill | | claude-subagent: | .claude/agents/contree-subagent.md (project) | ClaudeSubagentSkill | | claude-subagent:~ | ~/.claude/agents/contree-subagent.md (global) | ClaudeSubagentSkill | | claude-agent: | .claude/agents/contree.md (project) | ClaudeAgentSkill | | claude-agent:~ | ~/.claude/agents/contree.md (global) | ClaudeAgentSkill | | ./path | ./path (skill type guessed from path) | auto |

When no specs are given, install targets the global (:~) variant of every known kind. The Claude-based kinds (claude, claude-agent, claude-subagent) are skipped unless ~/.claude already exists, so a machine without Claude Code installed will not have empty directories created for it.

Examples

# Install globally to every known kind (Claude kinds gated on ~/.claude)
contree skill install

# Install into project-level .claude/skills/contree
contree skill install claude:

# Install globally into ~/.claude/skills/contree
contree skill install claude:~

# Install both globally
contree skill install codex:~ claude:~

# Install to explicit path (class guessed from path)
contree skill install ./my/custom/path

# Upgrade all remembered installs
contree skill upgrade

# Upgrade specific target
contree skill upgrade claude:~

# Remove by spec
contree skill remove -y claude:~

# Remove by full path
contree skill remove -y /path/to/skills/contree

# List installs with version and outdated status
contree skill list
contree skill ls

Help output

```{terminal-shell} contree skill --help

## Subcommands

### `skill install`

`contree skill install [SPEC ...]` (alias `i`) installs skill directories.
Each spec resolves to a skill class and a filesystem path, both of which
are persisted in `skills.db` so future `list` and `upgrade` calls can
find the install without re-specifying it. With no specs the command
targets the global (`:~`) variant of every known kind -- Claude-based
kinds are skipped automatically when `~/.claude` does not exist. Pass
`-y` to overwrite an existing install non-interactively.

```{terminal-shell} contree skill install --help

skill list

contree skill list (alias ls) shows every remembered install with its kind, installed version (read from .version), the version bundled with this CLI, an outdated flag, and whether the install path still exists on disk. Stale entries whose path was deleted externally are pruned from the registry automatically when this command runs.

```{terminal-shell} contree skill list --help

### `skill upgrade`

`contree skill upgrade [SPEC ...]` overwrites existing installs with
the version bundled in the current CLI. With no specs it upgrades
every remembered location, which is the normal post-`pip install -U`
maintenance step. Targets that are already at the bundled version are
rewritten anyway so any local edits to skill files are reverted.

```{terminal-shell} contree skill upgrade --help

skill remove

contree skill remove SPEC [...] (aliases r, rm, del) deletes installed skill files and forgets the path from the registry. Specs may be the same URI form accepted by install, or a literal filesystem path. Pass -y to skip the confirmation prompt.

```{terminal-shell} contree skill remove --help

### Install contents

Skill directories contain:

- `.version` — installed package version
- `SKILL.md` — skill prompt with `allowed-tools` frontmatter
- `agents/openai.yaml` — OpenAI-compatible skill config

Skills require `contree` in PATH. If missing, ask the user to install it.

### Skill classes

| Class | Kind | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `ClaudeSkill` | `claude` | Bundled skill directory for Claude Code |
| `CodexSkill` | `codex` | Bundled skill directory for Codex |
| `OpenCodeSkill` | `opencode` | Bundled skill directory for OpenCode |
| `AmpSkill` | `amp` | Bundled skill directory for Amp |
| `ClineSkill` | `cline` | Bundled skill directory for Cline |
| `ClaudeSubagentSkill` | `claude-subagent` | Standalone `.md` subagent file |
| `ClaudeAgentSkill` | `claude-agent` | Custom agent `.md` with `skills: [contree]` |

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [nebius](https://github.com/nebius)
- **Source:** [nebius/contree-cli](https://github.com/nebius/contree-cli)
- **License:** Apache-2.0
- **Homepage:** https://docs.contree.dev/cli/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.