skli

CLI to manage skills, rules, and agents for AI IDEs — like a package manager.

Documentation: https://zortracks.github.io/skli/

Install

Requires Node.js 20+. For GitHub sources, install and authenticate the gh CLI.

# One-off
npx @zortracks/skli <command> [options]

# Or install globally
npm install -g @zortracks/skli
skli <command> [options]

Quick start

# 1. Create a project manifest
npx @zortracks/skli init

# 2a. Reference a local package already in the repo
npx @zortracks/skli add cursor rule .cursor/rules/my-rule.mdc

# 2b. Install a package from GitHub into IDE folders
npx @zortracks/skli install cursor skill owner/repo@v1:skills/foo

# 2c. Link a remote project manifest and pick packages interactively
npx @zortracks/skli link cursor owner/repo

# Optional: ignore installed IDE paths in git
npx @zortracks/skli install cursor skill owner/repo:skills/foo --gitignore

Commands

Command	Purpose	Example
init	Create {project}/.skli/skli.json and register the project	skli init -y
add	Reference a local skill/rule/agent in the project manifest (no copy)	skli add cursor rule .cursor/rules/foo.mdc
install	Install a skill/rule/agent from a local path or GitHub into IDE dirs	skli install cursor skill owner/repo:skills/foo
link	Link a remote ProjectManifest and deploy selected packages	skli link cursor owner/repo --all
update	Upgrade repos packages (and linked manifests) to a newer ref	skli update --all
restore	Re-fetch repos packages / links at the pinned version	skli restore cursor skill foo
remove	Uninstall packages from the manifest (and optionally disk)	skli remove cursor skill foo
unlink	Remove a whole link by owner/repo (or URL)	skli unlink owner/repo

Common options:

Option	Commands	Meaning
-g, --global	install, update, restore, remove	Use ~/.skli/skli.json and global IDE folders
--gitignore	install, link, update	Append project install destinations under # Ignored AI IDE references in .gitignore
--version <ref>	update	Pin a single package to an explicit ref
--all	link, update, restore, remove	Select all matching items (required for broad update/restore/remove)
--debug	most commands	Diagnostic logs on stderr

Run skli <command> --help for full signatures.

GitHub sources

Shorthand: owner/repo[@ref][:path] or an HTTPS blob URL.

skli install cursor skill owner/repo@v1.2.0:skills/my-skill
skli install cursor rule https://github.com/owner/repo/blob/main/rules/foo.mdc
skli link cursor owner/repo@main

Scopes

• Project (default): {cwd}/.skli/skli.json, copies under the project IDE folders (e.g. .cursor/).
• Global (--global): ~/.skli/skli.json, copies under the user IDE home (e.g. ~/.cursor/).

link / unlink are project-scoped only.

Configuration

File	Path	Role
Project manifest	{project}/.skli/skli.json	Packages and links for the project
Global manifest	~/.skli/skli.json	Packages for the user profile
Project index	~/.skli/projects.json	Projects touched by the CLI

Published schema: schemas/skli.project.schema.json.

Spec status

Product specs live under specs/ (index). Full user docs and mirrored specs: zortracks.github.io/skli.

Feature	Status
domain-glossary	defined
cli-core	implemented
config-manifests	implemented
cmd-init	implemented
cmd-install	implemented
cmd-link	implemented
cmd-add	implemented
cmd-update	implemented
cmd-restore	implemented
cmd-remove	implemented
cmd-unlink	implemented
github-source	implemented
ide-targets	implemented

Contributing

npm install
npm run build
node dist/cli.js --help

Docs site (local): npm run docs:dev after install.

GitHub Pages is built by .github/workflows/publish.yml on push to main and after each release. One-time repo setting: Settings → Pages → Source = GitHub Actions.

Release

1. GitHub Actions → Publish → choose patch / minor / major → Run workflow. Use none to publish the current package.json version when the git tag already exists (e.g. after a failed release that bumped but did not publish).
2. The workflow bumps the version on main (unless none), pushes tag vX.Y.Z, publishes to npm via Trusted Publishing (OIDC), deploys docs, and opens a sync PR main → develop if needed.

First-time npm setup

1. Ensure the @zortracks/skli package exists on npm (one manual publish if needed).
2. On npmjs.com → package @zortracks/skli → Trusted Publisher: GitHub org/user zortracks, repository skli, workflow filename publish.yml, allow npm publish.
3. Later releases only need the Publish workflow.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.