# Getting Started - Skills > Run the `skills` CLI with `dnx` and add your first Agent Skill to Claude Code or another AI coding agent in five minutes using `dnx skills add`. Canonical source: https://chillicream.com/docs/skills/getting-started By the end of this guide you will have run `skills` and added your first skill to your agent. `skills` is a .NET CLI that installs, updates, and authors [Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io/home), the portable `SKILL.md` files that extend AI coding agents like Claude Code, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot. You point it at a source (a GitHub repo, a git URL, or a local folder), and it places the skill where your agent looks for it. Your agent then loads the skill on demand when a task matches it. This page takes you from zero to one working skill. It takes about five minutes. ## Prerequisites Before you start, make sure you have the following: | Requirement | Why you need it | | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [.NET 10 SDK or newer](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download) | To run skills with dnx, the way these docs show it. The dnx command ships with the .NET 10 SDK. | | An AI coding agent | The target for your skill. This guide uses [Claude Code](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/agent-skills/overview). The skills CLI supports 55+ agents. | These docs run `skills` with `dnx`, so there is nothing to install first. If you would rather have `skills` on your `PATH`, install the global tool instead (it needs only the .NET SDK 8.0 or newer). See [Install as a global tool](#install-as-a-global-tool). ## Run `skills` These docs run `skills` with `dnx`, which needs no install. You can also install it as a global tool if you prefer `skills` on your `PATH`. ### Run with dnx `dnx` ships with the .NET 10 SDK and runs a tool straight from NuGet, the way `npx` runs a package from npm. Nothing is installed up front. Bash ``` dnx skills add anthropics/skills --agent claude-code ``` On the first run, `dnx` prompts you to confirm the package download before it proceeds: ``` Tool package skills@ will be downloaded from source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json. Proceed? [y/n] (y): ``` After you confirm, the install proceeds and prints the summary shown in [Add your first skill](#add-your-first-skill). The first run downloads the package into your NuGet cache; later runs reuse it and start immediately. `dnx skills` is shorthand for `dotnet tool exec skills`. To skip the download prompt (for example in CI), pass `--yes`: Bash ``` dnx --yes skills add anthropics/skills --agent claude-code ``` You can control the `skills` version that `dnx` runs and where it fetches it from: | Command | What it does | | ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | | dnx skills@0.3.0 add ... | Runs an exact version. | | dnx skills@0.3.\* add ... | Runs the latest 0.3.x version. | | dnx --prerelease skills add ... | Allows prerelease versions. | | dnx --source skills add ... | Fetches from a specific NuGet feed. | If your repository has a `.config/dotnet-tools.json` manifest that lists `skills`, `dnx` honors the pinned version from the manifest, which keeps one-shot runs consistent with the version your team committed. ### Install as a global tool If you would rather have `skills` on your `PATH`, install it as a global [.NET tool](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/core/tools/global-tools). This needs the .NET SDK 8.0 or newer. Bash ``` dotnet tool install -g skills ``` ``` You can invoke the tool using the following command: skills Tool 'skills' (version '0.3.0') was successfully installed. ``` With the global tool you run `skills` directly: drop the `dnx` prefix from every example in these docs (`dnx skills add ...` becomes `skills add ...`). Confirm the install with `skills --version`, which prints a value like `0.3.0+` (the trailing suffix records the exact commit the build came from). To pin `skills` to a version your whole team shares, install it as a local tool through a manifest instead. From the repository root: Bash ``` dotnet new tool-manifest dotnet tool install skills ``` Local tools are restored with `dotnet tool restore` and run through `dotnet skills`. Check the manifest (`./.config/dotnet-tools.json`) into source control so every collaborator uses the same version. ## Add your first skill You are ready to install a skill. The example below installs skills from [anthropics/skills](https://github.com/anthropics/skills), Anthropic's reference repository, targeting Claude Code. Bash ``` dnx skills add anthropics/skills --agent claude-code ``` Agent names are case-sensitive. Use `claude-code`, not `claude` or `Claude`. For GitHub Copilot the name is `github-copilot`. The `skills` CLI fetches the source, discovers the skills, installs them, and prints a summary: ``` Source: https://github.com/anthropics/skills.git Found 2 skill(s) ┌─Installation Summary─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Canonical: /your-project/.agents/skills │ │ Symlinked: Claude Code │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─Installed 2 skill(s)─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ✓ pdf │ │ → /your-project/.claude/skills/pdf │ │ ✓ docx │ │ → /your-project/.claude/skills/docx │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Done! Review skills before use; they run with full agent permissions. ``` > The trailing line is a deliberate safety nudge. A skill can include scripts that the agent runs with your agent's full permissions. Install skills only from sources you trust, and read a new skill before you use it. If you omit `--agent`, the CLI runs interactively and lets you pick which agents to target from the ones it detects on your machine. To install only specific skills from a multi-skill source, add `--skill ` (repeatable). For the full set of source forms, scopes, and flags, see [Installing Skills](https://chillicream.com/docs/skills/installing-skills). **Checkpoint.** If everything worked, you should see the `Installed 2 skill(s)` panel and the `Done!` line, with no error. If you saw an `Invalid agents` panel, you misspelled the agent name (it is case-sensitive). If you saw `No valid skills found`, the source had no `SKILL.md` with both a `name` and a `description`. See [Troubleshooting](https://chillicream.com/docs/skills/troubleshooting) for more. ## See what is installed To confirm what landed in your project, list the installed skills: Bash ``` dnx skills list ``` ``` Project Skills Skill Path Agents pdf ./.claude/skills/pdf Claude Code docx ./.claude/skills/docx Claude Code ``` The table shows each skill's name, where it lives on disk, and the agents linked to it (shown by their display name, `Claude Code`). To list global skills instead, add `-g`. For machine-readable output, add `--json`. ## Use the skill The skill now lives where your agent looks for it. You do not need to do anything else. Your agent loads each installed skill's `name` and `description` at startup, then reads the full skill only when a task matches the description. This is [progressive disclosure](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/agent-skills/overview): the description is the trigger, and the body loads on demand. Start a task that matches the skill, and your agent picks it up automatically. ## Update or remove the global tool If you run `skills` with `dnx`, you never update it yourself: each run fetches the version you ask for. The commands below apply when you installed the global tool. To update the global `skills` tool to the latest version: Bash ``` dotnet tool update -g skills ``` ``` Tool 'skills' was successfully updated from version '0.3.0' to version ''. ``` To uninstall it: Bash ``` dotnet tool uninstall -g skills ``` ``` Tool 'skills' (version '0.3.0') was successfully uninstalled. ``` Note that `dotnet tool update` updates the `skills` CLI, not your installed skills. To check your skills for updates, use the `dnx skills update` command, covered in [Installing Skills](https://chillicream.com/docs/skills/installing-skills). ## Next steps - [Installing Skills](https://chillicream.com/docs/skills/installing-skills): every source form, project versus global scope, picking agents and skills, symlink versus copy, and checking for skill updates. - [Authoring Skills](https://chillicream.com/docs/skills/authoring-skills): scaffold a `SKILL.md` with `dnx skills init`, write a good description, and publish your skill. - [Reference](https://chillicream.com/docs/skills/reference): the complete command and flag surface. [Edit this page on GitHub](https://github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/edit/main/website/content/docs/skills/getting-started.md) Maintained by ChilliCream. Last updated on **August 17, 2026** by **PascalSenn**