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How I Manage 50+ Skills Across 3 AI Tools

· 3 min read
runkids
runkids
Creator of skillshare

When you use Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex daily, skill management gets chaotic fast. Here's how I keep 50+ skills organized across all three tools with a single workflow.

The Setup​

My daily toolkit:

  • Claude Code — primary coding assistant
  • Cursor — IDE-integrated AI
  • Codex — quick prototyping and script generation

Each tool has its own skill directory, its own format quirks, and its own update cycle. Without skillshare, I was manually copying files between three locations every time I changed a skill.

Directory Structure​

After skillshare init, my source looks like this:

~/.config/skillshare/skills/
├── _anthropics__courses__prompt-eng/   # tracked repo
├── _team__frontend/                    # team shared
├── code-review/                        # my custom skill
├── commit-message/                     # my custom skill
├── debugging/                          # organized into folders
├── testing/
└── frontend/
    ├── react-patterns/
    ├── css-guidelines/
    └── accessibility/

Skills prefixed with _ are tracked repositories. The rest are local skills organized into logical groups.

Organizing with --into​

The --into flag places installed skills into subdirectories:

skillshare install user/repo --into frontend
skillshare install another/repo --into backend

This creates a clean hierarchy without flat-file chaos.

Multi-Target Sync​

Global config targets use a map format:

targets:
  claude:
    path: ~/.claude/skills
  cursor:
    path: ~/.cursor/skills
  codex:
    path: ~/.codex/skills

One skillshare sync pushes all 50+ skills to all three tools simultaneously. Each target gets per-skill symlinks, so tool-specific local skills remain untouched.

Per-Target Mode and Filtering​

You can set a different sync mode per target, and use include/exclude patterns to control which skills go where:

targets:
  claude:
    path: ~/.claude/skills
    mode: merge
  cursor:
    path: ~/.cursor/skills
    mode: copy          # copy mode for better compatibility
    exclude:
      - "_experimental*"
  codex:
    path: ~/.codex/skills
    mode: merge
    include:
      - "coding-*"

Daily Workflow​

My morning routine takes about 30 seconds:

# Check for upstream updates
skillshare check

# If updates available
skillshare update --all

# Sync to all targets
skillshare sync

That's it. Three tools, 50+ skills, one command chain.

Handling Conflicts​

Occasionally, a tool creates a skill with the same name as one in my source. skillshare handles this gracefully:

  • In merge mode, the symlink points to your source skill
  • The target's original file is not deleted — it's simply overshadowed by the symlink
  • Running skillshare diff shows exactly what differs between source and target

Backup Strategy​

Before major changes, I snapshot:

skillshare backup

Backups are stored in ~/.local/share/skillshare/backups/ with timestamps. To restore a specific target:

skillshare restore claude

Key Takeaways​

  1. One source, many targets — the fundamental principle
  2. Use --into for organization — avoid flat directory sprawl
  3. Check + update + sync — the daily three-command chain
  4. Backup before experiments — it takes 2 seconds and saves hours

Resources​