3 Patterns for Team Skill Sharing
Every team eventually faces the question: "How do we share AI skills across the team?" Here are three patterns, from simplest to most structured, with skillshare handling the mechanics.
Pattern 1: Shared Git Repository
Best for: Small teams (2-5 people) who want a quick start.
Create a Git repository with your team's skills:
team-skills/
├── code-review/
│ └── SKILL.md
├── pr-description/
│ └── SKILL.md
└── testing-standards/
└── SKILL.md
Each team member installs it:
skillshare install your-org/team-skills
skillshare sync
When someone updates a skill, others pull changes:
skillshare check # "team-skills: 2 skills updated"
skillshare update --all # Apply all available updates
skillshare sync
Pros: Simple, familiar Git workflow, works with any Git host.
Cons: Everyone gets all skills, no per-project customization.
Pattern 2: Organization-Wide + Project-Scoped
Best for: Medium teams (5-20 people) with different projects.
Split skills into two layers:
Organization Layer (global)
Shared standards that apply everywhere:
skillshare install your-org/org-skills
These live in ~/.config/skillshare/skills/ and sync to all tools on every machine.
Project Layer (scoped)
Project-specific skills committed to the project repo:
cd your-project
skillshare init -p
skillshare install your-org/frontend-skills -p
git add .skillshare/
git commit -m "Add project skills"
Team members get project skills automatically when they clone and run:
skillshare sync -p
Pros: Organization standards + project flexibility. Skills travel with the code.
Cons: Two sync commands (global + project). Requires project setup.
Pattern 3: Hub Index (Registry)
Best for: Large teams or open-source communities.
Generate a hub index from your source skills:
skillshare hub index --source ./skills --output ./skillshare-hub.json
This creates a JSON file listing all available skills with metadata. Host it on GitHub Pages or any HTTPS URL, then register it:
skillshare hub add https://your-org.github.io/skillshare-hub.json --label team
skillshare hub default team
Team members can then browse and install:
skillshare search --hub https://your-org.github.io/skillshare-hub.json
skillshare install your-org/skills --skill code-review
Pros: Discoverable, self-service, scales to hundreds of skills.
Cons: Requires maintaining the index. More setup upfront.
Choosing a Pattern
| Factor | Pattern 1 | Pattern 2 | Pattern 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 5 min | 15 min | 30 min |
| Team size | 2-5 | 5-20 | 20+ |
| Per-project skills | No | Yes | Yes |
| Self-service discovery | No | No | Yes |
| Maintenance | Low | Medium | Medium |
Most teams start with Pattern 1 and evolve to Pattern 2 when they need project-specific skills. Pattern 3 is for organizations that want a curated skill catalog.
Getting Started
Regardless of pattern, the workflow is the same:
skillshare install <repo> # Add skills
skillshare sync # Push to tools
skillshare check # Detect updates
skillshare update --all # Apply updates