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First Sync

Get your skills synced in 5 minutes.

Prerequisites​

  • macOS, Linux, or Windows
  • At least one AI CLI installed (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, etc.)

Step 1: Install skillshare​

Homebrew (macOS / Linux):

brew install skillshare
note

Homebrew releases may lag behind the latest version by a few days. For the newest release, use the install script below.

note

All install methods include the web dashboard. skillshare ui automatically downloads UI assets on first launch — no extra setup needed.

Updating

To update to the latest version, run skillshare upgrade. It auto-detects your install method (Homebrew, manual, etc.) and handles the rest.

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/runkids/skillshare/main/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/runkids/skillshare/main/install.ps1 | iex

Step 2: Initialize​

skillshare init

Interactive init flow

This:

  1. Lets you customize the source directory path (default: ~/.config/skillshare/skills/)
  2. Creates your source directory
  3. Auto-detects installed AI CLIs
  4. Sets up configuration
  5. Optionally installs the built-in skillshare skill (adds /skillshare command to AI CLIs)

Init mode tip​

init supports --mode to set your starting sync behavior:

skillshare init --mode copy
  • merge (default): per-skill links, local target skills preserved
  • copy: real files, compatibility-first
  • symlink: whole target dir linked

If you later run discover with mode:

skillshare init --discover --select cursor --mode copy

--mode is applied only to targets added in that discover run. Existing targets are not modified.

Built-in Skill

During init, you'll be prompted: Install built-in skillshare skill? [y/N]. This adds a skill that lets your AI CLI manage skillshare directly. You can skip it and install later with skillshare upgrade --skill.

With git remote (recommended for cross-machine sync):

skillshare init --remote [email protected]:you/my-skills.git

If the remote already has skills (e.g., from another machine), they'll be pulled automatically during init.

Step 3: Install your first skill​

# Browse available skills
skillshare install anthropics/skills

# Or install directly
skillshare install anthropics/skills/skills/pdf

Skills are automatically scanned for security threats during install. If critical issues are found, the install is blocked — use --force to override.

Step 4: Sync to all targets​

skillshare sync

Your skill is now available in all your AI CLIs.

Verify​

skillshare status

You should see:

  • Source directory with your skill
  • Targets (Claude, Cursor, etc.) showing "synced"

What's Next?​

What Just Happened?​

Here's what skillshare did behind the scenes:

  1. init — Created ~/.config/skillshare/config.yaml and ~/.config/skillshare/skills/. Auto-detected your AI CLIs (Claude, Cursor, etc.) and added them as targets.

  2. install — Cloned the skill from the Git repository into your source directory (~/.config/skillshare/skills/). Ran a security audit automatically. Works with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea, Azure DevOps, and any HTTPS/SSH Git host.

  3. sync — Applied each target's configured sync mode (default is merge, which creates per-skill symlinks). For example:

    ~/.claude/skills/pdf → ~/.config/skillshare/skills/pdf  (symlink)

This means:

  • Mode-aware behavior — Merge/symlink modes reflect source edits immediately; copy mode updates on next sync
  • Non-destructive — Existing target-local skills are preserved in merge/copy mode
  • Reversible — skillshare backup creates snapshots; skillshare restore reverts

Need a different behavior for one target? Use per-target overrides:

skillshare target <name> --mode copy
skillshare sync

See Sync Modes for the decision matrix and trade-offs.

See Also​