URL Formats

All source URL patterns recognized by skillshare install.

Quick Reference

Format	Example	Notes
GitHub shorthand	owner/repo	Expands to github.com/owner/repo
GitHub with subdir	owner/repo/path/to/skill	Installs specific skill from repo
Full HTTPS	https://github.com/owner/repo	Any Git host
Full HTTPS with subdir	https://github.com/owner/repo/path	Subdir after host/owner/repo
SSH	[email protected]:owner/repo.git	Private repos via SSH key
SSH with subdir	[email protected]:owner/repo.git//path	// separates repo from subdir
GHE Cloud	mycompany.github.com/org/repo	Enterprise Cloud subdomain
GHE Server	github.mycompany.com/org/repo	Enterprise Server
Azure DevOps shorthand	ado:org/project/repo	Expands to dev.azure.com URL
Azure DevOps HTTPS	https://dev.azure.com/org/proj/_git/repo	Modern format
Azure DevOps SSH	[email protected]:v3/org/proj/repo	SSH v3 format
Local path	~/my-skill or /abs/path	Copies directory to source
Git file URL	file:///path/to/repo	Local git clone (for testing)

GitHub Shorthand

The simplest format — just owner/repo:

skillshare install anthropics/skills
skillshare install ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills

This expands to https://github.com/owner/repo internally.

With Subdirectory

Add a path after owner/repo to install a specific skill:

skillshare install anthropics/skills/skills/pdf
skillshare install anthropics/skills/skills/commit

When the subdir doesn't match exactly, skillshare scans the repo for a skill with that basename:

# "pdf" doesn't exist at root, but found at skills/pdf/ — resolves automatically
skillshare install anthropics/skills/pdf

Full HTTPS URLs

Works with any Git host:

# GitHub
skillshare install https://github.com/owner/repo

# GitLab
skillshare install https://gitlab.com/owner/repo

# Bitbucket
skillshare install https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo

# Self-hosted Gitea
skillshare install https://git.mycompany.com/team/skills

# AtomGit (China)
skillshare install https://atomgit.com/owner/repo

# Gitee (China)
skillshare install https://gitee.com/owner/repo

SSH URLs

Use SSH for private repositories:

# Standard SSH
skillshare install [email protected]:owner/repo.git

# With subdirectory (note the // separator)
skillshare install [email protected]:owner/repo.git//path/to/skill

# GitLab SSH
skillshare install [email protected]:owner/repo.git

The // separator

For SSH URLs, use // to separate the repo from the subdirectory path. This is because the : in SSH URLs already serves as a separator, so the standard / path convention would be ambiguous.

GitHub Enterprise

Enterprise hostnames are recognized automatically:

# Enterprise Cloud (subdomain pattern: *.github.com)
skillshare install mycompany.github.com/org/repo

# Enterprise Server (hostname pattern: github.*.*)
skillshare install github.mycompany.com/org/repo
skillshare install github.internal.corp/team/skills

Both patterns support subdirectory paths:

skillshare install github.mycompany.com/org/repo/path/to/skill

Azure DevOps

Shorthand

The ado: prefix expands to Azure DevOps URLs:

skillshare install ado:myorg/myproject/myrepo
skillshare install ado:myorg/myproject/myrepo/skills/react

Full URLs

# Modern format
skillshare install https://dev.azure.com/myorg/myproject/_git/myrepo

# Legacy format (auto-normalized to dev.azure.com)
skillshare install https://myorg.visualstudio.com/myproject/_git/myrepo

# SSH
skillshare install [email protected]:v3/myorg/myproject/myrepo

Local Paths

Install from a directory on your filesystem:

# Absolute path
skillshare install /home/user/my-skill

# Home directory shorthand
skillshare install ~/my-skill

# Relative path
skillshare install ./local-skill

Local installs copy files (not symlink) and are not updatable via skillshare update.

Authentication

SSH Keys (Recommended for Private Repos)

# Ensure your SSH key is loaded
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# Install via SSH
skillshare install [email protected]:company/private-skills.git

HTTPS with Tokens

For HTTPS URLs, git uses your configured credential helper:

# Configure git credential helper (one-time)
git config --global credential.helper store

# Or use GH CLI for GitHub
gh auth login

# Then install normally
skillshare install https://github.com/company/private-repo

Azure DevOps with PAT

Azure DevOps repos use Personal Access Tokens (PATs) for HTTPS auth:

export AZURE_DEVOPS_TOKEN=your_pat_here
skillshare install https://dev.azure.com/org/project/_git/repo

Or use SSH (no token needed):

skillshare install [email protected]:v3/org/project/repo

Private Repos

If you get an authentication error with HTTPS, switch to SSH URLs. skillshare sets GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 to prevent hanging credential prompts, so interactive HTTPS auth won't work.

Custom GitLab Domains

Hosts containing gitlab or jihulab in the name (e.g., gitlab.com, jihulab.com, onprem.gitlab.internal) are automatically detected and parsed with nested subgroup support.

For self-managed GitLab instances on custom domains (e.g., git.company.com), add the hostname to gitlab_hosts in your config:

gitlab_hosts:
  - git.company.com

This tells skillshare to treat the full URL path as the repository, matching GitLab's nested subgroup behavior.

Without config, you can use .git to mark the end of the repo path:

# Installs from git.company.com/team/frontend/ui (full path as repo)
skillshare install git.company.com/team/frontend/ui.git

Platform Support

Feature	GitHub	GitLab	Bitbucket	Gitea	GHE	Azure DevOps	AtomGit/Gitee
Shorthand (owner/repo)	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	ado: prefix	No
Full HTTPS URL	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SSH URL	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Subdirectory	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
skillshare search	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No

Related

• Install command — full install options and examples