Skip to main content

link

Link a folder, such as your own skills checkout, directly under the skills source. With follow_source_links on, skillshare lists and syncs the skills inside it.

skillshare link ~/code/dev-skills                  # Link as _dev-skills
skillshare link ~/code/dev-skills --enable         # Link and turn on following
skillshare link ~/code/dev-skills --name _mine     # Choose the link name
skillshare link ../team --name _team -p            # Link into the project source
skillshare link -- -checkout                       # Link a path starting with -

When to Use​

  • Keep editing a skills checkout where it already lives instead of installing a copy
  • Use skills from an external drive
  • Create the link on Windows without choosing between a junction and a symlink yourself
$ skillshare link ~/code/dev-skills --enable
✓ Linked _dev-skills → ~/code/dev-skills · symlink
✓ Set follow_source_links: true ~/.config/skillshare/config.yaml

Next
  skillshare sync  link its skills into your targets

What Happens​

  1. The link name defaults to _ plus the folder name (_dev-skills). It must be a single name directly under the source.
  2. The folder is checked the same way discovery checks a followed link. The link is refused when the name already exists, or when the folder is the source or a parent of it, sits inside the source, overlaps a sync target, is missing, is unreadable, or is not a directory.
  3. The link is created: an absolute symlink on macOS and Linux. On Windows a junction is created, which needs no Developer Mode or elevation; a directory symlink is tried only when the junction fails.
  4. When the folder has no .git entry, a warning says so: the link still works, but skillshare update cannot pull it.
  5. When follow_source_links is off, the config is not changed unless you pass --enable. Without it, the command prints the same hint as skillshare doctor. If --enable cannot save the config, the new link is removed again and the command fails, so no unfollowed link is left behind. The dashboard's Link folder checkbox works the same way.

Options​

FlagDescription
--name <name>Link name in the source (default: _<folder name>)
--enableAlso set follow_source_links: true
--project, -pUse project-level config in current directory
--global, -gUse global config (~/.config/skillshare)
--End options; allow a path starting with -
--help, -hShow help

Without --enable​

$ skillshare link ~/code/dev-skills
✓ Linked _dev-skills → ~/code/dev-skills · symlink
! target is not a git checkout; skillshare update cannot pull it
  _dev-skills: not followed by discovery; its contents are invisible to skillshare. Set follow_source_links: true to follow it

The link exists, but discovery ignores it until follow_source_links: true is set in the config.

The command exits non-zero and creates nothing:

$ skillshare link ~/.claude
✗ cannot link /home/me/.claude: target overlaps sync target /home/me/.claude/skills
ReasonCause
target is the source or a parent of itFollowing it would loop back into the source
target is inside the sourceIts skills are already in the source
target overlaps sync target <path>The folder is, contains, or sits inside an active skills target
target is a link chain that could not be resolvedThe path is a link whose target cannot be resolved
target is missing / target is not readable / target is unavailable: <error>The folder does not exist or cannot be read
target is not a directoryThe path is a file
<name> already existsSomething with that name is already in the source
"<name>" is not a first-level name--name contains a path separator or is . / ..

skillshare link creates the same entry as a link you make yourself (ln -s, or mklink /J on Windows); discovery treats both alike. The command adds the checks above before anything is created.