# zag skills
Manage provider-agnostic skills stored in `~/.zag/skills/`.
## Synopsis
zag skills <command> [options]
## Description
Skills are modular, self-contained packages that extend agent capabilities with specialized knowledge, workflows, and tool integrations. They use the [Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io) open standard format: a directory containing a `SKILL.md` file with YAML frontmatter and optional bundled resources.
Skills are stored at `~/.zag/skills/` and automatically synced to each provider's native skill location when running an agent.
## Skill Format
Each skill is a directory containing:
```
skill-name/
├── SKILL.md (required) Instructions and YAML metadata
├── scripts/ (optional) Executable scripts
├── references/ (optional) Static documentation
└── assets/ (optional) Templates and resources
```
`SKILL.md` format:
```markdown
---
name: skill-name
description: When and how this skill should be used.
---
# Skill Name
Instructions for the agent...
```
## Provider Integration
| Claude | Symlink | `~/.claude/skills/zag-<name>/` |
| Gemini | Symlink | `~/.gemini/skills/zag-<name>/` |
| Copilot | Symlink | `~/.copilot/skills/zag-<name>/` |
| Codex | Symlink | `~/.agents/skills/zag-<name>/` |
| Ollama | System prompt injection | N/A |
Skill directories are symlinked with a `zag-` prefix to avoid collisions with provider-managed skills.
## Commands
### list
List all available skills.
zag skills list [--json]
### show
Show details of a specific skill, including its full body content.
zag skills show <name> [--json]
### add
Create a new skill skeleton.
zag skills add <name> [--description <TEXT>]
Options:
- `--description` — Short description of the skill
### remove
Remove a skill and all its provider symlinks.
zag skills remove <name>
### sync
Sync skills to all provider-specific locations. Runs automatically before each agent session.
zag skills sync [-p provider]
Options:
- `-p, --provider` — Only sync for this provider (claude, gemini, copilot, codex)
### import
Import existing skills from a provider's native skill directory into `~/.zag/skills/`.
zag skills import [--from <provider>]
Options:
- `--from` — Provider to import from (default: claude). Skips directories prefixed with `zag-`.
## Examples
# Create a new skill
zag skills add code-reviewer --description "Review code changes for quality and correctness"
# List all skills
zag skills list
# List all skills as JSON
zag skills list --json
# Show a specific skill
zag skills show code-reviewer
# Show a specific skill as JSON
zag skills show code-reviewer --json
# Manually sync to all providers
zag skills sync
# Only sync to gemini
zag skills sync -p gemini
# Import your existing Claude skills
zag skills import --from claude
# Remove a skill
zag skills remove code-reviewer
## See Also
zag man zag Global flags and providers overview
zag man run Start an interactive session (skills are synced automatically)