Scan all skill locations, cross-reference with online registries (skillhu.bz, skills.sh/GitHub), and output a unified inventory. Persists state to ~/.claude/skill-registry.json for fast lookups.
Workflow
Step 1: Scan local skills
Scan all three skill locations and extract YAML frontmatter from each SKILL.md:
# Scan ~/.claude/skills/ (private global skills — authored by user)
for d in ~/.claude/skills/*/; do
name=$(basename "$d")
if [ -f "$d/SKILL.md" ]; then
desc=$(awk '/^---/{n++; next} n==1 && /^description:/{gsub(/^description: *"?|"$/,"",$0); print; exit}' "$d/SKILL.md")
echo "claude|$name|$desc"
fi
done
for d in ~/.agents/skills/*/; do name=$(basename "$d") if [ -f "$d/SKILL.md" ]; then desc=$(awk '/^---/{n++; next} n==1 && /^description:/{gsub(/^description: *"?|"$/,"",$0); print; exit}' "$d/SKILL.md") echo "agents|$name|$desc" fi done
For the current project, also check `.claude/skills/` in the working directory.
### Step 2: Determine authorship
Skills are **authored by user** if they exist in `~/.claude/skills/` (these are hand-created, not installed from a registry).
Skills in `~/.agents/skills/` may be:
- **Authored by user** — if also present in `~/.claude/skills/` or published under your GitHub username
- **Installed from others** — if they have a `license` field in frontmatter or are NOT in `~/.claude/skills/`
To check, compare the two directories:
```bash
# Skills ONLY in ~/.claude/skills (user-authored, not from skills.sh)
comm -23 <(ls ~/.claude/skills/ | sort) <(ls ~/.agents/skills/ | sort)
# Skills in BOTH (user-authored + also installed via skills.sh)
comm -12 <(ls ~/.claude/skills/ | sort) <(ls ~/.agents/skills/ | sort)
# Skills ONLY in ~/.agents/skills (installed from others)
comm -13 <(ls ~/.claude/skills/ | sort) <(ls ~/.agents/skills/ | sort)
Step 3: Check publish status on skillhu.bz
Query the skillhu.bz registry for skills authored by your GitHub username:
# Fetch the full registry and filter for your skills
# Replace <your-github-username> with your actual GitHub username
curl -s 'https://skillhu.bz/api/skills' | python3 -c "
import json, sys
try:
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
skills = data if isinstance(data, list) else data.get('skills', [])
for s in skills:
if s.get('author') == '<your-github-username>':
print(json.dumps({
'name': s.get('name'),
'installs': s.get('installs', 0),
'stars': s.get('stars', 0),
'category': s.get('category', ''),
'updated': s.get('updatedAt', '')
}))
except: pass
"
If the API doesn't have a list endpoint, fall back to checking individual skills:
# Check specific skill
curl -s "https://skillhu.bz/api/skills/SKILL_NAME" | python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(json.dumps(d))" 2>/dev/null
Step 4: Check publish status on skills.sh (GitHub)
Check which skills have GitHub repos under your username:
# Replace <your-github-username> with your actual GitHub username
gh repo list <your-github-username> --json name,description --limit 200 | python3 -c "
import json, sys
repos = json.load(sys.stdin)
for r in repos:
name = r.get('name', '')
desc = r.get('description', '') or ''
# Check if repo has a SKILL.md (indicates it's a published skill)
print(f\"{name}|{desc}\")
"
For each potential skill repo, verify it has a SKILL.md:
gh api repos/<your-github-username>/REPO_NAME/contents/SKILL.md --jq '.name' 2>/dev/null && echo "has-skill-md"
Step 5: Check engagement stats
For skillhu.bz published skills:
curl -s 'https://skillhu.bz/api/track' | python3 -c "
import json, sys
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
installs = data.get('installs', {})
stars = data.get('stars', {})
for name in set(list(installs.keys()) + list(stars.keys())):
print(f\"{name}|installs:{installs.get(name,0)}|stars:{stars.get(name,0)}\")
"
Step 6: Build and save the registry
Combine all data into ~/.claude/skill-registry.json:
import json, os, subprocess, glob
from datetime import datetime
registry = {
"last_updated": datetime.now().isoformat(),
"skills": []
}
# ... combine scan results into entries like:
entry = {
"name": "skill-name",
"locations": ["~/.claude/skills", "~/.agents/skills"], # where it exists
"authored_by_user": True, # or False
"description": "...",
"published": {
"skillhubz": {"url": "https://skillhu.bz/skill/NAME", "installs": 0, "stars": 0},
"skills_sh": {"repo": "<your-github-username>/NAME", "url": "https://github.com/<your-github-username>/NAME"}
},
# or "published": {} if not published anywhere
}
Step 7: Display the registry
Output a formatted table:
SKILL REGISTRY (last updated: 2026-03-03T...)
YOUR SKILLS (authored by you):
Name | Location | Published | Installs
auth | ~/.claude | - | -
gmail | ~/.claude | - | -
whatsapp-web-decrypt | both | skillhu + skills.sh| 0
browser-lock | ~/.claude | skillhu | 1
social-autoposter | ~/.claude | - | -
...
INSTALLED SKILLS (from others):
Name | Location | Source
frontend-design | both | skills.sh
copywriting | both | skills.sh
...
PROJECT SKILLS (current project):
Name | Location
browser-analysis | .claude/skills
whatsapp-analysis | .claude/skills
...
PUBLISHED BUT NOT LOCAL:
Name | Platform | Installs
tmux-background-agents | skillhu | 0
SUMMARY:
Total skills: XX | Your skills: XX | Published: XX | Installed from others: XX
Step 8: Refresh vs cached
- First run or
--refresh: Execute Steps 1-6, save to~/.claude/skill-registry.json - Subsequent runs: Read from JSON file and display. Add
--refreshto re-scan. - After publishing: The
publish-skillskill should trigger a refresh.
Quick Commands
skill registryorlist skills— show the full registry (cached or fresh)skill registry --refresh— force re-scan all locations and online registriesskill registry --published— show only published skills with statsskill registry --unpublished— show skills not yet published anywhereskill registry --mine— show only user-authored skills
Notes
- Skills in
~/.claude/skills/are user-authored (private, not installed from registries) - Skills in
~/.agents/skills/are installed vianpx skills add(skills.sh) - Project skills in
.claude/skills/are repo-specific - Replace
<your-github-username>with your actual GitHub username throughout - The registry JSON is at
~/.claude/skill-registry.json