Agent skill

Atlas Obscura

by borski in borski/travel-hacking-toolkit

Search Atlas Obscura for weird, wonderful, and hidden gem places near any destination.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Atlas Obscura

skills CLI

$ npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install borski/travel-hacking-toolkit atlas-obscura --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura .claude/skills/atlas-obscura && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "atlas-obscura" agent skill from https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit/tree/main/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura into .claude/skills/atlas-obscura/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "atlas-obscura", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit/tree/main/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install borski/travel-hacking-toolkit atlas-obscura --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura .agents/skills/atlas-obscura && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "atlas-obscura" agent skill from https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit/tree/main/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura into .agents/skills/atlas-obscura/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "atlas-obscura", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install borski/travel-hacking-toolkit atlas-obscura --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura .cursor/skills/atlas-obscura && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "atlas-obscura" agent skill from https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit/tree/main/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura into .cursor/skills/atlas-obscura/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "atlas-obscura", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git --path plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install borski/travel-hacking-toolkit atlas-obscura --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura .gemini/skills/atlas-obscura && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "atlas-obscura" agent skill from https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit/tree/main/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura into .gemini/skills/atlas-obscura/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "atlas-obscura", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install borski/travel-hacking-toolkit atlas-obscura

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura .github/skills/atlas-obscura && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "atlas-obscura" agent skill from https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit/tree/main/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura into .github/skills/atlas-obscura/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "atlas-obscura", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install borski/travel-hacking-toolkit atlas-obscura --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura .opencode/skills/atlas-obscura && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "atlas-obscura" agent skill from https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit/tree/main/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura into .opencode/skills/atlas-obscura/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "atlas-obscura", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: atlas-obscura
GitHub stars: 688
Token cost: ~1.1k tokens
SKILL.md length: 419 words
Files: 4
Skills in repo: 46
Repo updated: Oct 5, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: MIT

At a glance

Search Atlas Obscura for weird, wonderful, and hidden gem places near any destination.

SKILL.md covers Prerequisites, City Coordinates Reference, Commands and Interest Scoring, plus 2 more sections
Runs JavaScript scripts from its folder; calls node, jq and npm

What it does

Atlas Obscura is an agent skill from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit. Search Atlas Obscura for weird, wonderful, and hidden gem places near any destination. Find the interesting stuff, not boring plaques. Search by coordinates, get full details with descriptions and images.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 3 other files (for example `package-lock.json` and `package.json`).

The repository describes itself as: AI-powered travel hacking and search with cash, points, miles, and award flights. Drop-in skills and MCP servers for Claude, Codex, and OpenCode. The licence is MIT.

Example prompts

“/atlas-obscura”

Requirements

Node.js

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit db82131. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Ships script files (JavaScript), which the agent can run.
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- node
- jq
- npm
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):
- github.com
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Atlas Obscura loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 55 tokens; SKILL.md has 419 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~55
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.1k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit at commit db82131, republished under its MIT licence (© borski). 419 words, ~1,132 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/atlas-obscura/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 3 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: atlas-obscura
description: Search Atlas Obscura for weird, wonderful, and hidden gem places near any destination. Find the interesting stuff, not boring plaques. Search by coordinates, get full details with descriptions and images.
category: destinations
summary: Hidden gems and unusual attractions near any destination.
api_key: None (free)
license: MIT

Atlas Obscura

Find genuinely interesting hidden gems near any destination via Atlas Obscura. Searches by coordinates, scores places for interestingness, and filters out mundane historical markers.

No API key needed. Uses the atlas-obscura-api npm scraper.

Prerequisites

Install dependencies (one time):

bash

cd skills/atlas-obscura && npm install

City Coordinates Reference

Common cities for trip planning. Use these with the search commands.

City	Lat	Lng
New York	40.7128	-74.0060
London	51.5074	-0.1278
Paris	48.8566	2.3522
Tokyo	35.6762	139.6503
Bangkok	13.7563	100.5018
Rome	41.9028	12.4964
Barcelona	41.3874	2.1686
Istanbul	41.0082	28.9784
Mexico City	19.4326	-99.1332
Lisbon	38.7223	-9.1393
Seoul	37.5665	126.9780
Oslo	59.9139	10.7522
Copenhagen	55.6761	12.5683
Stockholm	59.3293	18.0686

Commands

All commands run from the repo root. Output is JSON. Image URLs are excluded by default to keep output lean. Add --images to any command when you need them (e.g. generating HTML pages).

Search Nearby (Filtered)

Finds places near coordinates, fetches full details, scores for interestingness, and filters out boring stuff. Slower (fetches each place) but gives you the good stuff.

bash

node skills/atlas-obscura/ao.mjs search <lat> <lng>

Example:

bash

node skills/atlas-obscura/ao.mjs search 35.6762 139.6503

Returns up to 20 places sorted by interest score. Each has full description, tags, and directions.

Timeout note: This makes ~20 HTTP requests (one per place). Allow 30-60 seconds.

Quick Search (Unfiltered)

Fast nearby search. Returns title, subtitle, coordinates, distance. No detail fetching or scoring.

bash

node skills/atlas-obscura/ao.mjs quick <lat> <lng>

Search Unfiltered with Details

Same as filtered search but keeps everything, including boring plaques.

bash

node skills/atlas-obscura/ao.mjs search <lat> <lng> --all

Full Place Details

Get complete information for a specific place by ID.

bash

node skills/atlas-obscura/ao.mjs place <id>

Returns: title, subtitle, full description (multi-paragraph), directions, tags, nearby places, interest score.

Show full SKILL.md (172 more words)Show less

Short Place Summary

Quick place lookup without the full scrape. One request.

bash

node skills/atlas-obscura/ao.mjs short <id>

Including Images

Add --images to any command to include thumbnail and image URLs in the output. Useful when generating HTML pages or visual reports.

bash

node skills/atlas-obscura/ao.mjs search <lat> <lng> --images
node skills/atlas-obscura/ao.mjs place <id> --images

Interest Scoring

Places are scored based on:

Bonus points for: Abandoned, Ruins, Ghost Towns, Underground, Caves, Natural Wonders, Unusual Collections, Street Art, Museums, Markets, Hot Springs, Waterfalls, Breweries, Gardens, Islands, Art, Sculpture, Murals. Also: rich descriptions, multiple images.

Penalties for: Plaques, Historical Markers, Monuments, War Memorials, Government Buildings. Also: places marked "gone" or hidden from maps.

Places scoring below 0 are filtered out in the default search.

Useful jq Filters

bash

# Just titles and subtitles
... | jq '.[] | {title, subtitle, tags}'

# Top 5 by interest score
... | jq '[sort_by(-.interest_score) | .[0:5] | .[] | {title, subtitle, interest_score, url}]'

# Places with specific tags
... | jq '[.[] | select(.tags | any(. == "Underground" or . == "Caves"))]'

# Just URLs for browsing
... | jq -r '.[].url'

When to Use

Load this skill when:

Planning trips and want to find hidden gems near destinations
Looking for unique, weird, or wonderful places to visit
Need Atlas Obscura recommendations for specific coordinates
Adding interesting stops to an itinerary

Do not:

Use for booking (AO is discovery only)
Hammer the scraper excessively (it's scraping atlasobscura.com, be respectful)
Expect real-time availability (places can close, change hours, etc.)

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files in plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura of borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.

SKILL.md
ao.mjs
package-lock.json
package.json

Open the folder on GitHubat commit db82131

Compare with similar skills

Atlas Obscura next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Atlas Obscura compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Atlas Obscura this skillborski/travel-hacking-toolkit	688	—	~1.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	6 days ago
Pp Atlas Obscuramvanhorn/printing-press-library	2.1k	—	~3k	Automated safety check: Notes	Apache-2.0	yesterday
System AtlasNousResearch/hermes-agent	253k	—	~2.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Atlas Cloudcalesthio/OpenMontage	66k	—	~1.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	AGPL-3.0	8 days ago
Atlas Ledgersickn33/agentic-awesome-skills	47k	1 repos	~3.9k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	2 days ago
Aria Hidden Bodythedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist	74k	—	~444	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	5 days ago

Similar skills

Pp Atlas Obscura
mvanhorn/printing-press-library
Every Atlas Obscura search, plus a local database, road-trip corridor routing Trigger phrases: weird places near me, atlas obscura, hidden gems along my route, offbeat things to do in, unusual…
2.1k GitHub stars~3k tokensUpdated yesterday
Auto-check: notes
System Atlas
NousResearch/hermes-agent
Build explorable isometric architecture atlases as HTML. An agent skill from NousResearch/hermes-agent.
253k GitHub stars~2.2k tokensUpdated today
Auto-check passed
Atlas Cloud
calesthio/OpenMontage
Generate or edit images and videos through the Atlas Cloud gateway.
66k GitHub stars~1.2k tokensUpdated 8 days ago
Media & CreativeAuto-check passed
Atlas Ledger
sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills
Companion to atlas-contract. An agent skill from sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.
47k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~3.9k tokens
Auto-check passed
Aria Hidden Body
thedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist
A skill your agent uses when reviewing rendered HTML, interactive components, or design-system patterns related to Do not use aria-hidden on the document body.
74k GitHub stars~444 tokensUpdated 5 days ago
Frontend & DesignAuto-check passed
Aria Hidden Focus
thedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist
A skill your agent uses when reviewing rendered HTML, interactive components, or design-system patterns related to Remove focusable elements from aria-hidden containers.
74k GitHub stars~468 tokensUpdated 5 days ago
Frontend & DesignAuto-check passed

Questions about Atlas Obscura

What does Atlas Obscura do?

Search Atlas Obscura for weird, wonderful, and hidden gem places near any destination. Atlas Obscura is an agent skill from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit. Search Atlas Obscura for weird, wonderful, and hidden gem places near any destination.

How do I install Atlas Obscura in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura in borski/travel-hacking-toolkit) into .claude/skills/atlas-obscura in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Atlas Obscura in Codex?

Run `npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/atlas-obscura in borski/travel-hacking-toolkit) into .agents/skills/atlas-obscura in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Atlas Obscura in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill atlas-obscura -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/atlas-obscura, .gemini/skills/atlas-obscura, .github/skills/atlas-obscura and .opencode/skills/atlas-obscura in your project.

What does Atlas Obscura need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Atlas Obscura needs JavaScript for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (node, jq and npm). Our summary lists: Node.js.

Does Atlas Obscura access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: github.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Atlas Obscura safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Atlas Obscura use?

Atlas Obscura is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Atlas Obscura use?

About 1.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Atlas Obscura?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Atlas Obscura: Pp Atlas Obscura (mvanhorn/printing-press-library, 2.1k stars), System Atlas (NousResearch/hermes-agent, 253k stars), Atlas Cloud (calesthio/OpenMontage, 66k stars) and Atlas Ledger (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Atlas Obscura?

borski (a GitHub user) maintains it in borski/travel-hacking-toolkit, which has 688 GitHub stars. The repository holds 46 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

Source: borski/travel-hacking-toolkit on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Atlas Obscura

Facts

At a glance

What it does

Example prompts

Requirements

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Atlas Obscura

Prerequisites

City Coordinates Reference

Commands

Search Nearby (Filtered)

Quick Search (Unfiltered)

Search Unfiltered with Details

Full Place Details

Short Place Summary

Including Images

Interest Scoring

Useful jq Filters

When to Use

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit

Questions about Atlas Obscura