MCP Server Builder
anthropics/skills
Guides the design and implementation of Model Context Protocol servers in TypeScript or Python, from tool naming and error messages to evaluation.
A skill your agent uses when the user refers to what they were working on, asks to catch up, mentions their day, week, record or Ambient Context, or when a task needs to know what happened recently…
Install Ambient Context
$ npx skills add dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install dragthelake/ambient-context ambient-context --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/ambient-context .claude/skills/ambient-context && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "ambient-context" agent skill from https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context/tree/main/skills/ambient-context into .claude/skills/ambient-context/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ambient-context", 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 install https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context/tree/main/skills/ambient-contextType 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.
$ npx skills add dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install dragthelake/ambient-context ambient-context --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/ambient-context .agents/skills/ambient-context && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "ambient-context" agent skill from https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context/tree/main/skills/ambient-context into .agents/skills/ambient-context/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ambient-context", 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.
$ npx skills add dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install dragthelake/ambient-context ambient-context --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/ambient-context .cursor/skills/ambient-context && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "ambient-context" agent skill from https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context/tree/main/skills/ambient-context into .cursor/skills/ambient-context/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ambient-context", 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 https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context.git --path skills/ambient-context--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install dragthelake/ambient-context ambient-context --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/ambient-context .gemini/skills/ambient-context && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "ambient-context" agent skill from https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context/tree/main/skills/ambient-context into .gemini/skills/ambient-context/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ambient-context", 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.
$ gh skill install dragthelake/ambient-context ambient-contextInstalls 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).
$ npx skills add dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/ambient-context .github/skills/ambient-context && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "ambient-context" agent skill from https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context/tree/main/skills/ambient-context into .github/skills/ambient-context/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ambient-context", 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.
$ npx skills add dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install dragthelake/ambient-context ambient-context --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/ambient-context .opencode/skills/ambient-context && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "ambient-context" agent skill from https://github.com/dragthelake/ambient-context/tree/main/skills/ambient-context into .opencode/skills/ambient-context/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "ambient-context", 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
ambient-context- GitHub stars
- 206
- Token cost
- ~985 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 570 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 5
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
At a glance
A skill your agent uses when the user refers to what they were working on, asks to catch up, mentions their day, week, record or Ambient Context, or when a task needs to know what happened recently…
- The user refers to what they were working on
- SKILL.md covers The record, Which tool, Restraint and Privacy, plus 1 more section
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
- Asks to catch up
What it does
Ambient Context is an agent skill from dragthelake/ambient-context. Use when the user refers to what they were working on, asks to catch up, mentions their day, week, record or Ambient Context, or when a task needs to know what happened recently on this Mac. Reads the Ambient Context record through its MCP tools and says how much of it to read.
Its SKILL.md is about 990 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Agent Workflows, covering MCP servers. The repository describes itself as: A menu bar app that keeps a written record of what you worked on. The licence is Apache-2.0.
When your agent uses it
- The user refers to what they were working on
- Asks to catch up
- Mentions their day
- Ambient Context
Example prompts
- “/ambient-context”
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 7e57155. 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
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
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
Ambient Context loads about 985 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 74 tokens; SKILL.md has 570 words of instructions outside code blocks.
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 dragthelake/ambient-context at commit 7e57155, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© dragthelake). 570 words, ~985 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/ambient-context/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- ambient-context
- description
- Use when the user refers to what they were working on, asks to catch up, mentions their day, week, record or Ambient Context, or when a task needs to know what happened recently on this Mac. Reads the Ambient Context record through its MCP tools and says how much of it to read.
- license
- Apache-2.0
- metadata.tools
- capture_status list_days read_summary read_day read_kb search_record read_ledger summarise_day ingest_day add_rule update_rule remove_rule set_prompt set_config
Ambient Context
Ambient Context is a macOS menu bar app that records what its user works on. Every few seconds it reads the text of the focused window and appends it to a plain-text record, one folder per day, on the user's own disk. An agent the user runs later turns each day into a summary and a small knowledge base. The app is also an MCP server named ambient-context, and that server is how you reach the record.
The record
For each day there is:
- Three raw files.
apps(everything not routed elsewhere),websites(a table of pages visited with dwell time) andmessages(chat and mail). Blocks are headed## HH:MM–HH:MM · App · Window title. A block body holds only lines new to that day, so a bare heading means the user was there, looking at things already recorded. The text is an accessibility-tree scrape, not prose: good for what was on screen, silent about the rest.[redacted]marks a scrubbed secret. - A summary. One distilled account of the day, written by the user's agent, with time-range citations.
- A knowledge base. Six files (people, commitments, threads, products, issues, reading), every line cited.
- A ledger. Every model action and every configuration change, with who made it. Your writes appear here under this client's name.
Which tool
| You want | Call |
|---|---|
| What exists | list_days |
| What a day was about | read_summary first; read_kb for people, commitments and threads |
| Detail on a window of time | read_day with from and to, and file when it is not apps |
| When something happened | search_record |
| Whether recording is on and what is running | capture_status, and only when that is the question |
| What changed and who changed it | read_ledger |
A day with no summary can be built with summarise_day and ingest_day. Both take minutes and run the user's own agent on their machine, so say that you are starting one, and do not start a second while one runs.
Show full SKILL.md (251 more words)Show less
Restraint
- Read the narrowest thing that answers the question: a summary before a day file, a time window before a whole day, a search before a read.
- Quote a few lines when they carry the answer. Never paste a day file, a summary or a block wholesale into a reply.
- A record that does not contain the thing is a normal result. Say so plainly and do not fill the gap with a guess.
- Reading needs nothing running. Writing (capture, rules, the prompt, config) needs the app open, and every write is logged with your name on it. After a write, say what you changed in one line.
- Do not call
add_rule,update_rule,remove_rule,set_promptorset_configunless the user asked for that change. Theambient-context-tune-rulesskill handles rule changes and asks first.
Privacy
The record can hold messages, page contents and documents the user never meant to share. It stays on this machine. Do not send it to another service, write it into files in a repository, paste it into an issue or a commit, or summarise it somewhere other people read, without asking first and naming what would leave.
When the server is not there
If the tools are missing, the server is not registered: ask the user to open Ambient Context, Settings, MCP server. If a write returns not_running, the app is closed: reads still work and writes will once it is open. Say which of the two it is and stop. Do not guess at the record.
© dragthelake, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in skills/ambient-context of dragthelake/ambient-context.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7e57155
Compare with similar skills
Ambient Context 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambient Context this skilldragthelake/ambient-context | 206 | — | ~985 | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| MCP Server Builderanthropics/skills | 180k | 63 repos | ~2.3k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| MCP Server BuildershareAI-lab/learn-claude-code | 78k | 4 repos | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| MCP Integration for Pluginsanthropics/claude-plugins-official | 38k | 11 repos | ~3.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Microsoft Skill CreatorMicrosoftDocs/mcp | 1.9k | 3 repos | ~2.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | CC-BY-4.0 | |
| Crush Configurationcharmbracelet/crush | 29k | — | ~3.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence |
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More from dragthelake/ambient-context
Ambient Context Tune Rules
dragthelake/ambient-context
A skill your agent uses when the user says something should not be captured, is landing in the wrong file, keeps showing up in summaries, or asks to tidy or review their Ambient Context rules.
Ambient Context Catch Me Up
dragthelake/ambient-context
A skill your agent uses when the user asks what they were doing, where they got to, what is still open, or to be caught up after a break.
Ambient Context Standup
dragthelake/ambient-context
A skill your agent uses when the user asks for a standup, daily update, status for a channel, or what to say they did.
Ambient Context Weekly Review
dragthelake/ambient-context
A skill your agent uses when the user asks for a weekly review, a week note, what happened this week, or what they spent the week on.
Related
Categories
Questions about Ambient Context
What does Ambient Context do?
A skill your agent uses when the user refers to what they were working on, asks to catch up, mentions their day, week, record or Ambient Context, or when a task needs to know what happened recently…. Ambient Context is an agent skill from dragthelake/ambient-context. Use when the user refers to what they were working on, asks to catch up, mentions their day, week, record or Ambient Context, or when a task needs to know what happened recently on this Mac.
When should I use Ambient Context?
Ambient Context fits situations like: the user refers to what they were working on; asks to catch up; mentions their day; ambient Context.
How do I install Ambient Context in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/ambient-context in dragthelake/ambient-context) into .claude/skills/ambient-context in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Ambient Context in Codex?
Run `npx skills add dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/ambient-context in dragthelake/ambient-context) into .agents/skills/ambient-context in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Ambient Context 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 dragthelake/ambient-context --skill ambient-context -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/ambient-context, .gemini/skills/ambient-context, .github/skills/ambient-context and .opencode/skills/ambient-context in your project.
What does Ambient Context need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Ambient Context is instructions for the agent only.
Does Ambient Context access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Ambient Context 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 Ambient Context use?
Ambient Context is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Ambient Context use?
About 985 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.9k 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 Ambient Context?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Ambient Context: MCP Server Builder (anthropics/skills, 180k stars), MCP Server Builder (shareAI-lab/learn-claude-code, 78k stars), MCP Integration for Plugins (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars) and Microsoft Skill Creator (MicrosoftDocs/mcp, 1.9k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Ambient Context?
dragthelake (a GitHub user) maintains it in dragthelake/ambient-context, which has 206 GitHub stars. The repository holds 5 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.
Source: dragthelake/ambient-context on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.