Agent skill

Shell Scripting

Specialized knowledge of Bash and Zsh scripting, shell automation, command-line tools, and scripting best practices.

GPL-3.0Auto-check passedDevelopment

Install Shell Scripting

skills CLI

$ npx skills add einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install einverne/dotfiles shell-scripting --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/einverne/dotfiles.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/claude/skills/shell-scripting .claude/skills/shell-scripting && 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 "shell-scripting" agent skill from https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles/tree/master/claude/skills/shell-scripting into .claude/skills/shell-scripting/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "shell-scripting", 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/einverne/dotfiles/tree/master/claude/skills/shell-scripting

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 einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -a codex

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install einverne/dotfiles shell-scripting --agent codex

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/claude/skills/shell-scripting .agents/skills/shell-scripting && 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 "shell-scripting" agent skill from https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles/tree/master/claude/skills/shell-scripting into .agents/skills/shell-scripting/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "shell-scripting", 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 einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -a cursor

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install einverne/dotfiles shell-scripting --agent cursor

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/claude/skills/shell-scripting .cursor/skills/shell-scripting && 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 "shell-scripting" agent skill from https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles/tree/master/claude/skills/shell-scripting into .cursor/skills/shell-scripting/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "shell-scripting", 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/einverne/dotfiles.git --path claude/skills/shell-scripting

--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 einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -a gemini-cli

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install einverne/dotfiles shell-scripting --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/einverne/dotfiles.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/claude/skills/shell-scripting .gemini/skills/shell-scripting && 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 "shell-scripting" agent skill from https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles/tree/master/claude/skills/shell-scripting into .gemini/skills/shell-scripting/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "shell-scripting", 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 einverne/dotfiles shell-scripting

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 einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -a github-copilot

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/claude/skills/shell-scripting .github/skills/shell-scripting && 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 "shell-scripting" agent skill from https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles/tree/master/claude/skills/shell-scripting into .github/skills/shell-scripting/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "shell-scripting", 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 einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -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 einverne/dotfiles shell-scripting --agent opencode

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/claude/skills/shell-scripting .opencode/skills/shell-scripting && 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 "shell-scripting" agent skill from https://github.com/einverne/dotfiles/tree/master/claude/skills/shell-scripting into .opencode/skills/shell-scripting/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "shell-scripting", 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: shell-scripting
GitHub stars: 121
Token cost: ~957 tokens
SKILL.md length: 248 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 39
Repo updated: Sep 9, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: GPL-3.0

At a glance

Specialized knowledge of Bash and Zsh scripting, shell automation, command-line tools, and scripting best practices.

Works in 4 steps: Script Structure → Best Practices → Common Patterns → …
The user needs to write
SKILL.md covers Core Competencies, Safe Script Template, Common Patterns and Zsh-Specific Features, plus 2 more sections
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Shell Scripting is an agent skill from einverne/dotfiles. Specialized knowledge of Bash and Zsh scripting, shell automation, command-line tools, and scripting best practices. Use when the user needs to write, debug, or optimize shell scripts or work with command-line tools.

Its SKILL.md is about 960 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 Development, covering Shell scripting. It works with Bash. The repository describes itself as: my personal dotfiles managed by dotbot, zinit. The licence is GPL-3.0.

When your agent uses it

The user needs to write
Optimize shell scripts
Work with command-line tools

Example prompts

“/shell-scripting”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

Script Structure
Best Practices
Common Patterns
Modern Tools

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit c6c0686. 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 (its code samples are bash).
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

Shell Scripting loads about 957 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 58 tokens; SKILL.md has 248 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~58
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~957

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 einverne/dotfiles at commit c6c0686, republished under its GPL-3.0 licence (© einverne). 248 words, ~957 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/shell-scripting/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: shell-scripting
description: Specialized knowledge of Bash and Zsh scripting, shell automation, command-line tools, and scripting best practices. Use when the user needs to write, debug, or optimize shell scripts or work with command-line tools.

You are a shell scripting expert specializing in Bash and Zsh. Your role is to help users write robust, maintainable shell scripts and leverage command-line tools effectively.

Core Competencies

Script Structure
- Proper shebang usage (#!/bin/bash or #!/usr/bin/env bash)
- Set safe defaults: set -euo pipefail
- Organize code into functions
- Include usage/help information
- Add comments for complex logic
Best Practices
- Quote variables: "$variable" not $variable
- Use [[ for conditionals (in Bash)
- Check command success: if command; then
- Handle errors gracefully
- Use meaningful variable names
- Avoid parsing ls output
- Use arrays for lists of items
Common Patterns
- Command-line argument parsing
- File and directory operations
- Text processing (grep, sed, awk)
- Process management
- Environment variable handling
- Signal handling and traps
Modern Tools
- ripgrep (rg) for fast searching
- fd for fast file finding
- fzf for interactive selection
- jq for JSON processing
- yq for YAML processing
- bat for syntax-highlighted viewing
- exa/eza for enhanced ls

Safe Script Template

bash

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Script description
# Usage: script.sh [options] <args>

set -euo pipefail
IFS=$'\n\t'

# Constants
readonly SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
readonly SCRIPT_NAME="$(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"

# Functions
usage() {
    cat <<EOF
Usage: $SCRIPT_NAME [OPTIONS] <command>

Description of what this script does.

OPTIONS:
    -h, --help      Show this help message
    -v, --verbose   Enable verbose output
    -d, --dry-run   Show what would be done

EXAMPLES:
    $SCRIPT_NAME --verbose command
EOF
}

main() {
    # Main script logic
    :
}

# Parse arguments
while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
    case $1 in
        -h|--help)
            usage
            exit 0
            ;;
        -v|--verbose)
            VERBOSE=true
            shift
            ;;
        *)
            echo "Unknown option: $1"
            usage
            exit 1
            ;;
    esac
done

main "$@"

Common Patterns

Check if Command Exists

bash

if command -v git &> /dev/null; then
    echo "Git is installed"
fi

Loop Through Files

bash

while IFS= read -r -d '' file; do
    echo "Processing: $file"
done < <(find . -type f -name "*.txt" -print0)

Error Handling

bash

trap cleanup EXIT
trap 'echo "Error on line $LINENO"' ERR

cleanup() {
    # Cleanup code
    rm -f "$TEMP_FILE"
}

Colored Output

bash

RED='\033[0;31m'
GREEN='\033[0;32m'
NC='\033[0m' # No Color

echo -e "${GREEN}Success${NC}"
echo -e "${RED}Error${NC}"

Read User Input

bash

read -rp "Continue? [y/N] " response
if [[ "$response" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
    echo "Continuing..."
fi

Zsh-Specific Features

Advanced globbing: **/*.txt (recursive)
Parameter expansion: ${var:u} (uppercase)
Array handling: array=(item1 item2)
Associative arrays (hash maps)
Powerful completion system

Performance Tips

Use built-in commands over external programs
Avoid unnecessary subshells
Use read instead of cat | while
Batch operations when possible
Consider parallel execution for independent tasks

Security Considerations

Never eval untrusted input
Validate and sanitize user input
Be careful with rm -rf
Use temporary files securely: mktemp
Check for race conditions (TOCTOU)
Avoid storing secrets in scripts

Files

Just SKILL.md in claude/skills/shell-scripting of einverne/dotfiles.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit c6c0686

Compare with similar skills

Shell Scripting 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.

Shell Scripting compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Shell Scripting this skilleinverne/dotfiles	121	—	~957	Automated safety check: Pass	GPL-3.0	28 days ago
Mole Bug Patternstw93/Mole	69k	—	~2k	Automated safety check: Pass	GPL-3.0	today
CLI DeveloperJeffallan/claude-skills	12k	1 repos	~1.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	4 days ago
JSON Processing with jqcharmbracelet/crush	29k	—	~746	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	today
Shellm Architecture Referencelaude-institute/headlong	1.2k	—	~2k	Automated safety check: Notes	Apache-2.0	today
Cppcrazyguitar/cppcheatsheet	290	—	~1.8k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	6 days ago

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Questions about Shell Scripting

What does Shell Scripting do?

Specialized knowledge of Bash and Zsh scripting, shell automation, command-line tools, and scripting best practices. Shell Scripting is an agent skill from einverne/dotfiles. Specialized knowledge of Bash and Zsh scripting, shell automation, command-line tools, and scripting best practices.

When should I use Shell Scripting?

Shell Scripting fits situations like: the user needs to write; optimize shell scripts; work with command-line tools.

How do I install Shell Scripting in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (claude/skills/shell-scripting in einverne/dotfiles) into .claude/skills/shell-scripting in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Shell Scripting in Codex?

Run `npx skills add einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (claude/skills/shell-scripting in einverne/dotfiles) into .agents/skills/shell-scripting in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Shell Scripting 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 einverne/dotfiles --skill shell-scripting -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/shell-scripting, .gemini/skills/shell-scripting, .github/skills/shell-scripting and .opencode/skills/shell-scripting in your project.

What does Shell Scripting need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Shell Scripting is instructions for the agent only.

Does Shell Scripting 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 Shell Scripting 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 Shell Scripting use?

Shell Scripting is published under the GPL-3.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Shell Scripting use?

About 957 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.8k 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 Shell Scripting?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Shell Scripting: Mole Bug Patterns (tw93/Mole, 69k stars), CLI Developer (Jeffallan/claude-skills, 12k stars), JSON Processing with jq (charmbracelet/crush, 29k stars) and Shellm Architecture Reference (laude-institute/headlong, 1.2k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Shell Scripting?

einverne (a GitHub user) maintains it in einverne/dotfiles, which has 121 GitHub stars. The repository holds 39 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 9, 2026.

Source: einverne/dotfiles on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Shell Scripting

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Core Competencies

Safe Script Template

Common Patterns

Check if Command Exists

Loop Through Files

Error Handling

Colored Output

Read User Input

Zsh-Specific Features

Performance Tips

Security Considerations

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from einverne/dotfiles

Related

Questions about Shell Scripting