Agent skill

Phidown

Search, filter, download, and analyze Copernicus Data Space products with the phidown project.

Apache-2.0Auto-check passedBackend & APIs

Install Phidown

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ESA-PhiLab/phidown --skill phidown -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI

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

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 ESA-PhiLab/phidown --skill phidown -a codex

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ESA-PhiLab/phidown phidown --agent codex

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

Manual copy

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

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ESA-PhiLab/phidown phidown --agent cursor

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

Manual copy

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

--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 ESA-PhiLab/phidown --skill phidown -a gemini-cli

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

GitHub CLI

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

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 ESA-PhiLab/phidown --skill phidown -a github-copilot

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

Manual copy

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

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ESA-PhiLab/phidown.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/phidown .opencode/skills/phidown && 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 "phidown" agent skill from https://github.com/ESA-PhiLab/phidown/tree/main/skills/phidown into .opencode/skills/phidown/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "phidown", 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: phidown
GitHub stars: 105
Token cost: ~1k tokens
SKILL.md length: 358 words
Files: 3 (incl. references)
Skills in repo: 1
Repo updated: Sep 2, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

Search, filter, download, and analyze Copernicus Data Space products with the phidown project.

Works in 5 steps: Confirm execution context → Choose operation mode → Handle credentials safely → …
A user asks to find Sentinel products
SKILL.md covers Overview, Workflow, Guardrails and Troubleshooting, plus 1 more section
Calls python

What it does

Phidown is an agent skill from ESA-PhiLab/phidown. Search, filter, download, and analyze Copernicus Data Space products with the phidown project. Use this skill when a user asks to find Sentinel products, query by AOI/date/product type, run burst coverage analysis, download by product name or S3 path, configure credentials (.s5cfg), troubleshoot phidown CLI/Python workflows, or prepare reproducible data-acquisition commands in the phidown repository.

Its SKILL.md is about 1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 4 other files, including reference files (for example `agents/openai.yaml` and `references/commands.md`).

It sits in Backend & APIs, covering File uploads and storage and Physical and earth sciences. It works with Python and Amazon Web Services. The repository describes itself as: Manage, search, and download Earth Observation data with Φ-down from Copernicus missions with ease and efficiency. The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

A user asks to find Sentinel products
Query by AOI/date/product type
Run burst coverage analysis
Download by product name

Example prompts

“/phidown”

Requirements

Python 3

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

Confirm execution context
Choose operation mode
Handle credentials safely
Execute with minimal, reproducible commands
Verify outcome

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 7ca3bec. 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
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- python
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

Phidown loads about 1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~1.5k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 103 tokens; SKILL.md has 358 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~103
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them: ~1.5k

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 ESA-PhiLab/phidown at commit 7ca3bec, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© ESA-PhiLab). 358 words, ~1,008 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/phidown/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: phidown
description: Search, filter, download, and analyze Copernicus Data Space products with the phidown project. Use this skill when a user asks to find Sentinel products, query by AOI/date/product type, run burst coverage analysis, download by product name or S3 path, configure credentials (.s5cfg), troubleshoot phidown CLI/Python workflows, or prepare reproducible data-acquisition commands in the phidown repository.

Phidown

Overview

Use this skill to run reliable search and download workflows with the phidown repository. Prefer deterministic commands, validate inputs early, and return reproducible download/search steps.

Workflow

1. Confirm execution context

Work from the phidown repo root.
Check tooling before running downloads:

bash

python --version
which s5cmd
python -m pip show phidown

If s5cmd is missing, stop and report the blocker.

2. Choose operation mode

Use CLI download by product name when the exact product name is known.
Use CLI download by S3 path when catalog lookup is unnecessary.
Use CLI list subcommand (phidown list ...) when the user needs quick AOI/date product discovery.
Use CLI burst coverage mode for Sentinel-1 burst optimization over AOI/date.
Use Python CopernicusDataSearcher for advanced filtering, custom analysis, or notebook workflows.

3. Handle credentials safely

Use .s5cfg for S3 downloads (CLI path).
If missing, explain that phidown prompts for access key and secret key on first download or --reset.
Never print secrets in output.

4. Execute with minimal, reproducible commands

Download by name:

bash

phidown --name "<PRODUCT_NAME>" -o "<OUTPUT_DIR>"

Download by S3 path:

bash

phidown --s3path "/eodata/..." -o "<OUTPUT_DIR>"

List products over AOI/date:

bash

phidown list --collection "SENTINEL-1" --product-type "GRD" --bbox -5 40 5 45 --start-date "2024-01-01T00:00:00" --end-date "2024-01-31T23:59:59" --format "table"

Burst coverage analysis over AOI/date:

bash

phidown --burst-coverage --bbox -5 40 5 45 --start-date "2024-08-02T00:00:00" --end-date "2024-08-15T23:59:59" --polarisation "VV" --format "json" --save "<OUTPUT_FILE>"

Search first, then inspect top rows:

python

from phidown.search import CopernicusDataSearcher

searcher = CopernicusDataSearcher()
searcher.query_by_filter(
    collection_name="SENTINEL-1",
    product_type="SLC",
    aoi_wkt="POLYGON((...))",
    start_date="2025-01-01T00:00:00",
    end_date="2025-01-31T23:59:59",
    top=100,
)
df = searcher.execute_query()
print(len(df))
print(df[["Name", "S3Path"]].head(5))

5. Verify outcome

Confirm command exit status.
For downloads, confirm expected files exist under output directory.
For list/analysis with --save, confirm output file exists and is non-empty.
Report what was downloaded/listed/analyzed (or why no product matched).

Show full SKILL.md (145 more words)Show less

Guardrails

Keep paths absolute when scripting automation.
Validate S3 path starts with /eodata/ before invoking download.
Validate AOI WKT is polygon and date strings are ISO 8601 when building search queries.
Prefer phidown list ... over phidown --list ... in new examples and user guidance.
For --burst-coverage, require both --start-date and --end-date.
Burst availability depends on the CDSE catalogue and may vary by acquisition date, area, platform, and acquisition mode. Please verify availability for the requested query.
Prefer targeted tests over full suite when network-heavy tests are present.

Troubleshooting

For empty search results, relax filters one at a time: AOI -> date range -> product type -> attributes.
For empty burst results, verify the requested query against the CDSE catalogue, then relax orbit/subswath filters.
For auth failures, refresh .s5cfg using --reset.
For download instability, retry with reduced scope (--no-download-all for S3 path mode).

References

For ready-to-run command patterns, read references/commands.md.

Files

SKILL.md and 2 other files (references) in skills/phidown of ESA-PhiLab/phidown.

SKILL.md
agents/openai.yaml
references/commands.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7ca3bec

Compare with similar skills

Phidown 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.

Phidown compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Phidown this skillESA-PhiLab/phidown	105	—	~1k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	1 mo ago
AWS SDK Python Usageaws/agent-toolkit-for-aws	2.8k	1 repos	~2.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	yesterday
Authoring Mwaa Workflowaws/agent-toolkit-for-aws	2.8k	—	~2.8k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	yesterday
AWS Serverless Edazxkane/aws-skills	367	4 repos	~3.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	3 mo ago
FoundatioFoundatioFx/Foundatio	2.1k	—	~3.9k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	2 days ago
Fftiers Opsborisachen/fftiers	202	—	~1.8k	Automated safety check: Warn	None	1 mo ago

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Works with

Questions about Phidown

What does Phidown do?

Search, filter, download, and analyze Copernicus Data Space products with the phidown project. Phidown is an agent skill from ESA-PhiLab/phidown. Search, filter, download, and analyze Copernicus Data Space products with the phidown project.

When should I use Phidown?

Phidown fits situations like: A user asks to find Sentinel products; query by AOI/date/product type; run burst coverage analysis; download by product name.

How do I install Phidown in Claude Code?

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

How do I install Phidown in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ESA-PhiLab/phidown --skill phidown -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/phidown in ESA-PhiLab/phidown) into .agents/skills/phidown in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Phidown 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 ESA-PhiLab/phidown --skill phidown -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/phidown, .gemini/skills/phidown, .github/skills/phidown and .opencode/skills/phidown in your project.

What does Phidown need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Phidown needs the command-line tools its instructions call (python). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Phidown 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 Phidown 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 Phidown use?

Phidown is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Phidown use?

About 1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 477 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Phidown?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Phidown: AWS SDK Python Usage (aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws, 2.8k stars), Authoring Mwaa Workflow (aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws, 2.8k stars), AWS Serverless Eda (zxkane/aws-skills, 367 stars) and Foundatio (FoundatioFx/Foundatio, 2.1k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Phidown?

ESA-PhiLab (a GitHub organization) maintains it in ESA-PhiLab/phidown, which has 105 GitHub stars. The repository was last updated on September 2, 2026.

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

Install Phidown

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Phidown

Overview

Workflow

1. Confirm execution context

2. Choose operation mode

3. Handle credentials safely

4. Execute with minimal, reproducible commands

5. Verify outcome

Guardrails

Troubleshooting

References

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

AWS SDK Python Usage

Authoring Mwaa Workflow

AWS Serverless Eda

Foundatio

Fftiers Ops

Processing S3 Uploads With Step Functions

Related

Questions about Phidown