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Official agent skill

Desk Open

by github in github/awesome-copilot

Create and open a new desk in the workshop. An agent skill from github/awesome-copilot.

OfficialMITAuto-check passedProductivity & Automation

Install Desk Open

skills CLI
$ npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill desk-open -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot desk-open --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/github/awesome-copilot.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/desk-open .claude/skills/desk-open && 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/

Facts

Skill name
desk-open
GitHub stars
40k
Token cost
~757 tokens
SKILL.md length
371 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
417
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Create and open a new desk in the workshop. An agent skill from github/awesome-copilot.

  • Works in 5 steps: Choose a name. Short, descriptive,… → Check if it already exists. If desks//… → Create the structure. Make the… → …
  • Tasks that involve File organization
  • SKILL.md covers When to use, What it creates, How to use and Session orientation, plus 2 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Desk Open is an agent skill from github/awesome-copilot, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Create and open a new desk in the workshop. Sets up the folder structure, initial journal, and desk identity so the next session that sits down finds the trail.

Its SKILL.md is about 760 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 Productivity & Automation, covering File organization. The repository describes itself as: Community-contributed instructions, agents, skills, and configurations to help you make the most of GitHub Copilot. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve File organization

Example prompts

  • “/desk-open”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Choose a name. Short, descriptive, kebab-case. The name is
  2. Check if it already exists. If desks// already
  3. Create the structure. Make the directory, initial journal,
  4. Write the first journal entry. The journal starts with
  5. Announce it. Tell the operator what was created and what

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 727ff2e. 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 markdown).

    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

Desk Open loads about 757 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 43 tokens; SKILL.md has 371 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~43
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~757

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 github/awesome-copilot at commit 727ff2e, republished under its MIT licence (© github). 371 words, ~757 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/desk-open/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
desk-open
description
Create and open a new desk in the workshop. Sets up the folder structure, initial journal, and desk identity so the next session that sits down finds the trail.

Open a Desk

Create a new desk in the workshop with the standard structure.

When to use

  • The operator wants to start a new workstream
  • Work arrives that doesn't belong to any existing desk
  • A topic needs its own frame (its own history, its own priors)

What it creates

Given a workshop directory and a desk name, create:

desks/<desk-name>/
  journal.md       # persistent memory — read at start, written at end
  .signals/        # structured signal output (JSON) — dashboard reads this

How to use

  1. Choose a name. Short, descriptive, kebab-case. The name is how the operator and other desks refer to this desk. Examples: security-scan, api-review, ops, cloud-workshop

  2. Check if it already exists. If desks/<desk-name>/ already has a journal.md, the desk is live — do not overwrite it. Instead, resume it: read the journal and continue from where it left off. If the operator explicitly wants a fresh start, they must rename or archive the existing desk first.

  3. Create the structure. Make the directory, initial journal, and signals folder:

    desks/<desk-name>/journal.md
desks/<desk-name>/.signals/

  4. Write the first journal entry. The journal starts with:

    • What this desk is for (its focus/purpose)
    • What repos or work it covers (if applicable)
    • Any initial context the first session needs

  5. Announce it. Tell the operator what was created and what the desk's focus is.

Show full SKILL.md (176 more words)Show less

Session orientation

This skill initializes storage — it does not launch a session. A desk becomes active when a Copilot session references its directory. The session workflow:

  1. The operator (or TA) starts a session and says "sit at the <desk-name> desk"
  2. The session reads desks/<desk-name>/journal.md to load priors
  3. Work happens — the session uses signal-write to emit signals and desk-journal to persist state at the end
  4. The next session repeats from step 2

The desk identity comes from which journal is read, not from a persistent process. Desks are long-running in state (the journal carries forward), not in runtime (each session is independent).

Journal format

markdown
# <Desk Name> — Journal

## <date> — Desk opened
- **Purpose:** <what this desk focuses on>
- **Scope:** <repos, areas, or work this desk covers>
- **Next step:** <what the first session should do>

Principles

  • A desk is a peer, not a sub-agent. It has equal standing to disagree with other desks.
  • The journal is the memory. Without it, the next session starts blind. Write enough that someone starting from zero finds the way.
  • One desk, one focus. If the scope is too broad, open two desks. Each desk's value comes from its specific frame — dilute the frame and you lose the value.

© github, MIT. 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/desk-open of github/awesome-copilot.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 727ff2e

Compare with similar skills

Desk Open 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.

Desk Open compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Desk Open this skillgithub/awesome-copilot40k—~757Automated safety check: PassMIT
Answer Me With HTMLQingYunA/answer-me-with-html1.9k—~4.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Feishu Driveraucvr/Group-Goki1123 repos~587Automated safety check: PassMIT
PikpakBengerthelorf/pikpaktui120—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Advanced File ManagementMassLab-SII/open-agent-skills133—~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
File Organizeralibaba/skill-up1.1k—~374Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Categories

Questions about Desk Open

What does Desk Open do?

Create and open a new desk in the workshop. An agent skill from github/awesome-copilot. Desk Open is an agent skill from github/awesome-copilot, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Create and open a new desk in the workshop.

When should I use Desk Open?

Desk Open fits situations like: tasks that involve File organization.

How do I install Desk Open in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill desk-open -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/desk-open in github/awesome-copilot) into .claude/skills/desk-open in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Desk Open in Codex?

Run `npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill desk-open -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/desk-open in github/awesome-copilot) into .agents/skills/desk-open in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Desk Open 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 github/awesome-copilot --skill desk-open -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/desk-open, .gemini/skills/desk-open, .github/skills/desk-open and .opencode/skills/desk-open in your project.

What does Desk Open need to run?

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

Does Desk Open 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 Desk Open 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 Desk Open use?

Desk Open is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Desk Open use?

About 757 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3k 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 Desk Open?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Desk Open: Answer Me With HTML (QingYunA/answer-me-with-html, 1.9k stars), Feishu Drive (raucvr/Group-Goki, 112 stars), Pikpak (Bengerthelorf/pikpaktui, 120 stars) and Advanced File Management (MassLab-SII/open-agent-skills, 133 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Desk Open?

github (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in github/awesome-copilot, which has 39,748 GitHub stars. The repository holds 417 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

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