Agent skill

Finding Skills

by oaustegard in oaustegard/claude-skills

Discover and load skills on demand from /mnt/skills/user/. An agent skill from oaustegard/claude-skills.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Finding Skills

skills CLI
$ npx skills add oaustegard/claude-skills --skill finding-skills -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install oaustegard/claude-skills finding-skills --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/oaustegard/claude-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/finding-skills .claude/skills/finding-skills && 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
finding-skills
GitHub stars
150
Token cost
~561 tokens
SKILL.md length
214 words
Files
3 (incl. scripts)
Skills in repo
67
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Discover and load skills on demand from /mnt/skills/user/. An agent skill from oaustegard/claude-skills.

  • Works in 3 steps: search "" — get 3–10 ranked candidates → show — read its SKILL.md → Follow the SKILL.md's instructions…
  • You need a capability but dont know which skill provides it
  • SKILL.md covers Usage, When to reach for this, Pattern and Ranking, plus 1 more section
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls python3

What it does

Finding Skills is an agent skill from oaustegard/claude-skills. Discover and load skills on demand from /mnt/skills/user/. Use when you need a capability but don't know which skill provides it, when the boot-emitted skill list is names-only and you need a full description, or when you want to list the catalog. Verbs are list (names only), search (rank by name/description match against a query), and show (emit the full SKILL.md for a named skill).

Its SKILL.md is about 560 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 3 other files, including scripts (for example `CHANGELOG.md` and `scripts/skills.py`).

The repository describes itself as: My collection of Claude skills. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • You need a capability but dont know which skill provides it
  • The boot-emitted skill list is names-only and you need a full description
  • You want to list the catalog

Example prompts

  • “/finding-skills”

Requirements

  • Python 3

Workflow steps

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

  1. search "" — get 3–10 ranked candidates
  2. show — read its SKILL.md
  3. Follow the SKILL.md's instructions (which may point at scripts/, references/, etc.)

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 90b0f1b. 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 1 file in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • python3

    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

Finding Skills loads about 561 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 100 tokens; SKILL.md has 214 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~100
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~561

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); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from oaustegard/claude-skills at commit 90b0f1b, republished under its MIT licence (© oaustegard). 214 words, ~561 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/finding-skills/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
finding-skills
description
Discover and load skills on demand from /mnt/skills/user/. Use when you need a capability but don't know which skill provides it, when the boot-emitted skill list is names-only and you need a full description, or when you want to list the catalog. Verbs are list (names only), search (rank by name/description match against a query), and show (emit the full SKILL.md for a named skill).
metadata.version
0.1.0

Finding Skills

Skills on disk at /mnt/skills/user/ are a catalog — too expensive to preload as descriptions in every session's context. This skill is the on-demand accessor, analogous to Anthropic's ToolSearch for MCP tools.

Usage

bash
PY=/home/user/.spokes/claude-skills/finding-skills/scripts/skills.py

# List every skill by name (cheap, ~1.4KB)
python3 "$PY" list

# Search by keyword — ranks name matches above description matches
python3 "$PY" search "adversarial review"

# Load the full SKILL.md of a specific skill
python3 "$PY" show challenging

In a live CCotw session the script lives at /mnt/skills/user/finding-skills/scripts/skills.py.

When to reach for this

  • You have a task where a skill might help but no obvious name comes to mind → search <keywords>
  • The boot emitted names-only and you want the description of a candidate → show <name>
  • You want catalog breadth before picking an approach → list

Pattern

  1. search "<what you want to do>" — get 3–10 ranked candidates
  2. show <top-pick> — read its SKILL.md
  3. Follow the SKILL.md's instructions (which may point at scripts/, references/, etc.)

Stop at step 1 if none of the candidates fit — don't shoehorn an unrelated skill onto the task.

Ranking

  • Exact match on skill name: 100
  • Substring match on skill name: 10
  • Substring match in description: 1 per match (multiple hits compound)

Case-insensitive throughout. Results sorted high-to-low, ties broken by name.

Output format

  • list: one skill name per line
  • search: tab-separated <name>\t<description (truncated to 200 chars)>, one per line
  • show: raw SKILL.md contents to stdout; exit 1 with a stderr message if not found

All three are line-oriented so they compose with grep, head, etc.

© oaustegard, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 2 other files (scripts) in finding-skills of oaustegard/claude-skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • CHANGELOG.md
  • scripts/skills.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 90b0f1b

Compare with similar skills

Finding Skills 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.

Finding Skills compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Finding Skills this skilloaustegard/claude-skills150—~561Automated safety check: PassMIT
Find Releaseflutter/flutter179k—~545Automated safety check: PassBSD-3-Clause
Discover Pluginsruvnet/ruflo74k—~2kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Fd Findpenpot/penpot61k—~882Automated safety check: PassMPL-2.0
Aas Discoversickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k1 repos~523Automated safety check: PassMIT
Find Skillssanity-io/sanity6.4k67 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Questions about Finding Skills

What does Finding Skills do?

Discover and load skills on demand from /mnt/skills/user/. An agent skill from oaustegard/claude-skills. Finding Skills is an agent skill from oaustegard/claude-skills. Discover and load skills on demand from /mnt/skills/user/.

When should I use Finding Skills?

Finding Skills fits situations like: you need a capability but dont know which skill provides it; the boot-emitted skill list is names-only and you need a full description; you want to list the catalog.

How do I install Finding Skills in Claude Code?

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

How do I install Finding Skills in Codex?

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

Can I use Finding Skills 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 oaustegard/claude-skills --skill finding-skills -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/finding-skills, .gemini/skills/finding-skills, .github/skills/finding-skills and .opencode/skills/finding-skills in your project.

What does Finding Skills need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Finding Skills needs Python for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (python3). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Finding Skills 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 Finding Skills 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. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Finding Skills use?

Finding Skills 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 Finding Skills use?

About 561 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.2k 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 Finding Skills?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Finding Skills: Find Release (flutter/flutter, 179k stars), Discover Plugins (ruvnet/ruflo, 74k stars), Fd Find (penpot/penpot, 61k stars) and Aas Discover (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 Finding Skills?

oaustegard (a GitHub user) maintains it in oaustegard/claude-skills, which has 150 GitHub stars. The repository holds 67 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

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