Agent skill

Watcher

by vellum-ai in vellum-ai/vellum-assistant

Create and manage polling watchers that monitor external services (Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, Linear, Outlook) for events and process them with custom action prompts

MITAuto-check passedProductivity & Automation

Install Watcher

skills CLI

$ npx skills add vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill watcher -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI

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

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 vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill watcher -a codex

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install vellum-ai/vellum-assistant watcher --agent codex

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

Manual copy

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

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install vellum-ai/vellum-assistant watcher --agent cursor

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

Manual copy

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

--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 vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill watcher -a gemini-cli

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

GitHub CLI

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

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 vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill watcher -a github-copilot

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

Manual copy

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

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/vellum-ai/vellum-assistant.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/watcher .opencode/skills/watcher && 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 "watcher" agent skill from https://github.com/vellum-ai/vellum-assistant/tree/main/skills/watcher into .opencode/skills/watcher/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "watcher", 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: watcher
GitHub stars: 1.4k
Token cost: ~1.7k tokens
SKILL.md length: 509 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 108
Repo updated: Oct 9, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: MIT

At a glance

Create and manage polling watchers that monitor external services (Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, Linear, Outlook) for events and process them with custom action prompts

Works in 4 steps: Create a watcher with assistant watchers… → The system polls the provider at the… → Detected events are processed according… → …
Tasks that involve Email management
SKILL.md covers Concepts, Lifecycle, Available Commands and Available Providers, plus 1 more section
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Watcher is an agent skill from vellum-ai/vellum-assistant. Create and manage polling watchers that monitor external services (Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, Linear, Outlook) for events and process them with custom action prompts

Its SKILL.md is about 1.7k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts. Compatibility notes: Designed for Vellum personal assistants

It sits in Productivity & Automation, covering Email management. It works with Gmail, GitHub and Google Calendar. The repository describes itself as: An AI Assistant that’s easy to setup, does your work 24/7, knows your preferences and gets better over time. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

Tasks that involve Email management

Example prompts

“/watcher”

Requirements

Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Vellum personal assistants

Workflow steps

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

Create a watcher with assistant watchers create, specifying a name, provider, and action prompt.
The system polls the provider at the configured interval.
Detected events are processed according to the action prompt.
Use assistant watchers digest to review recent activity.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 844117a. 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.
Compatibility
Designed for Vellum personal assistants
From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Watcher loads about 1.7k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 45 tokens; SKILL.md has 509 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~45
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.7k

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 vellum-ai/vellum-assistant at commit 844117a, republished under its MIT licence (© vellum-ai). 509 words, ~1,744 tokens.

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

name: watcher
description: Create and manage polling watchers that monitor external services (Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, Linear, Outlook) for events and process them with custom action prompts
compatibility: Designed for Vellum personal assistants
metadata.emoji: 👀

Create and manage watchers that poll external services for events and process them with an action prompt.

Concepts

Provider - The external service to poll (e.g. "gmail"). Each provider defines how to fetch and parse events.
Action prompt - LLM instructions for handling detected events. Sent along with event data to a background conversation.
Poll interval - How often to check for new events (minimum 15 seconds, default 60 seconds).
Digest - Summary of recent watcher activity, grouped by watcher with time-based filtering.

Lifecycle

Create a watcher with assistant watchers create, specifying a name, provider, and action prompt.
The system polls the provider at the configured interval.
Detected events are processed according to the action prompt.
Use assistant watchers digest to review recent activity.

Available Commands

Create a watcher

assistant watchers create \
  --name <name> \
  --provider <provider> \
  --action-prompt <prompt> \
  [--poll-interval <ms>] \
  [--config <json>] \
  [--credential-service <service>]

Flag	Required	Description
`--name`	Yes	A human-readable name for this watcher (e.g. "My Gmail")
`--provider`	Yes	The provider to poll (see Available Providers below)
`--action-prompt`	Yes	Instructions for the LLM on how to handle detected events
`--poll-interval`	No	How often to poll in milliseconds. Defaults to 60000 (1 minute). Minimum 15000
`--config`	No	Provider-specific configuration as JSON (e.g. filter criteria)
`--credential-service`	No	Override the credential service to use. Defaults to the provider's required service

Example:

bash

assistant watchers create \
  --name "My Gmail" \
  --provider gmail \
  --action-prompt "Summarize new emails and notify me if anything is urgent"

List watchers

assistant watchers list [--id <watcherId>] [--enabled-only]

Flag	Required	Description
`--id`	No	Show detailed info for a specific watcher including recent events
`--enabled-only`	No	Only show enabled watchers

Example:

bash

# List all watchers
assistant watchers list

# Show details for a specific watcher
assistant watchers list --id abc123

Update a watcher

assistant watchers update <watcherId> \
  [--name <name>] \
  [--action-prompt <prompt>] \
  [--poll-interval <ms>] \
  [--enabled | --disabled] \
  [--config <json>]

Flag	Required	Description
`<watcherId>`	Yes	The ID of the watcher to update (positional argument)
`--name`	No	New name for the watcher
`--action-prompt`	No	New action prompt for event processing
`--poll-interval`	No	New poll interval in milliseconds (minimum 15000)
`--enabled`	No	Enable the watcher
`--disabled`	No	Disable the watcher
`--config`	No	New provider-specific configuration as JSON

Example:

bash

# Change the action prompt
assistant watchers update abc123 --action-prompt "Flag urgent emails and ignore newsletters"

# Disable a watcher temporarily
assistant watchers update abc123 --disabled

Delete a watcher

assistant watchers delete <watcherId>

Permanently deletes a watcher and all its event history.

Example:

bash

assistant watchers delete abc123

Show full SKILL.md (209 more words)Show less

View watcher digest

assistant watchers digest [--id <watcherId>] [--hours <n>] [--limit <n>]

Flag	Required	Description
`--id`	No	Filter to events from a specific watcher. If omitted, shows events from all watchers
`--hours`	No	How many hours back to look. Defaults to 24
`--limit`	No	Maximum number of events to return. Defaults to 50

Example:

bash

# See all watcher activity from the last 24 hours
assistant watchers digest

# See activity from a specific watcher over the last 8 hours
assistant watchers digest --id abc123 --hours 8

Available Providers

Provider	Description
`gmail`	Monitor a Gmail inbox for new emails
`google-calendar`	Monitor Google Calendar for new or updated events
`github`	Monitor GitHub for repository activity
`linear`	Monitor Linear for issue updates
`outlook`	Monitor an Outlook inbox for new emails
`outlook-calendar`	Monitor Outlook Calendar for new or updated events

Usage Notes

Use assistant watchers create when the user wants to monitor an external source (e.g. "watch my Gmail for important emails").
assistant watchers digest is the go-to command when the user asks "what happened with my email?" or similar questions about watcher activity.
Watchers can be enabled/disabled via assistant watchers update without deleting them -- use --disabled to pause and --enabled to resume.
Each provider requires appropriate credentials to be configured. The --credential-service flag can override the default credential service if needed.
Notify only when the action prompt's match criteria are met. Unmatched events stay quiet: do not send a notification whose only content is that nothing matched. Watcher ticks are not scheduled runs.

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/watcher of vellum-ai/vellum-assistant.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 844117a

Compare with similar skills

Watcher 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.

Watcher compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Watcher this skillvellum-ai/vellum-assistant	1.4k	—	~1.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Composio Cloud Toolsquarqlabs/argus	279	—	~543	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	4 mo ago
Connectorsautonomous-ai/Physical-AI-Operating-System	381	—	~10k	Automated safety check: Notes	Apache-2.0	today
Connect Apps with ComposioComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills	77k	3 repos	~557	Automated safety check: Pass	None	21 days ago
ClawdiClawdi-AI/clawdi	103	—	~4.8k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	today
ClawdiClawdi-AI/clawdi	103	—	~4k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	today

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Questions about Watcher

What does Watcher do?

Create and manage polling watchers that monitor external services (Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, Linear, Outlook) for events and process them with custom action prompts. Watcher is an agent skill from vellum-ai/vellum-assistant.

When should I use Watcher?

Watcher fits situations like: tasks that involve Email management.

How do I install Watcher in Claude Code?

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

How do I install Watcher in Codex?

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

Can I use Watcher 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 vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill watcher -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/watcher, .gemini/skills/watcher, .github/skills/watcher and .opencode/skills/watcher in your project.

What does Watcher need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Watcher is instructions for the agent only. Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Vellum personal assistants.

Does Watcher 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 Watcher 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 Watcher use?

Watcher 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 Watcher use?

About 1.7k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7k 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 Watcher?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Watcher: Composio Cloud Tools (quarqlabs/argus, 279 stars), Connectors (autonomous-ai/Physical-AI-Operating-System, 381 stars), Connect Apps with Composio (ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills, 77k stars) and Clawdi (Clawdi-AI/clawdi, 103 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Watcher?

vellum-ai (a GitHub organization) maintains it in vellum-ai/vellum-assistant, which has 1,400 GitHub stars. The repository holds 108 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

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

Install Watcher

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

Compatibility

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Concepts

Lifecycle

Available Commands

Create a watcher

List watchers

Update a watcher

Delete a watcher

View watcher digest

Available Providers

Usage Notes

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from vellum-ai/vellum-assistant

Related

Questions about Watcher