openskills MCP — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

Rust runtime — fast, predictable
TS and Python bindings for embedding into any agent
Progressive disclosure: metadata → body → scripts only when needed
Sandboxing via Seatbelt (macOS) and experimental WASM
Cross-agent: not tied to Claude Code

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

openskills-skill.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openskills-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Geeksfino/openskills",
        "~/.claude/skills/openskills"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openskills-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Geeksfino/openskills",
        "~/.claude/skills/openskills"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openskills-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Geeksfino/openskills",
        "~/.claude/skills/openskills"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openskills-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Geeksfino/openskills",
        "~/.claude/skills/openskills"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "openskills-skill",
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Geeksfino/openskills",
        "~/.claude/skills/openskills"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "openskills-skill": {
      "command": {
        "path": "git",
        "args": [
          "clone",
          "https://github.com/Geeksfino/openskills",
          "~/.claude/skills/openskills"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add openskills-skill -- git clone https://github.com/Geeksfino/openskills ~/.claude/skills/openskills

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use openskills

How to embed Agent Skills into your own agent runtime

👤 Engineers building custom LLM agents ⏱ ~120 min advanced

When to use: You're writing an agent from scratch and want a skill system that already understands SKILL.md.

Prerequisites

Rust toolchain (for building) or prebuilt binding — rustup install stable; or use the TS/Python binding
Repo cloned — git clone https://github.com/Geeksfino/openskills ~/.claude/skills/openskills

Flow

Install the binding

Install the openskills Python or TS binding and point it at my skills directory.✓ Copied

→ Runtime loaded; skills enumerated
Expose to your agent

Wire the runtime into my agent's planner so it considers skills at each step.✓ Copied

→ Agent has a SkillRegistry abstraction
Run sandboxed

Enable Seatbelt sandboxing for skill scripts on macOS.✓ Copied

→ Skill scripts run under sandbox profile

Outcome: Your custom agent can load and run SKILL.md bundles like Claude Code does.

Pitfalls

Loading all scripts at startup kills memory — Rely on progressive disclosure — metadata first
Sandbox denies legitimate operations — Audit the sandbox profile; narrow-then-widen rather than default-deny everything

Combine with: filesystem

Run a skill in isolation to test it outside Claude Code

👤 Skill authors who want cross-agent validation ⏱ ~45 min intermediate

When to use: You want to prove your skill works without the specific harness of Claude Code.

Flow

Load the skill

Load ~/.claude/skills/my-skill/ with openskills and print its metadata.✓ Copied

→ Parsed frontmatter + body
Invoke with a prompt

Feed it a sample task and observe what would get loaded.✓ Copied

→ Disclosure trace: what the agent would see

Outcome: Confidence your skill behaves portably.

Pitfalls

Skill depends on Claude Code internals — Refactor the skill to rely only on the public SKILL.md interface

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

openskills-skill + skill-optimizer-skill

Validate skills portably before optimizing them

Load the skill with openskills, then hand off to skill-optimizer for patch suggestions.✓ Copied

openskills-skill + filesystem

Operate on the skills directory directly

List all SKILL.md in ~/.claude/skills/, summarize each.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call	Cost
skill-loader	skills dir	Agent startup	minimal
progressive-disclosure	skill id + stage	During agent reasoning	minimal
sandbox-runner	script + policy	Any time a skill spawns a subprocess	script runtime

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: none
Tokens per call: runtime is prompt-light; you control what's disclosed
Monetary: free, open source
Tip: Keep progressive disclosure on — loading every script upfront blows context

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Credential storage: none at runtime level

Data egress: none beyond what scripts themselves do

WASM sandboxing is experimental — don't rely on it for adversarial scripts
Seatbelt profiles should be tightened per your use case

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Binding import fails

Ensure the native binary matches your platform; rebuild from source if needed.

Sandbox blocks expected syscalls

Iterate on the Seatbelt profile; log denials to find the right allow list.

Alternatives

openskills vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
Claude Code native skill loader	You're only running inside Claude Code	No cross-agent portability

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills