---
title: "A --skill convention for distributing agent capabilities"
date: 2026-01-12
canonical: https://solmaz.io/x/2010508760066761071/
x_url: https://x.com/onusoz/status/2010508760066761071
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

I propose a new way to distribute agent skills: like --help, a new CLI flag convention --skill should let agents list and install skills bundled with CLI tools

Skills are just folders so calling --skill export my-skill on a tool could just output a tarball of the skill. I then set up the skillflag npm package so that you can pipe that into:

... | npx skillflag install --agent codex

which installs the skill into codex, or any CLI tool you prefer. Supports listing skills bundled with the CLI, so your agents know exactly what to install