Updated 2026-10-17 · Star counts from the GitHub API
Best agent skills libraries (Oct 2026), and how to install a skill in Claude Code
To install a skill in Claude Code, put its folder with a SKILL.md file in ~/.claude/skills/ or your project's .claude/skills/, or add a plugin marketplace such as anthropics/skills and run /plugin install. Below are the best skills libraries and directories, with install commands, licenses and GitHub stars.
How do you install a skill in Claude Code?
A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file. Anthropic's docs say custom skills in Claude Code are filesystem-based and need no upload: put the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for all your projects or .claude/skills/ inside a repo to share it with your team. Claude loads a skill when your request matches its description, or you can run it with /skill-name. To install Anthropic's own examples, run /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills in Claude Code, then /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills or example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills. The pre-built document skills on the Claude API are not available in Claude Code. Anthropic advises using skills only from trusted sources and auditing any others first.
Step by step
- By hand: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name> (personal) or .claude/skills/<skill-name> (project).
- Save the skill's SKILL.md there: YAML frontmatter between --- markers with a description of what it does and when to use it, then the instructions.
- Start Claude Code with claude, then ask something that matches the description, or type /<skill-name>.
- From anthropics/skills: /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills, then /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills (or example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills), or pick Browse and install plugins > anthropic-agent-skills.
- Read the SKILL.md and any scripts before installing a third-party skill; skills run with your agent's permissions.
Sources: Claude Platform docs: Agent Skills overview ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 · Claude Code docs: Extend Claude with skills ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 · github.com/anthropics/skills (README) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
Which agent skills libraries are worth installing?
| Library | Best for | GitHub stars | Install | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superpowers (obra) | Skills framework + methodology | 301,375 stars as of 2026-10-18 | /plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-official | MIT |
| Skills for Real Engineers (Matt Pocock) | Engineering skills | 295,539 stars as of 2026-10-18 | claude plugin install mattpocock-skills@claude-plugins-official | MIT |
| Agent Skills (Addy Osmani) | Engineering skills | 107,985 stars as of 2026-10-18 | npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills | MIT |
| Scientific Agent Skills (K-Dense) | Science skills library | 52,518 stars as of 2026-10-18 | npx skills add K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills | MIT |
| Claude Code Plugins Directory (Anthropic) | Official plugin directory | 42,207 stars as of 2026-10-18 | /plugin install {plugin-name}@claude-plugins-official | Apache-2.0 |
| Context Mode (mksglu) | Context optimization plugin | 30,585 stars as of 2026-10-18 | /plugin marketplace add mksglu/context-mode | Elastic License 2.0 |
Star counts come from the free GitHub REST API (stargazers_count) on the date shown; deploy/github-stars.py refreshes them. Growth figures are third-party tracker numbers, shown with the tracker and date. Install steps and licenses are taken from each repo's README and LICENSE.
Where can you browse more agent skills?
Start with Anthropic's own sources, then use community lists. Anthropic's Agent Skills docs explain how skills work across the Claude API, claude.ai and Claude Code, and the anthropics/skills repository holds its example and document skills (181,953 GitHub stars as of Oct 18, 2026, 2:35 PM ET). VoltAgent's awesome-agent-skills calls itself a curated collection of 1000+ skills for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Cursor (35,948 GitHub stars as of Oct 18, 2026, 2:35 PM ET, MIT). mcpservers.org runs a Claude Skills library next to its MCP server list, with official skills grouped by publisher. Skills Directory (skillsdirectory.com) says every listed skill has completed automated security analysis. A different site, skillsdirectory.app, sorts skills by task and shows install counts. Descriptions are each site's own.
Descriptions below come from each site's own page; each link shows when it was last checked.
| Directory | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic Agent Skills docs ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | Anthropic's docs: what skills are, where they run (Claude API, claude.ai, Claude Code), the SKILL.md format and security guidance. | The official reference |
| Anthropic's Claude Code plugin marketplaces ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | Claude Code docs page listing Anthropic's official, community and demo plugin marketplaces, their repositories, how to add each and where to browse their plugins. | Official, vetted Claude Code plugins and skills |
| anthropics/skills (GitHub) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | Anthropic's public repository for Agent Skills, installable in Claude Code via /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills (marketplace anthropic-agent-skills), with document and example skills. Its README says the document skills (docx, pdf, pptx, xlsx) are source-available, not open source, and that the skills are for demonstration and educational purposes. 181,953 GitHub stars as of Oct 18, 2026, 2:35 PM ET | Anthropic's reference skills, such as document skills |
| VoltAgent/awesome-agent-skills (GitHub) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | A curated collection of 1000+ agent skills from official dev teams and the community, compatible with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor and more, with skill paths per tool. 35,948 GitHub stars as of Oct 18, 2026, 2:35 PM ET; MIT | One big list across many coding agents |
| Skills Directory (skillsdirectory.com) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | A directory of agent skills for Claude that says every listed skill has completed automated security analysis, scanning for prompt injection, credential theft and data exfiltration; install from the terminal with npx -y skills find. A different site from skillsdirectory.app. | Security-scanned skills |
| Agent Skills (agent-skills.cc) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | A curated marketplace of 1,000+ practical skills selected from 63,000+ GitHub skills, filterable by newest, hot or installs; works with Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT and Cursor. | Browsing popular skills by installs |
| Skills Directory (skillsdirectory.app) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | Search open-source skills for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and other coding agents by task, with install counts, GitHub stars, one-line installs and plain-language summaries, updated daily. | Finding a skill by what you want done |
| TrustedSkills ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | An index of AI agent skills that shows who publishes each skill and gives the install command for OpenClaw, MCP, Claude, OpenAI, Cursor or VS Code. | Checking a skill's publisher before installing |
| mcpservers.org Agent Skills ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | A Claude Skills (Agent Skills) library from Awesome MCP Servers with curated official and community skills for coding, design, research and more, with official skills grouped by publisher (Anthropic, OpenAI, GitHub, Microsoft and others). | Skills alongside an MCP server directory |
| OpenCode Agent Skills docs ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | OpenCode's docs for loading SKILL.md skills from a repo (.opencode/skills/<name>/SKILL.md) or home directory, loaded on demand by its skill tool. | Using skills outside Claude Code |
| DeepLearning.AI: Agent Skills with Anthropic ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | A short course on equipping agents with on-demand skills for coding, research and data analysis workflows. | Learning to build your own skills |
| skills.sh ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | The Agent Skills Directory: discover and install skills for AI agents. | Installing skills from one directory |
| ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills (GitHub) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18 | A curated list of Claude Skills, resources and tools for customizing Claude workflows. | A curated Claude Skills reading list |
Where does Claude Code look for skills?
| Scope | Path | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md | All your projects on this machine |
| Project | .claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md | Sessions in this repository; commit it to share with your team |
| Enterprise | .claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md in the managed settings directory | All users on machines where your organization deploys it |
Source: Claude Code docs: Extend Claude with skills (checked 2026-10-17).
What are the best scientific agent skills?
Science skills are drawing attention: K-Dense's library gained 1,158 GitHub stars on 2026-10-17, according to GitStock's daily trending list. It is the largest science-focused library we track, which packages database lookups, analysis packages and lab integrations as skills that any Agent Skills host can load.
Scientific Agent Skills (K-Dense) · Science skills library
github.com/K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills · 52,518 stars as of 2026-10-18 · +1,158 stars today (GitStock daily trending, 2026-10-17) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
177 skills that turn a coding agent into a research assistant: lookups across 100+ scientific and financial databases (PubChem, ChEMBL, UniProt, ClinicalTrials.gov, FRED and more), version-aware workflows for 70+ Python packages (RDKit, Scanpy, BioPython, Qiskit, pymatgen, OpenMM), lab-platform integrations (Benchling, DNAnexus, Opentrons) and literature review, writing and grant tools. Formerly Claude Scientific Skills.
Claim: The project says it is used by 250,000+ scientists worldwide (the project's own claim, from its GitHub description; not independently verified).
Who it's for: Researchers and scientists in biology, chemistry, medicine, drug discovery and related fields who use Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI or another Agent Skills host.
License: MIT
Install or use (from the README):
npx skills add K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills
gh skill install K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skillsThe README also documents installing as an Agent Plugin in Cursor or Codex. Skills need Python 3.13+ tooling and uv; installing the skill files does not install each skill's scientific dependencies.
Pair science skills with data tools: browse search and data tools for agents in our directory.
What does each Claude Code skills library do?
Superpowers (obra) · Skills framework + methodology
github.com/obra/superpowers · 301,375 stars as of 2026-10-18
A complete software development methodology built from composable skills: the agent first draws out a spec, gets your sign-off on the design, writes an implementation plan, then runs subagent-driven development that reviews each task. Skills trigger automatically.
Who it's for: Developers using coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI, OpenCode and more) who want a structured spec-plan-build workflow.
License: MIT
Install or use (from the README):
/plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-officialThat is the Claude Code command. In Cursor, run /add-plugin superpowers in Agent chat; the README lists steps for more than a dozen other agents. Optional telemetry on the visual companion can be turned off with SUPERPOWERS_DISABLE_TELEMETRY.
Skills for Real Engineers (Matt Pocock) · Engineering skills
github.com/mattpocock/skills · 295,539 stars as of 2026-10-18 · +11,937 stars this week (GitStock weekly trending, 2026-10-17; whatstrending.ai) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
Matt Pocock's everyday agent skills for engineering work, kept small, composable and model-agnostic, covering things like triage, planning and keeping agent output concise. A one-time setup command configures your issue tracker, labels and docs location per repo.
Who it's for: Software engineers who want lightweight skills they can adapt rather than a process framework.
License: MIT
Install or use (from the README):
claude plugin install mattpocock-skills@claude-plugins-official
codex plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skillsThen run /setup-matt-pocock-skills once per repo. The README also covers GitHub Copilot and a skills.sh install that copies editable files into your project; pick one method per agent.
Agent Skills (Addy Osmani) · Engineering skills
github.com/addyosmani/agent-skills · 107,985 stars as of 2026-10-18
25 production-grade engineering skills plus 9 slash commands mapped to the lifecycle (/spec, /plan, /build, /test, /review, /ship and others), encoding senior-engineer workflows and quality gates. Skills also activate automatically from context.
Who it's for: Engineering teams and individual developers who want their coding agent to follow consistent spec, test and review practices.
License: MIT
Install or use (from the README):
npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills
/plugin marketplace add addyosmani/agent-skillsThe skills CLI installs into 70+ agents; in Claude Code, follow the marketplace add with /plugin install agent-skills@addy-agent-skills. You can also install single skills with --skill.
Claude Code Plugins Directory (Anthropic) · Official plugin directory
github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official · 42,207 stars as of 2026-10-18
Anthropic's curated, Anthropic-managed directory of Claude Code plugins: internal plugins built by Anthropic and external plugins from partners and the community, including skill bundles. Several libraries on this page install through it.
Who it's for: Claude Code users looking for vetted plugins and skills in one place.
License: Apache-2.0 (repository); each plugin carries its own license
Install or use (from the README):
/plugin install {plugin-name}@claude-plugins-officialOr browse inside Claude Code with /plugin > Discover. Anthropic warns that it does not control what each plugin contains, so trust a plugin before installing it.
Context Mode (mksglu) · Context optimization plugin
github.com/mksglu/context-mode · 30,585 stars as of 2026-10-18
A plugin that saves context-window space for coding agents: it sandboxes tool output (the project says by about 98%), keeps session memory with a searchable knowledge base, and enforces routing through MCP and hooks across 17 platforms.
Who it's for: Heavy users of Claude Code, Cursor and other coding agents who hit context limits on long sessions.
License: Elastic License 2.0 (source-available, not OSI open source: no hosted/managed-service use)
Install or use (from the README):
/plugin marketplace add mksglu/context-mode
/plugin install context-mode@context-modeThose are the Claude Code commands; restart Claude Code afterwards. The README has per-platform steps, including a local-folder install for Cursor.
How do you install an agent skills library?
There are four common routes, and each library's README says which it supports. Copy the folder into ~/.claude/skills/ or .claude/skills/, as Anthropic's Claude Code docs describe. Add a plugin marketplace and install from it, for example /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills and then /plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills, or /plugin install name@claude-plugins-official from Anthropic's official directory. Use the cross-agent skills CLI, npx skills add owner/repo, which copies skills into Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more. Or use the GitHub CLI, gh skill install owner/repo. Skills can run scripts on your machine, so read one before installing it. How our own bot crew runs this site, from routines to approval gates, is in our $29 playbook.
Sources: Claude Code docs: skills · anthropics/skills README · Claude Code docs: Anthropic plugin marketplaces. New to the format? Read what agent skills are.
What else do people ask?
Are agent skills safe to install?
Only if you trust the source. Anthropic's docs advise using skills you wrote or got from Anthropic, because a malicious skill can make Claude run code or tools in ways it doesn't describe. Read the SKILL.md and any scripts before installing anything else.
Should I use skills or MCP servers?
Often both. A skill packages know-how, meaning instructions and scripts loaded on demand; an MCP server provides access, meaning a live connection to a system such as GitHub or a database.
Where can I find more agent skills?
Start with Anthropic's Agent Skills docs and the anthropics/skills repository. For more, try VoltAgent's awesome-agent-skills list, mcpservers.org's skills library, Skills Directory (skillsdirectory.com), skillsdirectory.app and skills.sh.
What is an agent skills library?
A collection of skills, each a folder with a SKILL.md file of instructions, scripts and references, that an AI coding agent loads when a task matches. Libraries bundle many skills so you can install a whole workflow, such as spec-plan-build or scientific database lookups, in one step.
How do I install Claude Code skills?
Put the skill's folder, with its SKILL.md, in ~/.claude/skills/ or your project's .claude/skills/, then ask for the task or type /skill-name. For packaged skills, add a marketplace such as anthropics/skills with /plugin marketplace add and install with /plugin install name@marketplace.
What are the best scientific agent skills?
K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills is the largest science-focused library we found: 177 skills covering 100+ scientific and financial databases, 70+ Python packages such as RDKit, Scanpy and Qiskit, and lab platforms such as Benchling and Opentrons. It is MIT licensed.
Do agent skills work outside Claude Code?
Often, yes. Skills follow the open Agent Skills standard, and the libraries here document installs for Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and others. Check each README, because install steps and plugin support differ by agent.
Are these skills libraries free and open source?
All six are free to use. Five are under permissive licenses (MIT, or Apache-2.0 for the Anthropic directory, whose plugins carry their own licenses). Context Mode uses the Elastic License 2.0, which is source-available and forbids offering it as a hosted service.
What should you read next on DartzDabz?
- browse the agent tool directory
- real agent setups you can copy
- submit a skills library
- get DartzDabz Daily (free)
Where do these numbers come from?
- Claude Platform docs: Agent Skills overview ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- Claude Code docs: Extend Claude with skills ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- Claude Code docs: Anthropic plugin marketplaces ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- github.com/anthropics/skills (README; stars via the GitHub API) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- github.com/VoltAgent/awesome-agent-skills (stars via the GitHub API) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- Skills Directory (skillsdirectory.com) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- Skills Directory (skillsdirectory.app) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- mcpservers.org Agent Skills ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- github.com/obra/superpowers (README, LICENSE; stars via the GitHub API on 2026-10-18) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- github.com/mattpocock/skills (README, LICENSE; stars via the GitHub API on 2026-10-18) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- github.com/addyosmani/agent-skills (README, LICENSE; stars via the GitHub API on 2026-10-18) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- github.com/K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills (README, LICENSE; stars via the GitHub API on 2026-10-18) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official (README, LICENSE; stars via the GitHub API on 2026-10-18) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- github.com/mksglu/context-mode (README, LICENSE; stars via the GitHub API on 2026-10-18) ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- GitStock weekly trending, 2026-10-17 ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- whatstrending.ai ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
- GitStock daily trending, 2026-10-17 ✓ link checked 2026-10-18
Related: what are agent skills?, best MCP servers, AI agent trends.
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