Skills Guide

Sync Skills

VerifiedSafe

Automatically syncs configuration files (README, CLAUDE.md, settings.json, hal_dotfiles.json) with discovered skills.

Download and use
Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevOpsIntermediate
2/28/2026
Claude Code
#skill-management#metadata-sync#documentation#automation#repo-maintenance

Recommended for

Backend developerClaude CodeAuto documentationDevOps engineerGit automationProductivity

Automated summary

Syncs skill metadata (README.md, CLAUDE.md, settings.json, hal_dotfiles.json) from each SKILL.md frontmatter, then runs ./bin/hal sync.

Strengths

  • Updates four registry files in a single pass from one source of truth: the SKILL.md frontmatter.
  • Preserves existing entry order and appends new entries at the end.
  • Only adds skills flagged user-invocable: true to settings.json.
  • Rewrites each description into one short sentence instead of copying the frontmatter verbatim.

Limitations

  • Hard-coded to /usr/local/hal-9000; the skill aborts anywhere else.
  • Assumes ./bin/hal sync exists and works; no pre-check is described.
  • The ~10-word description rewriting is heuristic and needs human review.
When to use it

Use it after adding, renaming, or removing a skill, or changing its description, to realign every file that references it.

When not to use it

Don't use it outside the /usr/local/hal-9000 repo, or to edit a skill's actual content rather than its metadata.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score82/100

The skill is a repo-maintenance routine: it globs SKILL.md files, reads frontmatter, and rewrites markdown/JSON manifests. No network egress, no secret handling, no destructive commands, and shell access is pinned to a single subcommand (./bin/hal sync). The only notable surface is that it modifies its own settings.json and CLAUDE.md, but edits are constrained to Skill(...) allow-list entries and skill link definitions, so overall risk is low.

Findings
  • •Edits dotfiles/.claude/settings.json (permissions.allow) and CLAUDE.md, which can affect the agent's own configuration — changes are scoped to Skill(...) entries only
  • •Hardcoded path /usr/local/hal-9000 with an explicit abort guard outside that directory
  • •Bash usage is narrowly restricted to ./bin/hal sync:* and is not used for arbitrary commands
How this analysis is made

Examples

New skill added
I just created skills/pdf-tools/SKILL.md. Sync the skill registries so README, CLAUDE.md, settings.json and hal_dotfiles.json all pick it up.
Rename a skill
Rename the skill `lint-check` to `lint-runner` and update its description, then run sync-skills to fix every reference.
Remove a skill
I deleted the `old-scraper` skill folder — clean up all its entries across README.md, CLAUDE.md, settings.json and hal_dotfiles.json and re-run the sync.

name: sync-skills description: (hal-9000) Use when a skill in skills/ has its name or description changed, or is added or removed — syncs README.md, CLAUDE.md, settings.json, and hal_dotfiles.json context: fork user-invocable: true model: haiku allowed-tools:

  • Glob
  • Read
  • Edit
  • Bash(./bin/hal sync:*)

Instructions

IMPORTANT: Only use this skill in /usr/local/hal-9000. Otherwise, abort.

  1. Discover skills

    • Glob skills/*/SKILL.md in /usr/local/hal-9000 only
    • Extract name from each YAML frontmatter
    • Rewrite each description into one short sentence (~10 words max) saying what it does — no "Use when" triggers, no verbatim frontmatter copy

  2. Update README.md (the ### Agent Skills section)

    • Format: - [name](skills/name): description
    • Use the rewritten description from step 1
    • Add new skills, remove deleted skills, update changed descriptions
    • Preserve existing entry order; append new entries at end

  3. Update dotfiles/.claude/CLAUDE.md (the ## Skills section)

    • Format: - \name`: description`
    • Use the rewritten description from step 1
    • Add new skills, remove deleted skills, update changed descriptions
    • Preserve existing entry order; append new entries at end

  4. Update dotfiles/.claude/settings.json (the permissions.allow array)

    • Sync the Skill(...) entries to match discovered user-invocable skills
    • Only include skills with user-invocable: true in frontmatter
    • Format: "Skill(<name>)"
    • Add new skills, remove entries whose skill no longer exists
    • Preserve existing entry order; append new entries at end
    • Keep the entries in the same position block (between other tool entries)

  5. Update dotfiles/hal_dotfiles.json (the links array)

    • Format: {"dest": "{{HOME}}/.claude/skills/<name>/", "src": "{{REPO_ROOT}}/skills/<name>/"}
    • Add new skill dirs, remove entries whose "src" matches {{REPO_ROOT}}/skills/* but no longer has a matching skill
    • Preserve existing entry order; append new entries at end
    • Leave non-skill entries and copies array as-is

  6. Run ./bin/hal sync, then report what changed.

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/sync-skills-mm5t8be1/download' --output '.skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

No recognized prerequisites section in this file. This does not mean it is self-contained: libraries, tools and access requirements may be mentioned elsewhere in the content or source repository.

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/sync-skills' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1' '.claude/skills/sync-skills'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1'

openskills read 'sync-skills-mm5t8be1'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/sync-skills-mm5t8be1/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

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