Install

AgentSkills CLI is a .NET tool targeting .NET 8 LTS and .NET 10. Pick whichever invocation style fits the moment.

Option A: global tool (recommended for daily use)

Install once, type agentskills-cli from anywhere.

dotnet tool install --global agentskills-cli
agentskills-cli --help

Update or uninstall:

dotnet tool update --global agentskills-cli
dotnet tool uninstall --global agentskills-cli

Option B: one-shot via dnx (CI / no-install scenarios)

No install step required. dnx is the .NET 10 SDK's equivalent of npx - it downloads the tool on first use, caches it, and runs it.

dnx agentskills-cli -- --help
dnx agentskills-cli -- add ./my-skill -a claude-code

The -- separator passes args after it through to the tool (not to dnx).

Best when you want to try the tool once, run it in CI without polluting the global tool space, or pin to a specific version (dnx agentskills-cli@0.2.0 -- add ...). For interactive daily use, prefer Option A - it's much less typing.

Requirements

• .NET 8 LTS or .NET 10 runtime for the global-tool path. The package is multi-targeted; dotnet tool install picks the right build automatically.
• dnx agentskills-cli requires .NET 10 specifically - dnx itself ships only with the .NET 10 SDK. On .NET 8 use the global-tool path.
• git on PATH when installing from git URLs (GitHub, GitLab, arbitrary git). Local and NuGet/npm sources don't need git.
• Building from source requires the .NET 10 SDK (it can build both target frameworks; the .NET 8 SDK cannot build the net10 output).

Shortcuts

Typing agentskills-cli add ./my-skill (or worse, dnx agentskills-cli -- add ./my-skill) gets old fast. Three alias patterns to pick from depending on which install path you use.

Pattern 1: alias the installed tool (most common)

If you're using the global tool (Option A), this is all you need:

bash / zsh

# ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias as=agentskills-cli

fish

# ~/.config/fish/config.fish
alias as agentskills-cli

PowerShell

# $PROFILE
Set-Alias -Name as -Value agentskills-cli

Then as add ./my-skill -y, as list, etc.

Pattern 2: alias the dnx invocation (no global install)

If you don't want a global install (CI sandboxes, ephemeral environments), alias the full dnx ceremony as a one-word shortcut:

bash / zsh

# ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias as='dnx agentskills-cli --'

fish

# ~/.config/fish/config.fish
alias as 'dnx agentskills-cli --'

PowerShell

# $PROFILE
function as { & dnx agentskills-cli -- @args }

Then as add ./my-skill -y runs the full dnx agentskills-cli -- add ./my-skill -y command behind the scenes.

Pattern 3: auto-detect (works in both modes)

If you switch between machines (some have the global install, some don't), use a shell function that detects which path is available and falls back to dnx transparently:

bash / zsh

# ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
as() {
  if command -v agentskills-cli >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    agentskills-cli "$@"
  else
    dnx agentskills-cli -- "$@"
  fi
}

fish

# ~/.config/fish/config.fish
function as
  if type -q agentskills-cli
    agentskills-cli $argv
  else
    dnx agentskills-cli -- $argv
  end
end

PowerShell

# $PROFILE
function as {
  if (Get-Command agentskills-cli -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
    & agentskills-cli @args
  } else {
    & dnx agentskills-cli -- @args
  }
}

as add ./my-skill -y works whether you've installed the tool globally or are on a fresh .NET 10 runner with only dnx available - same six characters either way.

Verify

After installing, confirm the version and that all commands are wired up:

agentskills-cli --help

You should see six commands: add, list, remove, init, find, update.

Next: Concepts →