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Quickstart

Choose and install a skill. Check its catalog status and assistant support.
3 min read

Skills are Markdown instructions for a coding assistant. They describe when to apply a workflow, what steps to follow, and what output to produce. Installing a skill copies those instructions; it does not install the tools or libraries mentioned in them.

Start with installation to use an existing skill, or authoring to contribute one. The CLI reference documents the separate command-line implementation and its limitations.

Install your first skill#

With Bash, Git, curl, and access to GitHub available, install pdf for the catalog's gemini target:

The target is displayed as Antigravity CLI. The installer skips existing files; a successful file check confirms that instructions exist, not that the assistant has loaded them. Read the skill's prerequisites before asking the assistant to process a document. See installation for staging, folder skills, and troubleshooting.

Find a skill#

Browse the catalog. Search matches names, descriptions, and tags without case sensitivity. A category filter narrows the results. Sorting supports name in either direction, category, and the catalog's lastUpdated date. That date is maintained metadata, not a live Git timestamp.

Category IDScope
developmentCoding, testing, and development workflows
documentsPDF and office-document workflows
creativeArt, animation, and visual design
productivityTasks, automation, and workflows
businessStrategy, analysis, and communication

Before installing, read the instruction file and check its tool prerequisites. For example, a PDF skill supplies guidance; it does not provision a Python environment or PDF dependencies.

Catalog entries and downloadable files#

The website reads the skills array in apps/skills/src/data/skills.ts. Each record contains an ID, descriptive metadata, version, and optional skillFile URL. Instructions live separately under apps/skills/skills in either layout:

A catalog record without skillFile is not a downloadable skill through the website's standard per-skill command. The command helper returns an empty string rather than installing the entire collection. Conversely, the shell installer selects files directly from the repository, not from the web catalog.

Distribution pathWhat it readsWhat it installs
Shell installerapps/skills/skills from a fresh cloneA flat file or a complete skill directory; skips existing destinations
Website per-skill commandThe record's skillFile URLOne file saved as ~/.gemini/skills/<id>.md; can overwrite an existing file
newth-skills CLI sourceIts own bundled catalogOne flat Markdown file plus a local tracking record; may generate fallback text

The CLI catalog is a separate array in apps/skills/cli/src/utils/skills.ts. It is not imported from the website, so names, versions, and available downloads can differ. See CLI distribution caveats.

Assistant support#

The general assistant configuration has one ID: gemini, displayed as Antigravity CLI. Its install directory is ~/.gemini/skills. Keep using gemini in commands even though the displayed name differs.

The skill-creator catalog entry additionally supplies a Claude Code recipe that writes ~/.claude/skills/skill-creator/SKILL.md. This is a per-skill exception, not a claude target for the shell installer or CLI. The repository does not configure general installation targets for Codex, Cursor, or other assistants.

When a skill is missing#

  • Listed but no download: inspect the record's skillFile and the committed instruction file. Metadata alone does not provide a downloadable workflow.
  • Present on the website but absent from CLI search: the two catalogs are maintained separately; use the website and shell installer for files present in the repository.
  • Installed but not usable: verify the destination and instruction content, then check the assistant's discovery behavior and any tools required by that particular skill.

Sources#