Skills
A Cmdop Skill is a reusable instruction capability: you write down how to do something once, and any machine that has it installed can be asked to do it by name. Skills supply instructions; MCP servers supply tools. Browsing one in the marketplace is not the same as having it installed on a machine.
Skills and MCP servers solve different problems: a Skill supplies instructions; an MCP server supplies tools. Adding one never installs the other — see External MCP tools.
Use an installed Skill
cmdop skill list
cmdop skill show <name>
cmdop run <skill-name> "your request"cmdop run is the runtime verb: it runs an installed Skill by name. The
singular cmdop skill is the current spelling; cmdop skills still works as a
deprecated alias.
Install one
cmdop skill install <slug>
cmdop skill uninstall <name>Note the asymmetry, because it catches people out: you install by marketplace
slug and uninstall by the installed name. Use cmdop skill list to see
the names you actually have.
Four states that look alike
The single most common confusion with Skills is treating discovery as installation. These are four different things:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Discover | A public marketplace entry you can browse. Nothing is on your machine. |
| Found | Cmdop passively read a Skill’s metadata from another local app’s configuration. It has not executed it, trusted it, or taken ownership of it. |
| Installed | Cmdop owns a local record of the Skill on this machine. |
| Available at runtime | The runtime can actually use it. Instruction Skills are; executable ones wait on isolation. |
Only the last one means an agent can use it. See Marketplace and installed state.
Author and publish
Authoring is offline and static — create, check, and pack never reach the
network and never run your Skill’s code:
cmdop skill create release-check --description "Review release readiness"
cmdop skill check ./release-check --strict
cmdop skill pack ./release-checkPublishing happens in the browser, not on the command line — see Publish a Skill.
Where to go next
Create, validate, and pack a project.
Skill project formatWhat is in a project, and what validates it.
Publish a SkillFrom a packed artifact to a marketplace listing.
Marketplace and installed stateDiscovery versus installation.
Common questions
What is a Cmdop Skill?
A Cmdop Skill is a reusable instruction capability installed on a machine. It tells an agent how to do a repeatable job, such as release review or log triage, without adding new tools by itself.
Are Skills the same as MCP servers?
No. A Skill supplies instructions; an MCP server supplies tools. Installing one does not install or approve the other.
Does marketplace discovery mean a Skill is installed?
No. Discovery means a listing exists. A Skill becomes usable only when it is installed on the machine and available at runtime.
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