If you work on a team where different developers use different AI coding agents, you've probably hit this wall: the SKILL.md you carefully crafted for Claude Code does nothing for your teammate who lives in GitHub Copilot. The knowledge stays siloed.
That's exactly the problem the gh skill GitHub CLI extension is designed to solve. It lets you package SKILL.md-based skills and distribute them across multiple AI agents — so the standards and patterns you define actually reach the whole team, regardless of which tool each person prefers.
The Problem With Agent-Specific Skill Files
Claude Code's SKILL.md is genuinely useful. You can encode code review workflows, project-specific conventions, and implementation patterns that Claude will consistently follow. But it's a Claude Code artifact. GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Gemini CLI each have their own configuration conventions.
The result: teams end up maintaining parallel files for the same intent. One person keeps .cursorrules up to date, another writes Copilot instruction snippets, and the Claude Code users have SKILL.md. All describing the same thing, drifting apart slowly.
What gh skill Does
gh skill is a GitHub CLI extension that turns SKILL.md files into distributable packages. A skill package lives in a public GitHub repository, and any developer can install it with a single command. The extension handles translating the skill definitions into whatever format each target agent expects.
Supported agents as of 2026 include Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, and 30+ community-maintained agents like Aider, Continue, and Cline.
Getting Started
You'll need the GitHub CLI installed. Then:
# Install the gh skill extension
gh extension install github-actions/gh-skills
# Verify installation
gh skill --versionTo install a skill from a public repository:
# Install for all supported agents
gh skill install example-org/coding-skills
# Install for a specific agent only
gh skill install example-org/coding-skills --agent claude-code
gh skill install example-org/coding-skills --agent copilotStructuring Your SKILL.md for gh skill
Your existing SKILL.md content can mostly stay as-is. What you add is a skill.yaml metadata file that describes which agents receive which skill files, and optionally a version tag.
# skill.yaml
name: my-project-skills
version: 1.0.0
description: "Coding standards and workflows for the XYZ project"
agents:
- claude-code
- copilot
- cursor
skills:
- path: skills/code-review.md
agents: [claude-code, copilot, cursor]
- path: skills/deployment.md
agents: [claude-code] # Deployment steps only for Claude CodeThe referenced Markdown files follow the same SKILL.md conventions you already know. Each agent interprets the content according to its own capabilities — Claude Code handles the richest subset, while agents like Copilot parse more general instructions.
Publishing a Skill for Your Team
To share your skills with teammates or the broader community, organize your repository like this:
my-skills-repo/
├── skill.yaml
├── README.md
└── skills/
├── code-review.md
├── testing.md
└── deployment.md
Push to a public GitHub repository, and your team can install with:
gh skill install your-username/my-skills-repoTo stay in sync, teammates run:
gh skill update my-project-skillsFor version pinning — useful when you want to ensure a stable baseline before upgrading:
gh skill install your-username/my-skills-repo@v1.0.0What Actually Changes in Practice
The main shift is that "update the project standards" becomes one operation instead of four. When you refine how you want code reviews to work, you push to the skill repo, cut a new version, and teammates sync up. The intent stays unified across agents.
One practical caveat: interpretation fidelity varies by agent. Claude Code handles the most nuanced instructions — tool restrictions, hook definitions, multi-step workflows. GitHub Copilot reads the Markdown but applies it more loosely. When writing for cross-agent distribution, keep critical instructions in plain, direct language so they survive the translation to simpler agents.
Start With One Skill
You don't need a fully structured skill library to get started. Pick one workflow that matters to your team — code review guidelines, commit message conventions, testing patterns — and package it. Once the mechanics click, the rest follows naturally.
gh extension install github-actions/gh-skills
gh skill listFor deeper implementation patterns — versioning strategies, CI/CD integration, and agent-specific optimization — the premium article covers the full architecture.