How to install a skill in Gemini CLI

Run it in a terminal with Node.js 18 or newer; Gemini CLI itself needs Node 20, so you already qualify. The --agent gemini-cli flag directs the install into Gemini's folder; -y accepts the defaults. Copy the owner, repository and skill name from the skill's page on this site.

The agent id is gemini-cli with a hyphen. --agent gemini is not recognised and the CLI falls back to the interactive picker.

npx skills add anthropics/skills@frontend-design --agent gemini-cli -y

With -g the skill is written to ~/.gemini/skills/<name>/ and is available in every directory. Without it, the skill goes to .agents/skills/<name>/ in the current repository, where it can be committed for the team. Gemini CLI also reads .gemini/skills/ inside a project, which is the place to put a skill you copy by hand.

Project skills win over global ones with the same name, which lets a repository override a personal default. Keep the split simple: reviewers and formatting rules global, framework-specific skills in the project.

npx skills add anthropics/skills@frontend-design --agent gemini-cli -g -y

# Global:  ~/.gemini/skills/frontend-design/SKILL.md
# Project: .agents/skills/frontend-design/SKILL.md

Inside a gemini session, type /skills list to see every discovered skill with its description and whether it is enabled. After installing while a session is open, run /skills reload to rescan the folders without restarting. If /skills is not recognised, update Gemini CLI with npm install -g @google/gemini-cli@latest; early 2026 releases kept skills behind an experimental setting and the command did not exist.

/skills disable <name> turns a skill off without deleting it, and /skills enable <name> turns it back on. This is the easiest way to test whether a skill is helping: disable it, repeat the same request, compare.

gemini
/skills list
/skills reload

Gemini CLI reads each installed skill's name and description at session start and activates the full SKILL.md when a request matches. To make sure a particular skill is used, name it in the request: "use the frontend-design skill and build the settings page". There is no slash or dollar syntax for skills; the name in plain text is enough.

GEMINI.md is different: it is read on every turn as standing context. Put short, always-true rules there and long procedures in skills, so the procedure only costs tokens when it is needed.

npx skills update refreshes everything the CLI installed. To remove a skill, delete its folder from ~/.gemini/skills/ or the project's .agents/skills/ and run /skills reload or start a new session.

npx skills update

Not in /skills list. Run /skills reload first. If it is still missing, check that SKILL.md sits at the top of the skill folder (not one level deeper) and that its frontmatter has name and description. Gemini CLI ignores folders whose frontmatter does not parse.

Installed to the wrong folder. Without --agent gemini-cli the CLI may write only to ~/.agents/skills/ or another agent's folder. Reinstall with the flag or move the folder into ~/.gemini/skills/.

Listed but never activates. The match is between your words and the description. Read the description on the skill page and reuse its phrasing, or name the skill in the request. Skills whose description is blank in our index will only work when named.

Skills with scripts. Gemini CLI asks before running shell commands unless you have approved them; a skill whose scripts need Python or npm packages will stall at that prompt. Read the scripts folder on the skill page before installing, and install the prerequisites yourself.

Windows: use PowerShell or Git Bash with Node.js on the PATH. If a global install fails with a symlink permission error, enable Developer Mode in Windows Settings or run the command once from an administrator terminal.