addyosmani__agent-skills/docs/copilot-cli-setup.md

Using agent-skills with GitHub Copilot CLI

The standalone copilot command-line tool installs this repository as a plugin and discovers every skill in skills/. For Copilot inside VS Code, see copilot-setup.md instead — the setup and the invocation model are different.

Install

From this repository's marketplace — register it, then install from it. addy-agent-skills is the marketplace name this repository declares, not a GitHub-wide registry, and the name only resolves after the marketplace add:

copilot plugin marketplace add addyosmani/agent-skills
copilot plugin install agent-skills@addy-agent-skills

Directly from the repository, without registering a marketplace:

copilot plugin install addyosmani/agent-skills

From a local clone, for a session-scoped development install:

git clone https://github.com/addyosmani/agent-skills.git
copilot --plugin-dir /path/to/agent-skills

--plugin-dir loads the plugin for that session only and installs nothing persistently — use it while editing skills.

Verify

copilot plugin list   # agent-skills@addy-agent-skills
copilot skill list    # the plugin's skills, alongside the built-in ones

In an interactive session, /skills list shows the same catalog.

What you get, and what you don't

The root plugin.json is the manifest Copilot CLI reads — it takes precedence over .claude-plugin/plugin.json, which belongs to Claude Code. That root manifest declares only a name, version and description, so component paths fall back to their defaults:

• Skills — available. With no explicit path, the CLI uses the conventional skills/ directory, and the skills are discovered there.
• Lifecycle commands — not available. The root manifest has no commands field, so nothing registers /spec, /plan, /build, /test, /review or /ship. Those files live in .claude/commands/ and are Claude Code commands.

For manifest precedence and the per-component path defaults, see the CLI plugin reference and Creating plugins.

Usage

Name the skill you want, or describe the task and let the agent route to it:

Use the spec-driven-development skill to write a spec for [the feature].

Use the test-driven-development skill: write a failing test for this bug first, then fix it.

Use the code-review-and-quality skill to review my staged changes.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
plugin install can't resolve agent-skills@addy-agent-skills	Run copilot plugin marketplace add addyosmani/agent-skills first — that name only resolves once the marketplace is registered. Or install the repository directly.
Plugin installed but no skills	copilot plugin list to confirm the plugin, then copilot skill list (or /skills list in session) to see what was discovered.
/spec, /build and friends are not found	Expected, not a broken install: the root manifest registers no commands. Ask for the skill by name instead.
Skills changed locally but the CLI shows the old copy	Start a fresh session, or run with --plugin-dir pointing at your clone.