# Sync Skills > Fetch skills from projects on the current system, genericize them, and add to the claude-skills repository. Use when user says "sync skills", "fetch skills", "import skills from projects", or wants to pull skills from their local projects into this public repo. - Skill: `qa-aman/sync-skills` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add qa-aman/sync-skills` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/qa-aman/sync-skills/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: qa-aman (https://skillmd.com/u/qa-aman) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/qa-aman/sync-skills --- # Sync Skills from Local Projects ## Overview This skill scans projects on the current system for Claude Code skills (`.claude/skills/` directories), identifies new or updated skills, genericizes them by stripping project-specific content, and adds them to this repository. ## Workflow ### Step 1: Identify the Claude Skills Repo The target repo is the `claude-skills` project. Confirm its location - it should be the current working directory or specified by the user. ### Step 2: Scan for Skills Search for skills across local projects: ``` Find all directories matching: /*/.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md ``` Default projects root: `[your projects root]` (e.g. `~/Documents/Projects/`). The user may override this with a different path. For each found skill, collect: - Skill name (directory name) - Source project name - SKILL.md content - Any files in `references/`, `assets/`, `scripts/` subdirectories ### Step 3: Deduplicate Compare found skills against skills already in `skills/by-role/` and `skills/shared/` directories of this repo: - **New skill**: not present in repo - proceed to genericize - **Updated skill**: present but source has newer/different content - show diff, ask user whether to update - **Identical**: skip silently ### Step 4: Determine the Role For each new skill, determine which role folder it belongs in: Valid roles: `pm`, `engineer`, `qa`, `designer`, `content-creator`, `devops`, `shared`, `leadership`, `program-delivery-manager`, `customer-success`, `recruiter`, `consultant`, `sales`, `marketing`, `founder`, `data-scientist`, `data-engineer`, `security` If the role is unclear, ask the user before proceeding. ### Step 5: Genericize For each new or updated skill, apply these transformations: **Replace personal references:** - Author names, handles, usernames -> remove or replace with `[your name]` - Newsletter/blog names -> `[your newsletter]` - Specific domains (e.g., `name.substack.com`) -> `[your-domain]` - Niche or topic tied to the author -> `[your niche]` or `[your topic]` - Company names -> `[your company]` - Team names -> `[your team]` - Client names -> `[your client]` - Project-specific program names -> `[your program]` **Remove project-specific content:** - File paths referencing the source project - References to other project-specific skills, configs, or workflows - Environment variables specific to the source project - API keys, tokens, or credentials (should never exist, but check) **Preserve:** - The skill's core logic, frameworks, and checklists - Generic examples and templates - Anti-patterns and quality criteria - References to general tools or platforms (LinkedIn, Substack, etc.) - The book or methodology the skill is grounded in **Verify:** - YAML frontmatter has `name` and `description` fields - Description has multiple trigger phrases and is pushy - Body is under 500 lines - No personal/project-specific content remains - Skill is self-contained (no broken references to removed content) ### Step 6: Add to Repo For each genericized skill, use `init_skill.py` to scaffold and register in `skills.json`: ```bash python3 scripts/init_skill.py --role --description "" --tags "" ``` This creates `skills/by-role///SKILL.md` and adds the entry to `skills.json` automatically. Then overwrite the scaffolded SKILL.md with the genericized content. Do **not** manually edit `install.sh` - it reads from `skills.json`. The registry is the source of truth. ### Step 7: Validate ```bash python3 scripts/validate_skill.py ``` All skills must pass before committing. ### Step 8: Update README Add a row to the correct role table in `README.md`: ```markdown | `skill-name` | What it does | Book/methodology source | ``` ### Step 9: Report and Commit Output a summary: - Skills added (with source project and role assigned) - Skills updated (with what changed) - Skills skipped (already identical) - Skills needing manual review (couldn't fully genericize) Commit with a clear message: ```bash git add skills/by-role/// skills.json README.md git commit -m "sync from [source project]" ``` ## Anti-Patterns **Don't blindly copy.** Always read the source skill first. Some skills are deeply project-specific and can't be genericized. **Don't merge skills.** If two projects have different versions of the same skill, ask the user which to keep. **Don't strip too much.** The goal is to remove personal references, not gut the content. Frameworks, examples, and checklists should survive intact. **Don't forget supporting files.** Check for `references/`, `assets/`, `scripts/` subdirectories and copy them too. **Don't edit install.sh directly.** Use `init_skill.py` to register skills. `install.sh` reads from `skills.json` - the hardcoded array no longer exists. ## Quality Checklist Before completing sync: - [ ] Each new skill scaffolded with `init_skill.py` (creates folder + registers in skills.json) - [ ] Each new skill has valid YAML frontmatter (name + description) - [ ] Description has multiple trigger phrases - [ ] No personal names, domains, or project paths remain - [ ] Placeholder brackets used consistently: `[your niche]`, `[your newsletter]`, `[your-domain]`, `[your name]`, `[your company]`, `[your team]`, `[your client]` - [ ] README.md skills table updated with new row - [ ] `python3 scripts/validate_skill.py` passes - [ ] Each skill is self-contained and works standalone - [ ] Body under 500 lines per SKILL.md