# Skill Library Sanitization > Audit, sanitize, curate, and maintain AI agent skill libraries. Use when pulling external/community skills, updating installed skills, removing secrets/private info, quarantining unsafe material, deduplicating skills, or building a clean curated skill database for public or shared use. - Skill: `s3yed/skill-library-sanitization` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add s3yed/skill-library-sanitization` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/s3yed/skill-library-sanitization/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: S3YED (https://skillmd.com/u/s3yed) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/s3yed/skill-library-sanitization --- # Skill Library Sanitization Use this when preparing, importing, updating, or publishing a skill library, agent kit, prompt/tool bundle, or exported knowledge base. The goal is to preserve reusable workflows while stripping secrets, private identity, client data, infrastructure details, copyrighted/raw paid material, NSFW material, local-machine assumptions, and stale duplicates. ## Core rule Never import external skills directly into the live skill library. Pull into a staging area, scan, sanitize, curate, validate, then promote. ## Standard directory model Use explicit zones: - **Sources**: external repos, marketplace exports, local Hermes/OpenClaw/Claude skills, appie-brain skills. - **Intake staging**: `~/.hermes/skill-intake///` for raw pulled material. - **Quarantine**: `~/.hermes/skill-quarantine//` for private, unsafe, duplicate, or unlicensed material. - **Clean database**: a user-approved repo or folder such as `/skills/`. - **Install target**: `~/.hermes/skills/` only after clean database validation passes. Do not leave quarantine inside a public repo, even when `.gitignore` hides it. ## Workflow ### 1. Intake, never direct install For a Git source: ```bash mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skill-intake cd ~/.hermes/skill-intake git clone --depth 1 -$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ) ``` For local sources, copy into staging instead of editing originals: ```bash rsync -a --exclude '.git' / ~/.hermes/skill-intake/-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ)/ ``` Record source URL/path, commit SHA if available, timestamp, and license before touching content. ### 2. Inventory and normalize Count skills by `SKILL.md`, not just folders. Extract: - skill name and description - source path and source license - linked resources under `references/`, `scripts/`, `templates/`, `assets/` - duplicate names - missing or malformed frontmatter - support files outside allowed directories - absolute paths, network calls, credential references, destructive commands Use `scripts/scan_skill_library.py` from this skill for a masked inventory and leak scan. ### 3. Classify before editing Classify every skill: - **Keep**: generic, useful, low-risk, portable. - **Sanitize**: useful workflow but contains private IDs, local paths, credentials, client references, internal hosts, or account names. - **Merge**: narrow one-off that belongs in an umbrella skill. - **Quarantine**: private/session-specific, NSFW/client-sensitive, raw paid-course/transcript material, unsafe automation, unclear license, or private memory. - **Retire**: stale, broken, duplicate with no unique content. Do not delete useful workflows just because they contain private IDs. Replace identifiers with placeholders and document required env vars. ### 4. Sanitize into portable placeholders Replace concrete values with placeholders while keeping the procedure intact: - API keys/tokens/cookies/auth headers -> ``, ``, env-var references, or `.env.example` keys. - Notion database/data-source/page IDs -> ``. - Webflow site/collection IDs -> ``, ``. - Google Drive/docs/sheets IDs -> `` / ``. - Tailscale/private IPs/internal domains -> `` / ``. - SSH hosts/key paths/usernames -> ``, ``, ``. - Local absolute paths -> `$HOME/...` or ``. - Client/person/bot handles -> ``, ``, ``. - Signed URLs/query tokens -> strip query string or replace with ``. ### 5. Quarantine safely Move unsafe files outside the clean database and keep a private manifest: ```bash mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skill-quarantine/ mv ~/.hermes/skill-quarantine// ``` The public report should say counts and categories only. Do not paste raw private snippets into chat or public reports. ### 6. Curate the clean database For promoted skills: - Keep one canonical skill per workflow, with umbrella skills preferred over narrow one-offs. - Use lowercase hyphenated names and ensure global uniqueness. - Keep `SKILL.md` concise; move long examples to `references/`. - Keep support files only under `references/`, `scripts/`, `templates/`, or `assets/`. - Replace environment-specific commands with variables and setup notes. - Prefer deterministic scripts for repeatable scanning/conversion. - Preserve attribution/license metadata in a private or public manifest when allowed. ### 7. Layered verification before promote/install Run all gates before copying into the clean database or install target: ```bash python3 /scripts/scan_skill_library.py --json-out /tmp/skill-scan.json # If available: gitleaks detect --source --no-git --redact ``` Also verify: - Unique skill names equal total public skills. - Missing frontmatter/description: 0. - Duplicate names: 0. - Broken links/support-file paths: 0. - Secret/private-pattern findings: 0, except explicitly accepted false positives. - Touched scripts pass syntax checks. - Git diff contains no private report content. ### 8. Promote atomically Promote only validated skills: ```bash rsync -a --delete / /skills/ ``` Then install or sync from the clean database into `~/.hermes/skills/` if desired. Avoid editing installed skills directly when a clean source-of-truth repo exists. ### 9. Ongoing update loop For updates: 1. Pull new upstream material into a fresh staging folder. 2. Compare against current clean database. 3. Re-run scan and classification. 4. Apply sanitization/merge decisions in staging. 5. Validate. 6. Promote with a reviewed diff. 7. Update indexes/manifests and this skill if the workflow changed. ## Reporting Final reports should be terse and actionable: - Source(s) inspected. - Public/clean skill count. - Kept, sanitized, merged, quarantined, retired counts. - Duplicate skill count. - Frontmatter/description validation result. - Secret/private-pattern scan result. - Generic scanner result. - Syntax/index validation result. - Quarantine path and file count. - Clean database path and report paths. - Reminder that intentional deletions need review before commit/push. Never paste raw secrets or full private findings into chat. Mask them or reference the private quarantine path. ## Pitfalls - Do not treat `gitleaks` alone as sufficient. It misses private identities, internal domains, client names, local paths, signed URLs, and operational details. - Do not trust marketplace/community skills until read and scanned. Skills can contain destructive shell commands, exfiltration URLs, or hidden credential assumptions. - Do not promote raw session transcripts, paid course transcripts, private memory, NSFW client-bot material, or client-specific docs into a shared kit. - Do not rely on directory names for uniqueness. Read `name:` frontmatter. - Do not create one skill per cleanup session. Fold recurring lessons into this skill and put run-specific patterns in `references/`. ## Support files - `scripts/scan_skill_library.py`: masked inventory and leak scanner for skill trees. - `references/curated-skill-database-workflow.md`: detailed intake, sanitize, curate, promote workflow. - `references/appie-kit-cleanup-2026-06-14.md`: compact example of a completed public skill-kit cleanup, including validation checklist and reporting shape.