Skills Installation Guide

Skills Installation Guide

This guide explains how to install dependencies for Claude Code skills.

Overview

Skills are organized into groups with Python utility scripts. Each skill's scripts directory contains a requirements.txt file listing dependencies.

Quick Start

Option 1: Install All Dependencies (Recommended)

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install all skill dependencies
pip install -r .claude/skills/ai-multimodal/scripts/requirements.txt

# Install test dependencies for development
pip install pytest pytest-cov pytest-mock

Option 2: Install Per-Skill

Navigate to specific skill and install:

cd .claude/skills/ai-multimodal/scripts
pip install -r requirements.txt

Skills Dependencies

Python Package Dependencies

Most skills use only Python standard library. Only ai-multimodal requires external packages:

ai-multimodal (.claude/skills/ai-multimodal/scripts/requirements.txt):

• google-genai>=0.1.0 - Google Gemini API
• pypdf>=4.0.0 - PDF processing
• python-docx>=1.0.0 - DOCX conversion
• docx2pdf>=0.1.8 - PDF conversion (Windows only)
• markdown>=3.5.0 - Markdown processing
• Pillow>=10.0.0 - Image processing
• python-dotenv>=1.0.0 - Environment variables

System Tool Dependencies

Several skills require external CLI tools:

media-processing

• FFmpeg: Video/audio processing
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install ffmpeg
  • macOS: brew install ffmpeg
  • Windows: choco install ffmpeg
• ImageMagick: Image processing
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install imagemagick
  • macOS: brew install imagemagick
  • Windows: choco install imagemagick

devops

• Cloudflare Wrangler: npm install -g wrangler
• Docker: https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/
• Google Cloud CLI: https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/install

better-auth, repomix, shopify

• Node.js 18+: https://nodejs.org/
• Better Auth: npm install better-auth
• Repomix: npm install -g repomix
• Shopify CLI: npm install -g @shopify/cli @shopify/theme

databases

• PostgreSQL client: sudo apt-get install postgresql-client (Linux)
• MongoDB Shell: https://www.mongodb.com/try/download/shell
• MongoDB Tools: https://www.mongodb.com/try/download/database-tools

web-frameworks, ui-styling

• Node.js 18+: https://nodejs.org/
• pnpm: npm install -g pnpm
• yarn: npm install -g yarn

Installation by Platform

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Python environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Python packages (ai-multimodal only)
cd .claude/skills/ai-multimodal/scripts
pip install -r requirements.txt

# System tools
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg imagemagick postgresql-client

# Node.js and tools
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
npm install -g pnpm wrangler repomix @shopify/cli

macOS

# Python environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Python packages (ai-multimodal only)
cd .claude/skills/ai-multimodal/scripts
pip install -r requirements.txt

# System tools via Homebrew
brew install ffmpeg imagemagick postgresql

# Node.js and tools
brew install node
npm install -g pnpm wrangler repomix @shopify/cli

Windows

# Python environment
python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate

# Python packages (ai-multimodal only)
cd .claude\skills\ai-multimodal\scripts
pip install -r requirements.txt

# System tools via Chocolatey
choco install ffmpeg imagemagick nodejs

# Node.js tools
npm install -g pnpm wrangler repomix @shopify/cli

Testing Dependencies

All skills include test dependencies in requirements.txt:

pytest>=8.0.0
pytest-cov>=4.1.0
pytest-mock>=3.12.0

To run tests for a skill:

cd .claude/skills/{skill-name}/scripts
python -m pytest tests/ -v --cov=. --cov-report=term-missing

Environment Variables

Skills respect environment variable loading priority:

1. process.env (highest priority - runtime environment)
2. .claude/skills/{skill-name}/.env (skill-specific config)
3. .claude/skills/.env (shared skills config)
4. .claude/.env (global Claude config)

Example .env files are provided where needed (e.g., devops/.env.example).

Troubleshooting

"externally-managed-environment" Error

If you see this error when installing packages:

# Use virtual environment (recommended)
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Or use pipx for CLI tools
pipx install google-genai

Missing System Tools

If scripts fail with "command not found":

# Check if tool is installed
which ffmpeg
which docker
which node

# Verify tool works
ffmpeg -version
docker --version
node --version

Permission Errors

On Linux/macOS, you may need to make scripts executable:

chmod +x .claude/skills/*/scripts/*.py

Minimal Installation

If you only want to use specific skills:

For ai-multimodal only:

pip install google-genai pypdf python-docx markdown Pillow python-dotenv

For media-processing only:

# macOS
brew install ffmpeg imagemagick

# Linux
sudo apt-get install ffmpeg imagemagick

For other skills: Most other skills (better-auth, repomix, shopify, devops, web-frameworks, ui-styling, databases) use only Python stdlib and require no pip install.

Development Setup

For contributors working on skills:

# Install all test dependencies
pip install pytest pytest-cov pytest-mock

# Install pre-commit hooks (if available)
pre-commit install

# Run all tests
pytest .claude/skills/*/scripts/tests/ -v

# Check coverage across all skills
pytest .claude/skills/*/scripts/tests/ --cov=.claude/skills --cov-report=html

Skill-Specific Notes

ai-multimodal

• Requires GEMINI_API_KEY in environment
• Get API key: https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
• Windows users: docx2pdf requires Microsoft Word installed

media-processing

• FFmpeg must be in PATH
• ImageMagick must be in PATH
• Test with: ffmpeg -version and convert -version

devops

• Cloudflare: Requires CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN and CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID
• GCloud: Requires GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS path to service account JSON
• Docker: Must have Docker daemon running

shopify

• Requires Shopify CLI authentication: shopify auth login
• Partner account needed for app development

Getting Help

If dependencies fail to install or scripts don't work:

1. Check the skill's scripts/requirements.txt for specific versions
2. Verify system tools are installed and in PATH
3. Check environment variables are set correctly
4. Review skill's SKILL.md for additional setup instructions
5. Open an issue: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues