Find Skills

Find Skills

This skill helps you discover and install skills from the open agent skills ecosystem.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks "how do I do X" where X might be a common task with an existing skill
• Says "find a skill for X" or "is there a skill for X"
• Asks "can you do X" where X is a specialized capability
• Expresses interest in extending agent capabilities
• Wants to search for tools, templates, or workflows
• Mentions they wish they had help with a specific domain (design, testing, deployment, etc.)

Requirements

• mh CLI must be installed. If not available, install with:

  curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vaayne/mcphub/main/scripts/install.sh | sh
  

What is the Skills CLI?

The MCP Hub CLI (mh skills) is the package manager for the open agent skills ecosystem. Skills are modular packages that extend agent capabilities with specialized knowledge, workflows, and tools.

Key commands:

• mh skills find [query] - Search for skills by keyword
• mh skills add owner/repo@skill - Install a specific skill from a repository
• mh skills add owner/repo --skill skill-name - Equivalent form when the source contains multiple skills

Browse skills at: https://skills.sh/

How to Help Users Find Skills

Step 1: Understand What They Need

When a user asks for help with something, identify:

1. The domain (e.g., React, testing, design, deployment)
2. The specific task (e.g., writing tests, creating animations, reviewing PRs)
3. Whether this is a common enough task that a skill likely exists

Step 2: Search for Skills

Run the find command with a relevant query:

mh skills find [query]

For example:

• User asks "how do I make my React app faster?" → mh skills find react performance
• User asks "can you help me with PR reviews?" → mh skills find pr review
• User asks "I need to create a changelog" → mh skills find changelog

The command will return results like:

Found 10 skills:

Install with: mh skills add owner/repo@skill

anthropics/skills@mcp-builder
  mcp-builder (4060 installs)
  └ https://skills.sh/anthropics/skills/mcp-builder

Important:

• Search results may display a package path or URL for browsing, but the safest install form is owner/repo@skill
• For example, install PinchTab with mh skills add pinchtab/pinchtab@pinchtab, not @pinchtab/pinchtab/pinchtab

Step 3: Present Options to the User

When you find relevant skills, present them to the user with:

1. The skill name and what it does
2. The install command they can run
3. A link to learn more at skills.sh

Always normalize the install command into a valid mh skills add form before suggesting it. Prefer:

• owner/repo@skill
• or owner/repo --skill skill-name

Do not blindly echo display-only identifiers if they are not directly installable.

Example response:

I found a skill that might help! The "mcp-builder" skill helps build MCP servers.

To install it:
mh skills add anthropics/skills@mcp-builder

Learn more: https://skills.sh/anthropics/skills/mcp-builder

Step 4: Offer to Install

If the user wants to proceed, you can install the skill for them:

mh skills add owner/repo@skill

Or, for a multi-skill repository:

mh skills add owner/repo --skill skill-name

Skills are installed to .agents/skills/<skill> in the current directory.

Common Skill Categories

When searching, consider these common categories:

Tips for Effective Searches

1. Use specific keywords: "react testing" is better than just "testing"
2. Try alternative terms: If "deploy" doesn't work, try "deployment" or "ci-cd"
3. Check popular sources: Many skills come from anthropics/skills or vercel-labs/agent-skills

When No Skills Are Found

If no relevant skills exist:

1. Acknowledge that no existing skill was found
2. Offer to help with the task directly using your general capabilities

Example:

I searched for skills related to "xyz" but didn't find any matches.
I can still help you with this task directly! Would you like me to proceed?