Borrow a skill from a GitHub repo into ~/.claude/skills/<name>/: copy every file the skill ships (SKILL.md, companion .md files, references/, scripts/) verbatim, then write a one-line README.md recording where it came from.
Steps
Resolve the source. From $ARGUMENTS (a GitHub blob/tree URL, or owner/repo plus a path), get owner, repo, branch, and the skill's root directory — the folder containing its SKILL.md, not the file itself.
List the skill's files. gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/contents/<path>?ref=<branch> recursively (descend into subdirectories like references/, scripts/) to get the full file list under that root. Done when every file under the root — not just SKILL.md — is accounted for.
Determine the local name. Read the name: field from the fetched SKILL.md frontmatter; that's the target directory name under ~/.claude/skills/. If ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ already exists, stop and ask before overwriting — don't clobber a skill that may have local edits.
Copy verbatim. mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and fetch each listed file with curl -sL from raw.githubusercontent.com/<owner>/<repo>/<branch>/<path>, writing it to the matching relative path under the new skill directory. No edits, no reformatting — byte-for-byte what's upstream.
Write the provenance README. Single line, matching the existing borrowed skills in this directory (unslop, tdd, how, writing-for-agents, ...):
Borrowed from <source URL> — copied verbatim on <today's date>[, including its <extra files/subfolders> where present]. Not for agent consumption, just a note to self on where this came from if it needs updating later.
Get today's date from the environment context, never hardcode a remembered one.
Completion criterion
Every file under the skill's upstream root exists locally at the matching relative path, plus the one-line README.md. Report the final file list and the path.
Non-GitHub sources
If the source isn't a GitHub URL (a gist, a blog post, a pasted SKILL.md), skip the API listing: fetch or ask for the file content directly, still land it at ~/.claude/skills/<name>/, and note the actual source form in the README line instead of a raw.githubusercontent.com shape.
1---2name: borrow-skill3description: Copy someone else's Claude Code skill into ~/.claude/skills/ verbatim, with a provenance README. Use when the user says "adopt this skill", "borrow this skill", "add this skill to my global skills", or points at a skill in another repo/plugin pack and wants it locally.4---56Borrow a skill from a GitHub repo into `~/.claude/skills/<name>/`: copy every file the skill ships (`SKILL.md`, companion `.md` files, `references/`, `scripts/`) verbatim, then write a one-line `README.md` recording where it came from.78## Steps9101. **Resolve the source.** From `$ARGUMENTS` (a GitHub blob/tree URL, or `owner/repo` plus a path), get `owner`, `repo`, `branch`, and the skill's root directory — the folder containing its `SKILL.md`, not the file itself.112. **List the skill's files.** `gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/contents/<path>?ref=<branch>` recursively (descend into subdirectories like `references/`, `scripts/`) to get the full file list under that root. Done when every file under the root — not just `SKILL.md` — is accounted for.123. **Determine the local name.** Read the `name:` field from the fetched `SKILL.md` frontmatter; that's the target directory name under `~/.claude/skills/`. If `~/.claude/skills/<name>/` already exists, stop and ask before overwriting — don't clobber a skill that may have local edits.134. **Copy verbatim.** `mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/<name>/` and fetch each listed file with `curl -sL` from `raw.githubusercontent.com/<owner>/<repo>/<branch>/<path>`, writing it to the matching relative path under the new skill directory. No edits, no reformatting — byte-for-byte what's upstream.145. **Write the provenance README.** Single line, matching the existing borrowed skills in this directory (`unslop`, `tdd`, `how`, `writing-for-agents`, ...):1516 ```17 Borrowed from <source URL> — copied verbatim on <today's date>[, including its <extra files/subfolders> where present]. Not for agent consumption, just a note to self on where this came from if it needs updating later.18 ```1920 Get today's date from the environment context, never hardcode a remembered one.2122## Completion criterion2324Every file under the skill's upstream root exists locally at the matching relative path, plus the one-line `README.md`. Report the final file list and the path.2526## Non-GitHub sources2728If the source isn't a GitHub URL (a gist, a blog post, a pasted `SKILL.md`), skip the API listing: fetch or ask for the file content directly, still land it at `~/.claude/skills/<name>/`, and note the actual source form in the README line instead of a `raw.githubusercontent.com` shape.
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