Internalize Skill

Internalize skill

This skill automates the process of moving externally installed skills to the project's internal skills/ directory, tagging them as internal, and optionally renaming and attributing them.

Workflow

1. Identify Target Skills & Options:

   • Check the .agents/skills/ (or .agent/skills/) directory for subdirectories.
   • If the user explicitly named a skill (e.g., "internalize the research skill"), focus only on that one.
   • If the user was vague, clarify which skill to target.
   • Ask the user if they would like to:
     • Rename the skill (e.g., change creating-changesets to arkenv-changesets).
     • Add attribution details (e.g., original_author, original origin repository url).

2. Move/Rename to Internal:

   • Move the identified skill directory to skills/<new-name> (where <new-name> defaults to the original name if no rename is requested).

3. Update Frontmatter & Metadata:

   • Update the name field in the SKILL.md frontmatter to <new-name>.
   • Update the metadata block to include internal: true.
   • If attribution details were specified, add:
     • original_author: The original author's name.
     • origin: The URL or GitHub repository of the original skill.
     • author: The current maintainer or team name.

4. Append Markdown Credits (Optional):

   • If the skill was renamed or customized, append a ## Credits or ## Acknowledgements section at the bottom of the skill's SKILL.md file linking back to the original source.

Implementation details

The skill should rely on standard bash commands for efficiency and portability.

Moving & renaming skills

# If keeping the same name:
mv .agents/skills/<old-name> skills/

# If renaming:
mv .agents/skills/<old-name> skills/<new-name>

Updating metadata

Use code edits or awk to update SKILL.md frontmatter. The logic should:

• Update name: <new-name> at the top.
• Insert or merge the metadata block to ensure internal: true, plus any specified attribution fields.

Example of expected final frontmatter structure:

---
name: arkenv-changesets
description: Creates changesets for semantic versioning.
metadata:
  author: Yam Borodetsky
  original_author: Ollie Shop
  origin: github.com/ollieshop/creating-changesets
  version: 1.0.0
  internal: true
---

Safety checks

• Ensure the root skills/ directory exists before moving.
• Verify SKILL.md exists in the target directory before attempting to edit it.
• Do not overwrite existing internal skills under skills/ unless explicitly confirmed by the user.