Skill Bridge VS Code Extension

Skill Bridge is the VS Code extension for browsing, reviewing, and moving AI agent skills between the current Workspace and a configured Central skill library.

Use it when a good skill should become reusable, but the user still needs a clear checkpoint before files move.

• Find: browse Workspace skills, Central skills, groups, and Project Presets together.
• Review: inspect changed files, risk hints, and diffs before overwriting anything.
• Apply: bring selected skills, groups, or presets into the current project.
• Update with agents: install the bundled Skill Manager skill so an AI agent can help find, import, and refresh the right skills from the Central library.

The Skill Library keeps Workspace and Central state side by side, so users can choose what should move.

Skill Bridge gives users a visible review point before skill files move. Changed files are marked, reusable groups and NPX library workflows stay close at hand, and Project Presets make repeated project setup easier without turning the extension into a Git GUI or skill runner.

The extension also includes a bundled Skill Manager skill. After installing it into a workspace, users can ask their AI agent to search the Central library, choose the skills they need, bring them into .agents, .codex, .claude, .gemini, .cursor, or .antigravity, and update those skills later through the same reviewed Skill Bridge workflow.

Library, Groups, And Presets

Reusable skills can come from downloaded packs, curated groups, or project-ready presets. All three resolve back to the same Central library, so users can refresh a project later without remembering which folders were copied by hand.

Downloadable Libraries

The NPX Skill Library view lists installed external skill packs and lets users download or update reusable skills before bringing them into a workspace.

Reusable Groups

Groups collect related skills across agents, making repeat transfers easier to inspect and apply.

Project Presets

Project Presets turn a known-good skill set into a reusable setup template for new workspaces.

Review Before Transfer

Transfer Review is the safety checkpoint for promote and import flows. It separates new, changed, same, deleted, and conflict-like rows; shows sensitive-content and script hints; and keeps apply actions explicit.

Users see the expected result before applying selected rows.

Core Concepts

• Workspace Skills: skills under local agent roots such as .codex/skills/<name>/SKILL.md.
• Central Skills: reusable skills under central roots such as codex/skills/<name>/SKILL.md.
• Transfer Review: review screen used before copying changed files between Workspace and Central.
• Groups: named skill selections saved for repeated transfer or organization.
• Project Presets: Central-only project setup templates saved in .skillbridge/project-presets.json.
• Bundled Skill Manager: an included skill-manager skill that helps AI agents find, import, organize, and update skills through Skill Bridge.
• Quick Tools: configurable command shortcuts shown at the top of the tree.

Tree Views

The extension contributes two views:

• Workspace Skills
• Central Skills

Both views support multi-select, tree filtering, warnings, skill counts, and agent filtering.

Quick Tools

Quick Tools shows common commands directly in the tree.

By default, only the basic tool set is shown. Use Manage Quick Tools to choose which commands should appear. The selection is saved in skillBridge.visibleQuickTools.

Advanced commands can still be enabled and will appear under Advanced Tools.

Agent View

Switch Agent View lets the user show one or more agents at the same time.

• Selecting one agent shows only that agent.
• Selecting multiple agents shows those agents together.
• Selecting all agents or none shows all agents.
• The selected agents are saved in skillBridge.visibleAgents.

Agent Instructions

• Workspace tree shows root instruction files such as AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, CODEX.md, GEMINI.md, CURSOR.md, and supported rule files such as .cursor/rules/*.mdc.
• Central tree shows matching profile files from instructions/<workspace-folder-name>/.
• Instruction files are displayed and opened separately from skill transfer targets, so skill transfer stays scoped to skills/<skill>/....

Project Presets

Project Presets are reusable Central templates for project setup.

Main actions:

• Apply Project Preset
• Create Project Preset from Central
• Create Project Preset from Workspace
• Export Group as Project Preset
• Open Project Presets
• Rename Project Preset
• Edit Project Preset Description
• Delete Project Preset

Applying a preset imports its Central skills into the current Workspace through Transfer Review and creates or updates a Workspace group named Preset: <name>.

Creating a preset from Workspace first sends missing or changed Workspace skills through Transfer Review, then saves only Central-backed targets.

Transfer Review

Transfer Review protects changed files before copying.

It shows:

• new, changed, deleted, unchanged, and conflict-like rows
• risk hints such as sensitive-looking content or scripts
• diff review for changed existing files
• apply, inspect, and skip recommendations

Skill Bridge does not auto-merge conflicts and does not auto-push Git remotes.

Skill Add And Move

The extension supports:

• creating new skills/<name>/SKILL.md folders
• sending Workspace skills to Central
• bringing Central skills to Workspace
• copying skills between agent folders
• installing skills with the NPX skill flow
• downloading or updating Central skills from a source
• installing the bundled Skill Manager skill so an AI agent can help pull selected skills from Central and refresh them later

Workspace Quality Gate

Skill Bridge maps actionable warnings into VS Code Problems.

Examples:

• missing SKILL.md
• sensitive-looking content
• workspace-specific absolute paths
• script files
• broken markdown references
• Central target newer than Workspace

The quality gate checks skill asset structure and metadata. It is not a code linter or an auto-fixer.

Central Library

skillBridge.centralRepoPath defines the Central skill library path.

The setting supports:

• ${userHome}
• ${workspaceFolder}
• ${workspaceRoot}
• ${env:NAME}

Central groups are stored in .skillbridge/skill-workspace.json in the Central folder.

Project Presets are stored in .skillbridge/project-presets.json in the Central folder.

Settings

• skillBridge.centralRepoPath
• skillBridge.defaultAgents
• skillBridge.visibleAgents
• skillBridge.visibleQuickTools
• skillBridge.language
• skillBridge.autoSyncWorkspaceAgents

Useful Commands

• Skill Bridge: Refresh
• Skill Bridge: Review Sync Changes
• Skill Bridge: Send to Central
• Skill Bridge: Bring to Workspace
• Skill Bridge: Open Skill Library
• Skill Bridge: Open Group Overview
• Skill Bridge: Open Project Presets
• Skill Bridge: Apply Project Preset
• Skill Bridge: Create Project Preset from Workspace
• Skill Bridge: Switch Agent View
• Skill Bridge: Manage Quick Tools
• Skill Bridge: Filter Skill Tree
• Skill Bridge: Check Setup and Repair

Build And Package

From the repository root:

npm run typecheck
npm --workspace apps/vscode run package:vsix

Install the generated VSIX:

code --install-extension apps/vscode/skill-bridge-vscode-<version>.vsix --force

After installing, run Developer: Reload Window.