Skill Manager - VSCode Extension
中文文档 | English
Visual Studio Code extension for managing AI coding assistant skills using symbolic links.
✨ Key Features
- 📊 Tree view for skills and stores
- ⚡ No CLI required - Everything is built-in
- 🔗 Symlink-based management - Transparent and reliable
- 🎯 Platform-specific skill management with custom platforms
- 🔄 Auto-create directories - Platform folders created automatically
- 🚀 Store integration - Add skills from configured stores
- 🔍 Search skills - Find skills across all stores
- 🎨 Custom platforms - Add your own AI platforms
🆕 What's New in v2.1
This version removes the dependency on CLI completely:
- ✅ No CLI installation needed - Everything runs in the extension
- ✅ Faster operations - No external process calls
- ✅ Better error handling - More user-friendly messages
- ✅ Custom platforms - Define your own platforms in settings
- ✅ More reliable - No config file corruption
- ✅ Manual control - Can create/delete symlinks manually
See CHANGELOG.md for detailed changes.
Installation
From VSIX File (Recommended)
- Download the
.vsix file from releases
- Open VSCode
- Go to Extensions view (
Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X)
- Click "..." menu → "Install from VSIX..."
- Select the downloaded file
From Source
Clone the repository:
git clone https://git.insuremo.com/rainbow-other/skill-manager.git
cd skill-manager/skill-manager-extension
Install dependencies:
npm install
Build and test:
npm run compile
# Press F5 in VSCode to test
Package (optional):
npm run package
# This creates a .vsix file you can share
Usage
Windows Compatibility
This extension is fully compatible with Windows, with some considerations:
✅ What Works
- Junction symlinks: Uses Windows-compatible symlink type
- Path handling: Automatically handles
\ vs / path separators
- All features: Add, remove, scan, search - all work on Windows
⚠️ Requirements
- Admin rights OR Developer Mode: Required for creating symlinks
- Windows 10+: Recommended for best symlink support
🔧 Windows-Specific Notes
- Symlinks appear as
<JUNCTION> in dir command
- Use
dir /AL to list all symlinks in a directory
- Junction symlinks work with both local and network paths
- No special setup needed for macOS/Linux
See Troubleshooting section for Windows-specific issues.
Add Skills
Option 1: Add Skill Manually
- Click "+" in Skills view
- Enter skill name
- Enter skill path (default:
~/.cc-switch/skills/{skill-name})
- Select target platforms
- Symlinks created automatically
Option 2: Add from Store
- Open Stores view
- Find a skill in your configured store
- Right-click → Choose platform:
- Add to Claude
- Add to Gemini
- Add to OpenCode
- Add to Kiro
- Symlink created automatically
How It Works
Skills are managed via symbolic links:
.claude/skills/skill-name -> /path/to/skill/directory
.gemini/skills/skill-name -> /path/to/skill/directory
Benefits:
- No configuration files needed
- Symlinks are visible and can be managed manually
- Platform directories created automatically
- Can use same skill across multiple platforms
Manage Skills
- View: Expand platform nodes in Skills view
- Remove: Right-click → Remove Skill (deletes symlink only)
- Refresh: Click refresh icon to reload
- Manual: Can create/delete symlinks directly in terminal
Commands
| Command |
Description |
| Initialize Project |
ℹ️ Shows info message (initialization no longer needed) |
| Add Skill |
Add a new skill via symlink |
| Remove Skill |
Remove skill symlink |
| Install Skills |
ℹ️ Shows info message (no longer needed) |
| Add Store |
Add a skill store |
| Remove Store |
Remove a skill store |
| Scan Store |
Scan store for available skills |
| Refresh |
Refresh views |
Troubleshooting
Symlink creation fails on Windows
Windows has special requirements for creating symbolic links. Here's how to fix permission errors:
Quick Fix
- Run VSCode as Administrator (easiest solution)
- Right-click VSCode → "Run as administrator"
Permanent Fix (Recommended)
- Enable Developer Mode (Windows 10/11)
- Open Settings → Update & Security → For developers
- Enable "Developer mode"
- Restart VSCode
- This allows creating symlinks without admin rights
Alternative: Manual Creation
- Create symlinks manually using Command Prompt (as Administrator):
# Create platform directory
mkdir .claude\skills
# Create junction (Windows symlink type)
mklink /J .claude\skills\skill-name C:\path\to\skill
Note: The extension uses junction type symlinks which are most compatible with Windows.
Error Message Example
If you see this error:
EPERM: operation not permitted, symlink
This means you need to apply one of the solutions above.
Extension doesn't show skills
- Check symlinks exist:
ls -la .claude/skills/
- Check symlink targets exist:
readlink .claude/skills/skill-name
- Click refresh button in Skills view
- Check Developer Console for errors
Can't add skill from store
- Ensure store is configured: Check Stores view
- Scan the store: Right-click store → Scan
- Verify skill path exists on disk
- Check skill has either
skill.md or skill.json file
Skills view shows old data
- Click refresh button
- Symlinks are read directly from file system
- No caching, so refresh should always show current state
npm install fails
See NETWORK_TROUBLESHOOTING.md
Development
Build
npm run compile
Watch
npm run watch
Package
npm run package
Manual Operations
Since skills are managed via symlinks, you can manage them manually:
Create symlink manually
# Create platform directory
mkdir -p .claude/skills
# Create symlink (macOS/Linux)
ln -s /path/to/skill .claude/skills/skill-name
# Create symlink (Windows)
mklink /J .claude\skills\skill-name C:\path\to\skill
Delete symlink manually
# Remove symlink (doesn't affect original skill)
rm .claude/skills/skill-name
# Windows
rmdir .claude\skills\skill-name
Verify symlink
# Check symlink exists (macOS/Linux)
ls -la .claude/skills/
# Read symlink target (macOS/Linux)
readlink .claude/skills/skill-name
# Windows: List symlinks
dir .claude\skills\
# Windows: List only symlinks/reparse points
dir /AL .claude\skills\
Documentation
License
MIT
