SkillForge
Cross-IDE developer skill discovery engine: map natural language ideas to vetted libraries, frameworks, and architecture patterns.
SkillForge acts as a developer's skill compass. When you have an idea for a feature or need to choose between competing libraries, SkillForge analyzes your intent and workspace context to recommend battle-tested tools with actionable learning paths, package health indicators, verified trust signals, and 1-click agent skill directives.
⚡ Quick Install
Launch VS Code Quick Open (Ctrl+P on Windows/Linux or Cmd+P on macOS), paste:
ext install SkillForge.skillforge
Or install directly from the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X) by searching for SkillForge.
📸 Visual Showcase
Auto-detects active workspace manifests, installed packages, and provides instant 1-click access to all commands and bookmarked tools.
2. Side-by-Side Comparison Matrix
Head-to-head comparison with architectural slot collision warnings, weekly downloads, maintenance health verdicts, and 1-click terminal install commands.
Zero context switching. Type a comment in your language's standard syntax (// for C-style, # for Python), and SkillForge displays a clickable CodeLens above it.
4. AI Coding Agent Directives (Andrej Karpathy Disciplines)
Generate structured .agent/skills/<id>/SKILL.md or .cursor/rules/<id>.mdc directives with strict YAML frontmatter, 4 non-negotiable coding disciplines (Think Before Coding, Simplicity, Surgical Precision, Verification Rigor), and deterministic verification commands.
🌟 Core Highlights
- Intent-Based Discovery: Describe what you want to build in plain English (e.g. "real-time chat with WebSockets", "fast async postgres ORM", "declarative UI animations") and receive instant, ranked suggestions.
- 363 Curated, Purposeful Technologies: An offline, in-memory knowledge base covering Web, Python, Mobile, AI/ML, Rust, Go, Java/JVM, DevOps, and Security. Every skill serves a concrete purpose with real package names, install commands, and verified docs.
- 100% Offline & Private by Default: No code transmission, no cloud servers required, and zero telemetry. Queries execute locally in $<2\text{ms}$.
- Battle-Tested Trust Seals: Multi-tiered reliability with Verified and Suggested tiers, real npm/GitHub download metrics, and deprecation warnings.
- Side-by-Side Comparison Matrix: Compare 2 to 3 competing tools directly inside VS Code with architectural conflict warnings, pros, caveats, and companion chips.
- Context & Monorepo Scoping: Auto-discovers monorepo workspaces and lets you lock context to specific directories (
apps/web, packages/backend).
- Inline CodeLens Triggers: Detects
// IDEA:, // SKILL:, # IDEA:, and # SKILL: comments across 11 programming languages to suggest libraries without leaving your code editor.
- One-Click Terminal Install: Run exact package manager commands (
pnpm add, pip install, cargo add, go get) in the scoped folder with a single click.
- Optional BYOK Cloud AI: Bring Your Own Key for OpenAI or Google Gemini. API keys are stored securely in your OS Keychain (
SecretStorage).
🎯 Trigger Mechanisms & Syntax
SkillForge offers three distinct ways to discover tools:
1. Command Palette & Global Keybindings
- Press
Ctrl+Alt+S (or Cmd+Alt+S on macOS) to open the interactive Suggestion Canvas for any idea.
- Press
Ctrl+Alt+F (or Cmd+Alt+F on macOS) to suggest libraries tailored to the active file's technology stack.
- Press
Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) and type SkillForge to browse all 16 commands.
Click the SkillForge Anvil Icon in the VS Code Activity Bar on the left to access:
- Context & Stack View: Detected ecosystems, manifest files, and installed dependencies.
- Quick Actions View: One-click triggers for popular categories and comparisons.
- All SkillForge Commands View: 1-click execution for all 16 commands directly in the sidebar.
- Recent Discoveries View: Past query history with instant replay.
- Bookmarks View: Saved tools organized by category.
While coding, add an intent comment directly in your file:
JavaScript, TypeScript, C, C++, C#, Java, Rust, Go:
// IDEA: user authentication with OAuth2 and sessions
// SKILL: high performance background job queue
Python:
# IDEA: async postgres connection pool with alembic migrations
# SKILL: distributed task queue with redis
SkillForge renders an inline CodeLens prompt above the comment: SkillForge: Suggest libraries for "...". Click it to inspect recommendations without context switching.
🌐 Supported Ecosystems & Manifest Detection
SkillForge automatically inspects workspace manifests to identify existing dependencies, filter suggestions to your language, and warn against conflicting libraries:
| Ecosystem / Language |
Primary Extensions |
Detected Manifest Files |
Comment Trigger Syntax |
Default Package Managers |
| TypeScript |
.ts, .tsx |
package.json, tsconfig.json |
// IDEA:, // SKILL: |
pnpm, npm, yarn, bun |
| JavaScript |
.js, .jsx, .mjs |
package.json, jsconfig.json |
// IDEA:, // SKILL: |
pnpm, npm, yarn, bun |
| Python |
.py |
pyproject.toml, requirements.txt, Pipfile, setup.py |
# IDEA:, # SKILL: |
pip, poetry, uv, conda |
| Rust |
.rs |
Cargo.toml, Cargo.lock |
// IDEA:, // SKILL: |
cargo add |
| Go |
.go |
go.mod, go.sum |
// IDEA:, // SKILL: |
go get |
| Java / JVM |
.java |
pom.xml, build.gradle, build.gradle.kts |
// IDEA:, // SKILL: |
mvn, gradle |
| C / C++ |
.c, .cpp, .h, .hpp |
CMakeLists.txt, Makefile, vcpkg.json, conanfile.txt |
// IDEA:, // SKILL: |
vcpkg, conan |
| C# (.NET) |
.cs |
*.csproj, *.sln, Directory.Build.props |
// IDEA:, // SKILL: |
dotnet add package |
⌨️ Command Palette & Keybinding Reference
| Command Label |
Command Identifier |
Default Shortcut |
Description |
| SkillForge: Suggest Skills for My Idea |
skillforge.suggest |
Ctrl+Alt+S / Cmd+Alt+S |
Opens prompt to search 363 vetted tools for any feature idea. |
| SkillForge: Suggest for Current File |
skillforge.suggestForCurrentFile |
Ctrl+Alt+F / Cmd+Alt+F |
Suggests companion libraries based on the active file's technology. |
| SkillForge: Compare Skills Side-by-Side |
skillforge.compareSkills |
— |
Compares 2-3 tools with trade-offs, health metrics, and conflict warnings. |
| SkillForge: Select Scope Directory |
skillforge.selectScope |
— |
Locks context scoping to a subpackage or monorepo folder. |
| SkillForge: Rescan Workspace |
skillforge.rescanWorkspace |
— |
Forces a fresh scan of project manifests and dependencies. |
| SkillForge: Open Suggestion Canvas |
skillforge.showCanvas |
— |
Reopens the rich interactive Suggestion Canvas webview. |
| SkillForge: Generate Agent Skill |
skillforge.generateAgentSkill |
— |
Emits Karpathy-disciplined SKILL.md or .cursor/rules/*.mdc directives. |
| SkillForge: Run Install Command in Terminal |
skillforge.runInstallCommand |
— |
Runs the library install command in your VS Code terminal. |
| SkillForge: Bookmark / Unbookmark Tool |
skillforge.toggleBookmark |
— |
Saves or removes a library from your persistent bookmarks sidebar. |
| SkillForge: Clear Saved Bookmarks |
skillforge.clearBookmarks |
— |
Clears all bookmarked tools. |
| SkillForge: Clear Recent Discoveries |
skillforge.clearRecentQueries |
— |
Clears recent search query history. |
| SkillForge: Save Cloud AI API Key |
skillforge.setApiKey |
— |
Saves personal Google Gemini or OpenAI key in OS Keychain. |
| SkillForge: Remove Saved AI API Key |
skillforge.clearApiKey |
— |
Securely deletes stored API key from OS Keychain. |
| SkillForge: Switch Search Engine Mode |
skillforge.configureProvider |
— |
Switches between 100% Offline Local, Google Gemini, and OpenAI. |
| SkillForge: Configure AI Model |
skillforge.configureModel |
— |
Selects from free, paid flagship, reasoning, or any custom model ID. |
| SkillForge: Open Getting Started Walkthrough |
skillforge.openWalkthrough |
— |
Opens interactive 5-step visual guide. |
| SkillForge: Test Server Connection |
skillforge.testConnection |
— |
Verifies headless LSP server health and response latency. |
⚙️ Configuration Settings
Customize SkillForge behavior in VS Code Settings (Ctrl+, or Cmd+, $\to$ search skillforge):
| Setting |
Type |
Default |
Description |
skillforge.provider |
string |
"local" |
Suggestion provider: "local" (100% offline, zero network traffic), "gemini", or "openai" (BYOK AI enrichment). |
skillforge.maxResults |
number |
5 |
Maximum number of ranked recommendations to return (1-20). |
skillforge.defaultDifficulty |
string |
"all" |
Target difficulty tier: "all", "beginner", "intermediate", "advanced". |
skillforge.timeoutMs |
number |
4000 |
Timeout in milliseconds for optional BYOK AI requests before falling back to local catalog. |
skillforge.gemini.model |
string |
"gemini-2.0-flash" |
Model identifier for Google Gemini. Accepts free tier (gemini-2.0-flash), paid flagship (gemini-1.5-pro), or any custom model ID. |
skillforge.gemini.endpoint |
string |
"" |
Custom Google Gemini API endpoint. |
skillforge.openai.model |
string |
"gpt-4o-mini" |
Model identifier for OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Accepts base tier (gpt-4o-mini), paid flagship (gpt-4o), reasoning (o3-mini, o1), or custom proxy models. |
skillforge.openai.endpoint |
string |
"" |
Custom OpenAI-compatible API endpoint (defaults to official API). |
🔒 Privacy & Security Commitment
- Zero Source Code Transmission: SkillForge never reads, parses, or transmits your application source code, file contents, or Git commit history.
- Local Execution: All 363 skills reside in an in-memory inverted index bundled directly within the extension.
- OS Keychain Secret Storage: API keys are stored exclusively in your operating system's native keychain (Windows Credential Manager, macOS Keychain, Linux Secret Service).
- Content Security Policy (CSP): The Suggestion Canvas Webview enforces strict nonces and disallows external unsafe scripts.
📜 License & Legal Attribution (NOTICE)
SkillForge is dual-licensed to protect both the software engine and the community-curated knowledge base:
Attribution Notice for Derivative Works
If you use, fork, or embed the SkillForge 363-technology catalog in your own AI models, datasets, or developer tools, you must provide attribution as follows:
"Includes technology metadata and architectural conflict relationships from the SkillForge Skills Database (https://github.com/AugustyaB/SkillForge), licensed under CC BY 4.0."
🤝 Contributing & Bug Reports
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