Streamline AI Agent Skill Management with SkillDeck on macOS

Background

Managing multiple AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI) requires separate skill directories such as ~/.claude/skills/, ~/.agents/skills/, ~/.gemini/skills/, ~/.copilot/skills/. Installing a skill traditionally involves locating the GitHub repository, cloning it, creating a symlink in each agent’s directory, and repeating for every agent. Removal requires deleting the directory and symlinks, which is error‑prone. A CLI like

npx skills add https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot --skill git-commit

automates cloning but provides no unified view of installed, outdated, or removable skills.

Core Features of SkillDeck

Unified Dashboard

Three‑column native macOS UI: left pane lists agents with filters, middle pane lists available skills, right pane shows detailed information. Search by name, description, or author; filter or sort by agent. Symlink deduplication displays a skill only once even if installed for multiple agents.

Skill Marketplace Browsing

Integrated skills.sh browser shows rankings (All Time, Trending, Hot) and provides a search box. Clicking a skill installs it with a single action, bypassing manual cloning.

Install & Update

Enter a GitHub repository in owner/repo format; SkillDeck clones the repo, scans for skill definitions, creates the appropriate symlinks, and updates a lock file. Update detection compares local and remote tree hashes; changed skills are marked with an orange badge and can be refreshed with one click.

SKILL.md Editor

Split view with a markdown editor on the left and live preview on the right. Save with Cmd+S, cancel with Esc.

Agent Assignment

Each skill detail page includes toggles for each agent. Enabling a toggle creates the symlink automatically; disabling removes it, eliminating manual commands.

Filesystem Watcher

SkillDeck watches the skill directories for external changes (e.g., claude skills add) and refreshes the GUI automatically.

Supported agents and their skill directories:

Claude Code – ~/.claude/skills/ (detected via claude binary)

Codex – ~/.agents/skills/ (shared)

Gemini CLI – ~/.gemini/skills/ Copilot CLI –

~/.copilot/skills/

Development Process

The project was built entirely with Claude Code. The author, experienced in Java, Go, and Python but new to Swift/SwiftUI, followed an iterative loop:

Define requirement → AI implements → Test → Find issues → AI fixes → Retest

This loop allowed rapid UI layout, filesystem operations, network requests, and concurrency handling without prior Swift expertise, while still requiring the developer to understand code logic, write clear requirements, and verify functionality.

AI Coding Tips

1. Use a fresh context for each feature

Start a new Claude Code context for each feature to keep conversations focused. Commit after completing a feature to enable easy rollback with Git.

2. Save token‑heavy summaries as documents

Store large AI‑generated analyses in a project memory directory and load them in new contexts to avoid re‑processing.

3. Resume sessions with claude --resume

claude --resume "hotkey"
claude --resume "architecture"

Searches past sessions and lets you pick a matching one.

4. Adjust session retention

Claude Code cleans up sessions after 30 days by default. Modify ~/.claude/settings.json to extend the period, e.g.:

{
  "cleanupPeriodDays": 90
}

5. Enforce development standards with CLAUDE.md

Place project‑specific rules in a CLAUDE.md file at the repository root and global rules in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. Example rules:

Git workflow : create a new branch for each change; never commit directly to main.

Testing requirement : every code change must include corresponding unit tests.

Commit confirmation : AI cannot auto‑commit or push without manual approval.

PR guidelines : each pull request must contain a Manual Verification Checklist and a Regression Checklist.

Conclusion

SkillDeck provides a unified GUI for installing, updating, assigning, and removing skills across multiple AI agents, eliminating manual symlink management. The project is open‑source under the MIT license.

Installation command:

brew tap crossoverJie/skilldeck && brew install --cask skilldeck

Project repository:

https://github.com/crossoverJie/SkillDeck