The Skill Leaderboard
An independent ranking of agent skills
from open GitHub repositories.
from open GitHub repositories.
24.2kSkills tracked
328kStars gained / last 30 days
6.6kCommits / last 30 days
5MSKILL.md lines analyzed
RankSkill nameCategory30d trendStars7d trend
01
mattpocock/skills
Software Engineering
217k
4.3%
02
anthropics/skills
Design
169k
1.5%
03
Graphify-Labs/graphify
Knowledge
106k
2.4%
04
DietrichGebert/ponytail
Software Engineering
103k
4.7%
05
JuliusBrussee/caveman
Token Optimization
98.1k
1.6%
06
addyosmani/agent-skills
Software Engineering
87.1k
4.5%
07
Egonex-AI/Understand-Anything
Knowledge
79.3k
1.9%
08
ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills
Automation
72.5k
0.7%
09
mvanhorn/last30days-skill
Research
58.2k
1.0%
10
kepano/obsidian-skills
Knowledge
46.2k
4.1%
11
sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills
Agent Orchestration
44.9k
0.8%
12
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
Marketing
44.2k
1.9%
13
Imbad0202/academic-research-skills
Research
42.5k
2.9%
14
github/awesome-copilot
Developer Tooling
37.8k
0.7%
15
blader/humanizer
Writing
35.6k
4.3%
16
K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills
Science
33.5k
1.8%
17
vercel-labs/agent-skills
Developer Tooling
30k
0.7%
18
mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills
Security
27.8k
1.2%
19
OthmanAdi/planning-with-files
Agent Orchestration
26.2k
0.5%
20
phuryn/pm-skills
Product
25.3k
1.2%
21
zhaoxuya520/reverse-skill
Security
25.1k
23.9%
22
JimLiu/baoyu-skills
Media
25k
1.2%
23
Nutlope/hallmark
Design
24.8k
10.4%
24
alirezarezvani/claude-skills
Developer Tooling
24.4k
1.8%
25
Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios
Agent Orchestration
23.9k
0.8%
26
titanwings/colleague-skill
Skill Creation
21.9k
—
27
virgiliojr94/book-to-skill
Skill Creation
21.4k
19.4%
28
ayghri/i-have-adhd
Prompting
20.4k
13.4%
29
google/skills
Automation
18.1k
13.5%
30
muratcankoylan/Agent-Skills-for-Context-Engineering
Agent Orchestration
17.7k
0.6%
31
composio-community/awesome-codex-skills
Automation
15.8k
1.0%
32
wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep
Automation
14.7k
2.2%
33
AgriciDaniel/claude-seo
Marketing
14.2k
4.2%
34
greensock/gsap-skills
Design
13.6k
3.1%
35
earthtojake/text-to-cad
Science
13.4k
3.0%
36
tt-a1i/archify
Diagramming
12.3k
22.8%
37
Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs
Research
11.7k
1.9%
38
nidhinjs/prompt-master
Prompting
11.1k
0.7%
39
Jeffallan/claude-skills
Software Engineering
11k
0.9%
40
AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian
Knowledge
10.9k
3.4%
41
nicobailon/visual-explainer
Presentations
9.5k
0.6%
42
zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude
Marketing
9.3k
0.9%
43
AgriciDaniel/claude-ads
Marketing
8k
2.2%
44
google-labs-code/stitch-skills
Design
8k
1.3%
45
PleasePrompto/notebooklm-skill
Automation
7.6k
0.5%
46
Agents365-ai/drawio-skill
Diagramming
7.6k
4.7%
47
Cocoon-AI/architecture-diagram-generator
Diagramming
6.9k
1.2%
48
tw93/Waza
Software Engineering
6.8k
0.8%
49
SimoneAvogadro/android-reverse-engineering-skill
Security
6.8k
1.3%
50
trailofbits/skills
Security
6.6k
1.5%
What are skills?
A skill is an instruction file that teaches an AI agent how to do one specific job. Drafting a contract. Building a slide deck. Pulling a weekly report. Without one, you re-explain the same context to the model every session. With one, the agent already knows how you work.
How do I open a .skill file?
A .skill file is essentially a zip file with a .skill extension. Rename it to .zip, and extract on macOS or Linux. On Windows, right-click and pick "Extract All." Inside you'll find a SKILL.md file with the instructions, plus whatever scripts, templates, or reference docs the author shipped with it.
Why use skills instead of relying on the base AI?
Skills help agents complete specific tasks more effectively by giving them structured instructions and reusable patterns. A skill bakes the workflow into the agent: which tools to call, which steps to skip, how your team formats things. Output gets more consistent, you waste fewer tokens, and the agent starts behaving more like a teammate.
Is it safe to install skills?
Downloaded skill files should never be added blindly. A skill can include scripts and shell commands that execute on your machine, so review the SKILL.md, any bundled scripts, and referenced tools before installing - the same way you'd vet a browser extension or npm package.
What does a skill include?
A SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter at the top (at minimum, a name and a description) followed by the body of the instructions. Everything else is optional: scripts, reference docs, templates, images, even nested sub-skills. The agent only reads files it actually needs, which keeps the context window from filling up on workflows the user didn't ask for.
When does an agent use a skill?
Using a slash command, which the user has to invoke by hand. The agent can also decide to use a skill on its own if it thinks the skill would be useful. It reads the name and description of every available skill, then decides which one fits the request. The description does most of the work here, because the model uses that text to figure out whether the skill applies.
Do skills only work for coding?
No. Skills started in coding tools like Claude Code and Codex CLI, but the format jumped fences quickly. People use them now for writing, legal review, marketing ops, research, customer support, data analysis, design. If you'd hand the task to a new hire with a one-page onboarding doc, it can probably be a skill.
Which platforms support skills?
What's the deal with frontmatter?
Frontmatter is the YAML block at the top of SKILL.md, fenced by
--- markers. It holds the metadata the agent reads before anything else: name, description, sometimes version, license, allowed tools. Get it wrong and the agent won't trigger the skill when it should. The spec lists every field.What are the rules for the skill name?
The
name field is lowercase, uses hyphens (no spaces, no underscores), sticks to letters, digits, and hyphens, and caps out at 64 characters per the Agent Skills spec. Treat it like a URL slug: "pdf-form-filler" works, "My Cool Skill!" does not. The name has to match the folder name exactly.What should the description include?
The description should explain both what the skill does and when it should be triggered. AI agents use the description to decide whether to invoke the skill, so vague descriptions can cause missed or incorrect usage.
Can a skill bundle contain multiple SKILL.md files?
Yes, each skill with their own SKILL.md and frontmatter. This works well for sprawling domains like
office/ (one sub-skill each for docx, pptx, xlsx, and pdf) or accounting workflows where every procedure has its own quirks.How do skills save tokens vs. agent.md or claude.md files?
A skill costs roughly 53 tokens per turn, just the name and description sitting in the system prompt. An equivalent agent.md or claude.md file costs thousands of tokens per turn because the whole file loads on every turn whether the agent needs it or not. Over a long session, that's the difference between staying sharp and hitting the point where the agent compacts and degrades its intelligence.
How are skills different from MCP?
They're complementary, not competing. MCP is connectivity: raw access to a tool or data source, the query syntax, the API format, the auth. Skills are workflow: which records to check first, how to structure the output, what order the steps go in. MCP is going to Home Depot and buying tools. Skills are knowing how to build the patio.