read

Read skill content to stdout. This command is primarily intended for AI agents to consume skill definitions.

Synopsis

aiskills read [skill-names] [options]

Interactive Mode (Recommended)

When run without arguments or flags, an interactive prompt guides you through selecting the scope, agent(s), and skill(s) to read. This is the easiest way to use this command — no flags to remember:

aiskills read

note

Running aiskills read with flags but without skill names is an error. Flags are only valid with skill names.

Tip

In any multi-select prompt, press Shift+Tab to toggle select/deselect all.

Non-Interactive Mode

Provide skill name(s) along with --agent and --project/--global. All three are required:

aiskills read commit --agent claude --project              # Project, Claude
aiskills read commit --agent claude --global               # Global, Claude
aiskills read commit --agent claude --project --global     # Both scopes, Claude
aiskills read commit --agent claude,cursor --project       # Project, Claude + Cursor
aiskills read commit --agent all --project                 # Project, all agents
aiskills read commit --agent all --project --global        # Both scopes, all agents

Reading Multiple Skills

You can read multiple skills in a single command:

aiskills read commit review-pr --agent claude --project

When reading multiple skills, a visual separator is displayed between each skill's output.

Options

Flag	Short	Description
--agent <names>	-a	Target agent(s), comma-separated or all
--project	-p	Read from project scope (current directory)
--global	-g	Read from global scope (home directory)

Valid Agent Names

universal, claude, cursor, codex, gemini, windsurf, copilot, or all

Output

The output starts with metadata about the skill, followed by the full SKILL.md content. Paths under your home directory are abbreviated with ~/.

         Reading: commit
  Base directory: ~/git/username/path/to/project/.claude/skills/commit
      sourceType: git
          source: owner/commit-skills
         subpath: skills/commit
            name: commit

---
name: commit
description: Write conventional commit messages
---

(skill content here...)

Skill read: commit

Output Field Reference

Field	Meaning
Reading	The skill name as installed (its directory name)
Base directory	Path to the skill on disk (uses ~/ for paths under your home)
sourceType	Origin type: git or local
source	Origin reference (e.g. owner/repo for git, a path for local)
subpath	Path within the source where SKILL.md lives
name	The name field from SKILL.md (may differ from the folder name)