update
Update installed skills by re-fetching them from their original source.
Synopsis
aiskills update [skill-names]
Usage
Update All Skills
aiskills update
Updates every installed skill that has source metadata. Skills from the same Git repository are grouped and cloned only once.
Update Specific Skills
aiskills update commit # Update a single skill
aiskills update commit review-pr # Update specific skills
How It Works
When you install a skill, ai-skills records where it came from in a .aiskills.json metadata file inside the skill directory. The update command uses this metadata to:
- Git sources — clone the original repository, extract the skill, and replace the installed copy.
- Local sources — copy from the original local directory path.
Skills from the same repository are grouped together so the repository is cloned only once, even if multiple skills were installed from it.
Skipped Skills
The following skills are skipped during update:
| Reason | What to do |
|---|---|
No source metadata (.aiskills.json missing) | Re-install the skill once to enable updates |
| Local source path no longer exists | Restore the source directory or re-install from a new location |
SKILL.md missing at the recorded source path | Check that the source repository still contains the skill |
| Missing repo URL in metadata | Re-install the skill |
| Git clone failed | Check network connectivity and repository access |
Output
After updating, a summary is displayed:
✅ Updated: commit (project, Claude): .claude/skills
✅ Updated: review-pr (project, Claude): .claude/skills
Summary: 2 updated, 0 skipped (2 total)
If any skills were skipped, the reasons are listed:
Summary: 1 updated, 1 skipped (2 total)
Missing source metadata (1): old-skill
Re-install these skills once to enable updates (e.g., `aiskills install <source>`).