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Browse and install skills

The Registry tab on the Skills page lets you discover skills published in the configured registry and install them into one or more of your AI clients.

Prerequisites​

Install a skill from the registry​

  1. Open Skills from the menu bar, then select the Registry tab.
  2. Find the skill you want. Type in the search box to filter the catalog, paginate through the results, or click a skill to open its detail page and read the full SKILL.md.
  3. Click Install on the skill's card, table row, or detail page. ToolHive opens the Install skill dialog with the reference field pre-filled.
  4. Fill in the dialog (see Configure the install) and click Install.

If the install fails, an error message appears inside the dialog with the details returned by the server. Common causes are an invalid reference, a missing version, or a project root that isn't a Git repository.

Configure the install​

The Install skill dialog asks for:

  • Reference (required) - the skill source. ToolHive accepts:

    • A registry name (for example, toolhive-cli-user).
    • A full OCI reference (for example, ghcr.io/<OWNER>/skills/<SKILL_NAME>:<TAG>).
    • A Git URL of the form git://host/owner/repo[@ref][#path/to/skill].

  • Version (optional) - provided automatically when you start from a registry skill. Leave blank to install the latest version.

  • Scope (required) - where the skill files are written on disk. Hover the (i) icon next to the field to see the inline tooltip:

    • User: installed globally in your home directory and available across all projects.
    • Project: installed in the root of a specific project folder and scoped to that project only.

  • Project root (required when scope is Project) - the absolute path to a Git repository on your machine. ToolHive validates that the folder is a Git repo to prevent installing skill files in unintended directories. Use the folder picker or paste a path.

  • Clients (optional) - the AI clients that should receive the skill. The dropdown lists only clients you have installed and that support skills. Select one or more boxes to target a subset, or leave the field blank to install for all detected clients.

ToolHive writes the skill files into each selected client's skills directory and records the install so you can manage it from the Installed tab. Your AI client picks up the skill the next time it scans its skills directory.

Next steps​