dotnet-skills: a skill installer for .NET
dotnet-skills
An installer for a .NET skill catalog that picks skills from project files for Claude Code, Codex, Copilot and Gemini CLI
- 507 ★ on the repository
- Last commit
- MIT
Extended access
Why this level
- The tool downloads the catalog from the network and writes skills into agent folders, global or per project
- The --prune flag removes previously auto-installed skills
Install
- Works in
Manual install
dotnet tool install --global dotnet-skillsThen dotnet skills opens the control center, and dotnet skills install --auto installs skills by project files.
Access and checks
How we reviewExtended accessThe tool runs code or makes network calls and only reads external data.
- The tool downloads the catalog from the network and writes skills into agent folders, global or per project
- The --prune flag removes previously auto-installed skills
This is third-party code. Review the repository files before installing.
What it does
dotnet-skills is a global .NET tool and a catalog of more than two hundred skills for the platform, from ASP.NET Core and Blazor to Orleans, MAUI and Semantic Kernel. The dotnet skills command opens a full-screen control center where skills are browsed by collection, compared by token weight and installed. The dotnet skills recommend command reads *.csproj, package.json and browser UI files and suggests matching skills. The dotnet skills install --auto command installs what it finds right away, and the --prune flag removes stale auto-installed ones. Skills land in the agent's folders: .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/, .github/skills/, .gemini/skills/, .junie/skills/ or the shared .agents/skills/, globally or per project. A separate line of the catalog is routers. Each is described in an AGENT.md file and directs a general task, such as an EF Core migration or a build diagnosis, to the right skills. Routers are installed by a second tool, dotnet-agents or agents, with agents install router --auto.
Who it is for. Developers on .NET who work with Claude Code, Codex, Copilot or Gemini CLI and are tired of outdated patterns like Startup.cs in a Minimal API project.
Good fit when
- The agent produces Entity Framework 6 code in a modern .NET project and needs current rules
- A new repository needs skills for the NuGet packages it already uses, without picking by hand
- The solution is built on Orleans or Aspire and the agent needs a specialist for grain boundaries and AppHost wiring
- Before installing you want to gauge the skills' weight in tokens: dotnet skills catalog tokens exports a number per skill as JSON
- Installed skills are stale and need updating with one command, dotnet skills update
Not a fit when
- The project is not .NET: the whole catalog belongs to the .NET ecosystem and adjacent browser UI
- You need a single skill without installing the tool: the catalog lives in the repository and the folder you need can be copied into the agent's folder by hand
- The agent is not on the list: the path table names Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Codex, Junie and Grok Build, and the shared .agents/skills/ remains for the rest
Example request
Look at the *.csproj files, pick dotnet-skills for the project's packages and show what would be installed before installing anything.Limitations
The tool installs as a global dotnet tool from NuGet and requires a .NET SDK; the description names .NET 10 and later. The catalog is downloaded by dotnet skills sync.
A good share of the skills is imported nightly from third-party repositories, including dotnet/skills and BlazingFastDotnet, so quality and licenses of such skills are inherited from the sources.
Heavy bundles eat the agent's context: each skill's token weight is shown in the control center, and unneeded ones are best left out.
How to disable. dotnet skills remove <skill> removes one skill, and dotnet skills remove --all deletes every catalog skill from the selected folder. The tool itself is removed with dotnet tool uninstall --global dotnet-skills.
FAQ
How do I install dotnet-skills?
Run dotnet tool install --global dotnet-skills and launch dotnet skills to open the control center. For installation by project files there is dotnet skills install --auto.
Where do the skills go?
Into the chosen agent's folders: for Claude that is ~/.claude/skills/ globally and .claude/skills/ per project, for Codex ~/.codex/skills/ and .codex/skills/, for Copilot ~/.copilot/skills/ and .github/skills/. If the project has .agents/, auto-install uses its skills/ folder.
How does dotnet skills differ from dotnet agents?
dotnet skills installs skills with detailed instructions, while dotnet agents installs routers that direct a general task to skills. Routers have two equal wrappers, dotnet-agents and agents, with identical commands.
What does dotnet skills install --auto do?
It reads *.csproj, package.json and browser UI files, finds strong signals of packages and app models and installs matching skills. With --prune it removes auto-installed skills that no longer fit the project.
How do I update installed skills?
dotnet skills update brings installed skills to the version in the selected catalog, and dotnet skills sync downloads the latest catalog. dotnet skills version shows the tool version and the latest one on NuGet.
Discussion
No questions or reviews yet.
Related
CLI toolsskills-npm links agent skills shipped in your dependencies in node_modules and listed in the skills field of package.json
Over 1,100 ready-made skills for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Cursor, plus an MCP server that picks a skill for the task
A set of Claude Code and Codex skills and subagents for professional .NET development: C#, Akka.NET, Aspire, EF Core, testing and performance
The author's personal set: shared agent rules and dozens of skills for GitHub, the browser, macOS, messaging and releases, plus a sync script
Tech Leads Club Agent Skills
Agent Skills
A vetted skill registry with a CLI that installs into twenty-plus agents and an MCP server for on-demand skill lookup
A set of independent skills against drift in large codebases: hard-cut, root-cause tracing, lean testing and CI right-sizing.
Comparison with similar tools
Cards that share the main search query, and how they differ.
| Tool | Official | Repository stars | Main difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| dotnet-skills: a skill installer for .NET (this card) | no | 507 | |
| dotnet-artisan | no | 236 | a single Claude Code plugin with ten skills and fourteen specialist agents |
| dotnet-claude-kit | no | 805 | a Claude Code plugin with rules, hooks and a Roslyn-based MCP server |
README in short
The catalog lives in catalog/ by type: Frameworks, Libraries, Platform, Testing and Tools, with a skill summary in catalog/skills.json. Every skill has its own folder with SKILL.md, and routers have AGENT.md. Upstream watch files and a nightly sync track the state of sources.