Gemini CLI — Skills
- File format
- Markdown
- Discovery paths
-
.gemini/skills,.agents/skills - Global install path
-
~/.gemini/skills - Syllago install method
- Symlink, Direct copy
- Symlink support
- Yes
- Native frontmatter fields
-
name,description
Features
How each feature converts to syllago's canonical format. See format conversion for what these statuses mean.
Fields
Native frontmatter or config fields this provider exposes. The first column is the provider's own field name; the canonical key column links to syllago's cross-provider equivalent.
| Provider field | Conversion | Canonical key | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
description | Translated Conversion type: Translated Actively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion. Learn more → | description | yaml frontmatter key: description (required); documents what the skill does and when Gemini should use it — drives auto-invocation decisions |
name | Translated Conversion type: Translated Actively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion. Learn more → | display_name | yaml frontmatter key: name (required); value should match the skill's directory name |
skills.disabled | Not portable Conversion type: Not portable Unique to this provider — can’t be carried across providers. Learn more → | — | settings.json skills object supports an enabled boolean (default: true) to toggle the entire skill system, and a disabled string array to suppress individual skills by name without removing them. |
Other features
Behaviors, conventions, and capabilities that aren't tied to a single named field — things like path-based activation, discovery rules, and lifecycle behavior.
| Feature | Conversion | Summary |
|---|---|---|
canonical_filename | Translated Conversion type: Translated Actively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion. Learn more → | SKILL.md (required, fixed name) |
global_scope | Translated Conversion type: Translated Actively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion. Learn more → | ~/.gemini/skills/<name>/SKILL.md |
project_scope | Translated Conversion type: Translated Actively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion. Learn more → | .gemini/skills/<name>/SKILL.md |
| .agents/skills/ directory alias | Preserved Conversion type: Preserved Syntax survives conversion but the target provider may not interpret it. Learn more → | .agents/skills/ is accepted as an alias for .gemini/skills/ (and ~/.agents/skills/ for ~/.gemini/skills/), providing compatibility with other agent tools following the Agent Skills standard. |
| Supporting file directories | Preserved Conversion type: Preserved Syntax survives conversion but the target provider may not interpret it. Learn more → | Optional scripts/, references/, and assets/ subdirectories alongside SKILL.md for organizing executable scripts, static docs, and templates. |
| Built-in skill-creator skill | Not portable Conversion type: Not portable Unique to this provider — can’t be carried across providers. Learn more → | Bundled skill that scaffolds new skill directories with SKILL.md and standard subdirectories from a natural language prompt. |
| gemini skills CLI subcommands | Not portable Conversion type: Not portable Unique to this provider — can’t be carried across providers. Learn more → | gemini skills install <url> installs a skill from a Git repository; gemini skills link . symlinks a local skill directory into the user skills path for iterative development; node scripts/package_skill.cjs packages a skill as a .skill zip file. |
Sources
| Source |
|---|
| https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/main/docs/cli/creating-skills.md |