Migrate Skills Between LibrariesSAFE

Universal skill installer and package manager for AI coding agents. One command, 12+ runtimes. npx ai-agent-skills

The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.

---
name: migrate-skills-between-libraries
description: Use when moving skills between library workspaces or upgrading from a personal library to a team library. Export from one workspace, import into another.
category: workflow
version: 4.1.0
---

# Migrate Skills Between Libraries

## Goal

Move skills from one library workspace to another without losing metadata, breaking dependencies, or duplicating entries.

## Guardrails

- Always use `--dry-run` before any mutating command in the target workspace.
- Always use `--list` to inspect the source library before importing.
- Always use `--format json` for structured output when scripting migrations.
- Never import skills without checking for name collisions in the target workspace first.
- Always run `build-docs` in the target workspace after migration.

## Workflow

### Export: Identify skills to migrate from the source library

1. List all skills in the source workspace.

```bash
cd /path/to/source-library
npx ai-agent-skills list --format json --fields name,tier,workArea,collections
```

2. For house copies, note the skill folder paths. For upstream picks, note the installSource.

### Import: Add skills to the target workspace

3. For house copies, use `vendor` to copy the skill folder into the target:

```bash
cd /path/to/target-library
npx ai-agent-skills vendor /path/to/source-library --skill <name> --area <workArea> --branch <branch> --why "Migrated from source library." --dry-run
npx ai-agent-skills vendor /path/to/source-library --skill <name> --area <workArea> --branch <branch> --why "Migrated from source library."
```

4. For upstream picks, use `catalog` to re-catalog from the original source:

```bash
npx ai-agent-skills catalog <owner>/<repo> --skill <name> --area <workArea> --branch <branch> --why "Migrated from source library." --dry-run
npx ai-agent-skills catalog <owner>/<repo> --skill <name> --area <workArea> --branch <branch> --why "Migrated from source library."
```

5. Rebuild docs in the target workspace.

```bash
npx ai-agent-skills build-docs
```

6. Validate the target workspace.

```bash
npx ai-agent-skills validate
```

## Gotchas

- Skill names must be unique per workspace. Check for collisions before importing.
- House copies are full folder copies — the source and target are independent after migration.
- Upstream picks re-catalog from the original upstream source, not the intermediate library.
- Dependencies (`requires` field) must also be migrated. Check `info --format json` for each skill's dependency graph.
- Collection membership does not transfer automatically. Use `curate --collection <id>` to add migrated skills to target collections.

SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.

What the source does

Filesystem

none-observed

Network

none-observed

Shell

none-observed

Dependencies

pinned

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none-found

Findings (0)

No findings outside the package's declared scope.

Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.