Gemini CLI Skillz — Design skill for Claude Code

Gemini CLI Skills Extension

Run Anthropic-style Agent Skills in Gemini CLI using the [skillz MCP server](https://github.com/intellectronica/skillz).

Installation

gemini extensions install https://github.com/intellectronica/gemini-cli-skillz

**Note**: If the GitHub release download fails with a 415 error, answer "Y" when prompted to install via git clone instead.

Setup

1. **Create skills directory** (if using default):

   mkdir -p ~/.skillz

   **Or, if you already use Claude Code skills**, create a symbolic link:

   ln -s ~/.claude/skills ~/.skillz

   This allows you to share the same skills directory between Claude Code and Gemini CLI without copying files or modifying the extension configuration.

2. **Add skills** to the directory. Each skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file.

3. **Restart Gemini CLI** to load the skills.

Example: Installing Anthropic Skills

cd ~/.skillz

# Clone specific skills from Anthropic's repository
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse \
  https://github.com/anthropics/skills.git temp
cd temp
git sparse-checkout set document-skills/pdf
mv document-skills/pdf ../
cd ..
rm -rf temp

Using Skills

Skills are invoked automatically based on your task. Example:

> Extract form fields from this PDF
[Gemini invokes the pdf skill automatically]

Configuration

The extension uses `~/.skillz` as the default skills directory (skillz's built-in default).

Using a Custom Skills Directory

To use a different skills directory, edit the extension configuration:

**Edit `~/.gemini/extensions/skillz/gemini-extension.json`** and add your custom path to the args array:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skillz": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "skillz@latest",
        "/absolute/path/to/your/skills",
        "--verbose"
      ]
    }
  }
}

**Important notes:**

• Use an absolute path (e.g., /Users/you/my-skills)
• Tilde (~) won't