sync
Push skills from source to all targets.
Command Overview
| Type | Command | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Local sync | sync / collect | Source ↔ Targets |
| Remote sync | push / pull | Source ↔ Git Remote |
sync= Distribute from Source to Targetscollect= Collect from Targets back to Sourcepush= Push to git remotepull= Pull from git remote and sync
Overview
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SYNC OPERATIONS │
│ │
│ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ Remote │ │
│ │ (git) │ │
│ └────┬─────┘ │
│ push ↑ │ ↓ pull │
│ │ │
│ ┌────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ SOURCE │ │
│ │ ~/.config/skillshare/skills/ │ │
│ └────────────────────────┬────────────────────────┘ │
│ sync ↓ │ ↑ collect │
│ ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────┐ │
│ ▼ ▼ ▼ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ Claude │ │ Cursor │ │ Codex │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ │
│ TARGETS │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| Command | Direction | Description |
|---|---|---|
sync | Source → Targets | Push skills to all targets |
collect <target> | Target → Source | Collect skills from target to source |
push | Source → Remote | Commit and push to git |
pull | Remote → Source → Targets | Pull from git, then sync |
Sync
Push skills from source to all targets.
skillshare sync # Sync to all targets
skillshare sync --dry-run # Preview changes
skillshare sync -n # Short form
What Happens
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ skillshare sync │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Backup targets (automatic) │
│ → ~/.config/skillshare/backups/2026-01-20_15-30-00/ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 2. For each target: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ merge mode: │ │
│ │ • Create symlink for each skill │ │
│ │ • Preserve local-only skills │ │
│ │ • Prune orphaned symlinks │ │
│ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │
│ │ symlink mode: │ │
│ │ • Replace entire directory with symlink │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 3. Report results │
│ ✓ claude: merged (5 linked, 2 local, 0 updated, 1 pruned) │
│ ✓ cursor: merged (5 linked, 0 local, 0 updated, 0 pruned) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Example Output
Collect
Collect skills from a target back to source.
skillshare collect claude # Collect from Claude
skillshare collect claude --dry-run # Preview
skillshare collect --all # Collect from all targets
When to use: You created/edited a skill directly in a target (e.g., ~/.claude/skills/) and want to bring it to source.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ skillshare collect claude │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Find skills in target that aren't symlinks │
│ → ~/.claude/skills/new-skill/ (local) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 2. Copy to source │
│ → ~/.config/skillshare/skills/new-skill/ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 3. Replace original with symlink │
│ ~/.claude/skills/new-skill → source/new-skill │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
After collecting:
skillshare collect claude
skillshare sync # ← Distribute to other targets
Pull
Pull from git remote and sync to all targets.
skillshare pull # Pull from git remote
skillshare pull --dry-run # Preview
When to use: You pushed changes from another machine and want to sync them here.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ skillshare pull │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. cd ~/.config/skillshare/skills │
│ git pull │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 2. skillshare sync (automatic) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Push
Commit and push source to git remote.
skillshare push # Auto-generated message
skillshare push -m "Add pdf" # Custom message
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ skillshare push -m "Add pdf skill" │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ cd ~/.config/skillshare/skills │
│ git add . │
│ git commit -m "Add pdf skill" │
│ git push │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Conflict handling:
- If remote is ahead,
pushfails → runpullfirst
Sync Modes
| Mode | Behavior | Use case |
|---|---|---|
merge | Each skill symlinked individually | Default. Preserves local skills. |
symlink | Entire directory is one symlink | Exact copies everywhere. |
Merge Mode (Default)
Source Target (claude)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
skills/ ~/.claude/skills/
├── my-skill/ ────────► ├── my-skill/ → (symlink)
├── another/ ────────► ├── another/ → (symlink)
└── ... ├── local-only/ (preserved)
└── ...
Symlink Mode
Source Target (claude)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
skills/ ────────► ~/.claude/skills → (symlink to source)
├── my-skill/
├── another/
└── ...
Change Mode
skillshare target claude --mode merge
skillshare target claude --mode symlink
skillshare sync # Apply change
Safety Warning
In symlink mode, deleting through target deletes source!
rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/my-skill # ❌ Deletes from SOURCE
skillshare target remove claude # ✅ Safe way to unlink
Backup
Backups are created automatically before sync and target remove.
Location: ~/.config/skillshare/backups/<timestamp>/
Manual Backup
skillshare backup # Backup all targets
skillshare backup claude # Backup specific target
skillshare backup --list # List all backups
skillshare backup --cleanup # Remove old backups
skillshare backup --dry-run # Preview
Example Output
$ skillshare backup --list
Backups
─────────────────────────────────────────
2026-01-20_15-30-00/
claude/ 5 skills, 2.1 MB
cursor/ 5 skills, 2.1 MB
2026-01-19_10-00-00/
claude/ 4 skills, 1.8 MB
Restore
Restore targets from backup.
skillshare restore claude # Latest backup
skillshare restore claude --from 2026-01-19_10-00-00 # Specific backup
skillshare restore claude --dry-run # Preview
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ skillshare restore claude │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Find latest backup for claude │
│ → backups/2026-01-20_15-30-00/claude/ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 2. Remove current target directory │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 3. Copy backup to target │
│ → ~/.claude/skills/ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Related
- status — Show sync state
- diff — Show differences
- Targets — Manage targets
- Cross-Machine Sync — Sync across computers
- install — Install skills