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File Structure

Directory layout and file locations for skillshare.

Overview​

~/.config/skillshare/
├── config.yaml              # Configuration file
├── skills/                  # Source directory
│   ├── my-skill/            # Regular skill
│   │   ├── SKILL.md         # Skill definition (required)
│   │   └── .skillshare.yaml # Install metadata (auto-generated)
│   ├── code-review/         # Another skill
│   │   └── SKILL.md
│   └── _team-skills/        # Tracked repository
│       ├── .git/            # Git history preserved
│       ├── frontend/
│       │   └── ui/
│       │       └── SKILL.md
│       └── backend/
│           └── api/
│               └── SKILL.md
└── backups/                 # Backup directory
    ├── 2026-01-20_15-30-00/
    │   ├── claude/
    │   └── cursor/
    └── 2026-01-19_10-00-00/
        └── claude/

Configuration File​

Location​

~/.config/skillshare/config.yaml

Windows:

%USERPROFILE%\.config\skillshare\config.yaml

Contents​

source: ~/.config/skillshare/skills
mode: merge
targets:
  claude:
    path: ~/.claude/skills
  cursor:
    path: ~/.cursor/skills
ignore:
  - "**/.DS_Store"
  - "**/.git/**"

See Configuration for full reference.

Source Directory​

Location​

~/.config/skillshare/skills/

Windows:

%USERPROFILE%\.config\skillshare\skills\

Structure​

skills/
├── skill-name/              # Skill directory
│   ├── SKILL.md             # Required: skill definition
│   ├── .skillshare.yaml     # Optional: install metadata
│   ├── examples/            # Optional: example files
│   └── templates/           # Optional: code templates
└── _tracked-repo/           # Tracked repository
    ├── .git/                # Git history
    └── ...                  # Skill subdirectories

Skill Files​

SKILL.md (Required)​

The skill definition file:

---
name: skill-name
description: Brief description
---

# Skill Name

Instructions for the AI...

See Skill Format for details.

.skillshare.yaml (Auto-generated)​

Metadata about where the skill was installed from:

source: github.com/org/repo/path/to/skill
installed_at: 2026-01-20T15:30:00Z
type: git

Don't edit this file manually. It's used by skillshare update.

Backup Directory​

Location​

~/.config/skillshare/backups/

Structure​

backups/
└── <timestamp>/             # YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS
    ├── claude/              # Backup of target
    │   ├── skill-a/
    │   └── skill-b/
    └── cursor/
        └── ...

Backups are created:

  • Automatically before sync and target remove
  • Manually via skillshare backup

Target Directories​

Targets are AI CLI skill directories. After sync, they contain symlinks to source:

~/.claude/skills/
├── my-skill -> ~/.config/skillshare/skills/my-skill
├── code-review -> ~/.config/skillshare/skills/code-review
└── local-only/              # Not symlinked (local skill in merge mode)

Merge mode​

Each skill is symlinked individually:

skill/ -> source/skill/

Entire directory is symlinked:

~/.claude/skills -> ~/.config/skillshare/skills/

Tracked Repositories​

Tracked repos (installed with --track) preserve git history:

_team-skills/
├── .git/                    # Git preserved
├── frontend/
│   └── ui/
│       └── SKILL.md
└── backend/
    └── api/
        └── SKILL.md

Naming conventions​

  • _ prefix: tracked repository
  • __ in flattened name: path separator

In source:

_team-skills/frontend/ui/SKILL.md

In target (flattened):

_team-skills__frontend__ui/SKILL.md

Platform Differences​

macOS / Linux​

ItemPath
Config~/.config/skillshare/config.yaml
Source~/.config/skillshare/skills/
Backups~/.config/skillshare/backups/
Link typeSymlinks

Windows​

ItemPath
Config%USERPROFILE%\.config\skillshare\config.yaml
Source%USERPROFILE%\.config\skillshare\skills\
Backups%USERPROFILE%\.config\skillshare\backups\
Link typeNTFS Junctions