extras

Manage non-skill resources (rules, commands, prompts, etc.) that are synced alongside skills.

Overview

Extras are additional resource types managed by skillshare — think of them as "skills for non-skill content." Common use cases include syncing AI rules, editor commands, or prompt templates across tools.

Each extra has:

• A name (e.g., rules, prompts, commands)
• A source directory — configurable via extras_source or per-extra source, defaults to ~/.config/skillshare/extras/<name>/ (global) or .skillshare/extras/<name>/ (project)
• One or more targets where files are synced to

Commands

extras init

Create a new extra resource type.

# Interactive wizard
skillshare extras init

# CLI flags
skillshare extras init <name> --target <path> [--target <path2>] [--mode <mode>]

Options:

Flag	Description
--target <path>	Target directory path (repeatable)
--mode <mode>	Sync mode: merge (default), copy, or symlink
--flatten	Sync files from subdirectories directly into the target root (cannot be used with symlink mode)
--source <path>	Custom source directory for this extra (overrides extras_source and default; global mode only)
--force	Overwrite if extra already exists
--no-tui	Skip interactive wizard, use CLI flags only
--project, -p	Create in project config (.skillshare/)
--global, -g	Create in global config

note

--source is only supported in global mode. Project mode always uses .skillshare/extras/<name>/ as the source directory.

Examples:

# Sync rules to Claude and Cursor
skillshare extras init rules --target ~/.claude/rules --target ~/.cursor/rules

# Use a custom source directory
skillshare extras init rules --target ~/.claude/rules --source ~/company-shared/rules

# Overwrite an existing extra with new targets
skillshare extras init rules --target ~/.cursor/rules --force

# Project-scoped extra with copy mode
skillshare extras init prompts --target .claude/prompts --mode copy -p

# Sync agents flat (tools like Claude Code only discover flat files)
skillshare extras init agents --target ~/.claude/agents --flatten

extras list

List all configured extras and their sync status. Launches an interactive TUI by default.

skillshare extras list [--json] [--no-tui] [-p|-g]

Options:

Flag	Description
--json	JSON output (includes source_type: per-extra / extras_source / default, and a per-target extension field when set)
--no-tui	Disable interactive TUI, use plain text output
--project, -p	Use project-mode extras (.skillshare/)
--global, -g	Use global extras (~/.config/skillshare/)

Interactive TUI

The TUI provides a split-pane interface with extras list on the left and detail panel on the right. Key bindings:

Key	Action
↑↓	Navigate list
/	Filter by name
Enter	Content viewer (browse source files)
N	Create new extra
X	Remove extra (with confirmation)
S	Sync extra to target(s)
C	Collect from target(s)
M	Change sync mode of a target
F	Toggle flatten on/off for a target
Ctrl+U/D	Scroll detail panel
q / Ctrl+C	Quit

The color bar on each row reflects aggregate sync status: cyan = all synced, yellow = drift, red = not synced, gray = no source.

For extras with multiple targets, S, C, M, and F open a target sub-menu. S and C allow selecting all targets at once; M and F require picking a specific target.

The TUI can be permanently disabled with skillshare tui off.

Plain text output

When TUI is disabled (via --no-tui, skillshare tui off, or piped output):

$ skillshare extras list --no-tui

Extras
─────────────────────────────────────────
→ rules  ~/.config/skillshare/extras/rules/ · 2 files
  ✓ ~/.claude/rules  merge
  ✓ ~/.cursor/rules  copy

→ codex-agents  ~/.config/skillshare/agents · 3 files
  ✓ ~/.codex/agents  extension: codex-agents

A synced row shows only its icon, path, and mode; non-synced rows append a status word (drift, not synced, no source). Targets with a transform extension are labeled extension: <name> in place of the sync mode (their underlying mode is always copy).

extras source

Show or set the global extras_source directory. This is the default parent directory where extras source files are stored.

skillshare extras source            # show current value
skillshare extras source <path>     # set new value

Without arguments, displays the current extras_source path (with (default) if auto-detected). With a path argument, updates extras_source in the global config.

note

This command is global-only. Project mode always uses .skillshare/extras/ and does not support extras_source.

Examples:

# Show current extras_source
skillshare extras source

# Set to a shared directory
skillshare extras source ~/company-shared/extras

Operating on an existing extra

Change a target's sync mode or flatten setting, or add/remove a target — all via flags on extras <name>. These are config-only; run skillshare sync extras afterward to apply changes on disk.

skillshare extras <name> --mode <mode> [--target <path>] [-p|-g]
skillshare extras <name> --flatten | --no-flatten [--target <path>]
skillshare extras <name> --add-target <path> [--mode <mode>] [--flatten] [-p|-g]
skillshare extras <name> --remove-target <path> [--prune] [-p|-g]

Options:

Flag	Description
--mode <mode>	New sync mode: merge, copy, or symlink
--flatten	Enable flatten (sync subdirectory files into target root)
--no-flatten	Disable flatten
--add-target <path>	Add a new target to the extra
--remove-target <path>	Remove a target from the extra (config-only by default)
--prune	With --remove-target: also delete skillshare-managed files under that target
--target <path>	Target directory path (required for --mode with multi-target extras; --flatten/--no-flatten applies to all targets when omitted)
--project, -p	Use project-mode extras (.skillshare/)
--global, -g	Use global extras (~/.config/skillshare/)

Examples:

# Change rules mode (single target — auto-resolved)
skillshare extras rules --mode copy

# Specify target explicitly (required for multi-target extras)
skillshare extras rules --mode copy --target ~/.claude/rules

# Enable / disable flatten on all targets at once
skillshare extras agents --flatten
skillshare extras agents --no-flatten

# Add a new target to an existing extra (then sync)
skillshare extras rules --add-target ~/.cursor/rules
skillshare extras commands --add-target ~/.config/opencode/commands --mode copy

# Remove a target (leaves synced files in place)
skillshare extras rules --remove-target ~/.cursor/rules

# Remove a target and delete its synced files
skillshare extras rules --remove-target ~/.cursor/rules --prune

Also available via the TUI (M key) and Web UI (mode dropdown and flatten checkbox on each target).

extras remove

Remove an extra from configuration.

skillshare extras remove <name> [--force] [-p|-g]

Source files and synced targets are not deleted — only the config entry is removed.

extras collect

Collect local files from a target back into the extras source directory. Files are copied to source and replaced with symlinks.

skillshare extras collect <name> [--from <path>] [--dry-run] [-p|-g]

Options:

Flag	Description
--from <path>	Target directory to collect from (required if multiple targets)
--dry-run	Show what would be collected without making changes

Example:

# Collect rules from Claude back to source
skillshare extras collect rules --from ~/.claude/rules

# Preview what would be collected
skillshare extras collect rules --from ~/.claude/rules --dry-run

---

Sync Modes

Mode	Behavior
merge (default)	Per-file symlinks from target to source
copy	Per-file copies
symlink	Entire directory symlink

When switching modes (e.g., from merge to copy), the next sync automatically replaces existing symlinks with the new mode's format. No --force is needed — symlinks are always safe to replace. Regular files created locally require --force to overwrite.

---

Flatten

Some AI tools (e.g., Claude Code's /agents) only discover files at the top level of their config directory — they do not recurse into subdirectories. If your extras source uses subdirectories for organization, synced files will be invisible to the tool.

The flatten option solves this by syncing all files directly into the target root, regardless of their subdirectory depth in the source:

extras:
  - name: agents
    targets:
      - path: ~/.claude/agents
        flatten: true

Behavior:

• flatten: true: source/curriculum/tactician.md → target/tactician.md
• flatten: false (default): source/curriculum/tactician.md → target/curriculum/tactician.md

Filename collisions: When two files in different subdirectories share the same name (e.g., team-a/agent.md and team-b/agent.md), the first file wins (sorted alphabetically by path). Subsequent collisions are skipped with a warning.

Constraints:

• Only works with merge and copy modes — cannot be used with symlink mode
• collect places newly collected files in the source root (no subdirectory mapping for new files)

---

Extension transforms

Some tools do not read markdown. Gemini CLI expects TOML commands; Codex CLI expects TOML agents. The extension field on a target runs an external script that converts each source file into the target's native format during sync.

extras:
  - name: commands
    targets:
      - path: .claude/commands        # no extension — synced as-is
      - path: .gemini/commands
        extension: gemini-commands           # transform during sync

Resolution — a bare name resolves under the extensions directory (~/.config/skillshare/extensions/<name> global, .skillshare/extensions/<name> project); a path (./x.sh, /abs/x) is used directly.

Copy semantics — extension implies copy mode. Setting mode: merge or mode: symlink on a target with an extension is an error.

One-way — transforms run source → target only. extras collect skips extension targets.

Overwrite safety — generated output follows the same conflict rules as copy mode. A leftover symlink at an output path is replaced automatically; an existing regular file or directory you created locally is left untouched and skipped unless you pass --force (with --force, a conflicting directory is replaced wholesale by the generated file).

Extension layout

A single executable, or a directory with a manifest:

.skillshare/extensions/gemini-commands/
├── extension.yaml
├── convert.js        # mapping rules you edit
└── md-toml.js        # helper for markdown/frontmatter/TOML

extension.yaml:

run: ["node", "convert.js"]      # explicit command (argv), execed directly
output_ext: toml                  # .md → .toml; omit to keep the source extension
description: "Markdown command → Gemini CLI TOML"

A bare single-file executable (no manifest) is execed directly (relies on the shebang on Unix) and keeps the source extension. Transforms that rename the extension must use the directory form.

Execution contract

• Source file content is passed on stdin; the script writes the converted content to stdout.
• Environment variables: SS_SRC_PATH, SS_REL_PATH (path relative to the source root — useful for Gemini's /namespace:command naming), SS_TARGET_DIR, SS_MODE.
• A non-zero exit code marks that file as failed; other files continue.

Cross-platform

The mechanism is cross-platform; whether an extension runs depends on its interpreter. Because run is an explicit command, an extension written for node or python3 works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Pure bash scripts only run where a shell is available (Unix, or Windows with Git Bash). Node is the preferred interpreter for reference extensions because it ships uniformly across platforms.

Reference extensions

The skillshare repo ships example extensions under extensions/ (gemini-commands, codex-agents). Copy one into your extensions directory and adapt it — they are references, not installed automatically. Each reference extension keeps convert.js short so you edit only the field mapping; md-toml.js handles reading markdown, parsing simple frontmatter, and writing TOML.

Recipe: Codex agents

Codex CLI expects TOML agents rather than markdown. Because a source can point at any directory, you can reuse your agents source as an extras source and transform it with codex-agents:

extras:
  - name: codex-agents
    source: ~/.config/skillshare/agents   # reuse the agents source
    targets:
      - path: ~/.codex/agents
        extension: codex-agents

skillshare sync extras converts each <agent>.md into ~/.codex/agents/<agent>.toml, mapping frontmatter name, description, and model and folding the markdown body into developer_instructions (other frontmatter keys are dropped). The Codex custom agent schema requires name, description, and developer_instructions, so the reference transform reports a clear error when the resolved name, description, or Markdown body is blank. No separate copy of the agents is needed.

---

Directory Structure

~/.config/skillshare/
├── config.yaml          # extras config lives here
├── skills/              # skill source
└── extras/              # extras source root
    ├── rules/           # extras/rules/ source files
    │   ├── coding.md
    │   └── testing.md
    └── prompts/
        └── review.md

---

Configuration

In config.yaml:

# Optional: set a global default extras source directory
extras_source: ~/my-extras

extras:
  - name: rules
    source: ~/company-shared/rules    # optional per-extra override
    targets:
      - path: ~/.claude/rules
      - path: ~/.cursor/rules
        mode: copy
  - name: agents
    targets:
      - path: ~/.claude/agents
        flatten: true                  # sync subdirectory files flat
  - name: prompts
    targets:
      - path: ~/.claude/prompts

Source Resolution Priority

The source directory for each extra is resolved with three-level priority:

1. Per-extra source (highest) — exact path, used as-is
2. extras_source — <extras_source>/<name>/
3. Default — ~/.config/skillshare/extras/<name>/ (global) or .skillshare/extras/<name>/ (project)

The extras list --json output includes a source_type field (per-extra, extras_source, or default) indicating which level resolved the path.

Auto-populated

extras_source is automatically set to the default path (~/.config/skillshare/extras/) when you run skillshare init or create your first extra with extras init. To change it later, use skillshare extras source <path>.

---

Syncing

Extras are synced with:

skillshare sync extras        # sync extras only
skillshare sync --all         # sync skills + extras together

See sync extras for full sync documentation including --json, --dry-run, and --force options.

---

Workflow

# 1. Create a new extra
skillshare extras init rules --target ~/.claude/rules --target ~/.cursor/rules

# 1b. Or with a custom source directory
skillshare extras init rules --target ~/.claude/rules --source ~/my-rules

# 1c. Reconfigure an existing extra (overwrite)
skillshare extras init rules --target ~/.cursor/rules --force

# 2. Add files to the source directory
# (edit the resolved source dir — check with: skillshare extras list --json)

# 3. Sync to targets
skillshare sync extras

# 4. List status (source_type shows where each extra's source is resolved from)
skillshare extras list

# 5. Collect a file edited in a target back to source
skillshare extras collect rules --from ~/.claude/rules

# 6. Change the global extras source directory
skillshare extras source ~/company-shared/extras

---

See Also

• sync — Sync extras to targets
• status — Show extras file and target counts
• Configuration — Extras config reference