Manage MTHDS packages

Initialize, configure exports, list, and validate MTHDS packages using the mthds-agent CLI.

Process

Step 0 — CLI Check (mandatory, do this FIRST)

Run mthds-agent --version. The minimum required version is 0.1.0 (declared in this skill's front matter as min_mthds_version).

• If the command is not found: STOP. Do not proceed. Tell the user:

The mthds-agent CLI is required but not installed. Install it with:

npm install -g mthds

Then re-run this skill.

• If the version is below 0.1.0: STOP. Do not proceed. Tell the user:

This skill requires mthds-agent version 0.1.0 or higher (found X.Y.Z). Upgrade with:

npm install -g mthds@latest

Then re-run this skill.

• If the version is 0.1.0 or higher: proceed to the next step.

Do not write .mthds files manually, do not scan for existing methods, do not do any other work. The CLI is required for validation, formatting, and execution — without it the output will be broken.

No backend setup needed: This skill works without configuring inference backends or API keys. You can start building/validating methods right away. Backend configuration is only needed to run methods with live inference — use /pipelex-setup when you're ready.

1. Initialize a package

Create a METHODS.toml manifest:

mthds-agent package init --address <address> --version <version> --description <description> -C <pkg-dir>

Required flags:

Flag	Purpose	Example
--address	Package address (hostname/path format)	github.com/org/repo
--version	Package version (semver)	1.0.0
--description	Package description	"My method package"

Optional flags:

Flag	Purpose	Example
--authors	Comma-separated list of authors	"Alice, Bob"
--license	License identifier	MIT
--name	Method name (2-25 lowercase chars)	my-tool
--display-name	Human-readable display name (max 128 chars)	"My Tool"
--main-pipe	Main pipe code (snake_case)	extract_data
--force	Overwrite existing METHODS.toml	—

2. Configure exports

Exports declare which pipes the package makes available to consumers. They are organized by domain in METHODS.toml:

[exports.restaurant_analysis]
pipes = ["present_restaurant", "extract_menu", "analyze_menu"]

To configure exports:

1. Read the .mthds bundle(s) in the package to find the domain codes and pipe codes defined inside them
2. Edit METHODS.toml to add an [exports.<domain>] section for each domain, listing the pipe codes to export

Rules:

• The main_pipe of each bundle is auto-exported — you do not need to list it unless you want to be explicit
• Concepts are always public and do not need to be listed in exports
• Each [exports.<domain>] section requires a pipes key with a list of pipe code strings

3. List package manifest

Display the current package manifest:

mthds-agent package list -C <pkg-dir>

4. Validate package manifest

Validate the METHODS.toml package manifest:

mthds-agent package validate -C <pkg-dir>

Note: mthds-agent package validate validates the METHODS.toml package manifest. To validate .mthds bundle semantics, use mthds-agent pipelex validate bundle (see /mthds-check skill).

The -C option

All mthds-agent package commands accept -C <path> (long: --package-dir) to target a package directory other than the shell's current working directory. This is essential when the agent's CWD differs from the package location.

# From any directory, target a specific package
mthds-agent package init --address github.com/org/repo --version 1.0.0 --description "My package" -C mthds-wip/restaurant_presenter/
mthds-agent package validate -C mthds-wip/restaurant_presenter/

If -C is omitted, commands default to the current working directory.

Common Workflows

Starting a new package:

1. mthds-agent package init --address <address> --version <version> --description <desc> -C <pkg-dir> — create the manifest
2. Read .mthds bundles in the package to extract domain codes and pipe codes
3. Edit METHODS.toml to set the correct [exports.<domain>] sections
4. mthds-agent package validate -C <pkg-dir> — validate the manifest

Reference

• Error Handling — read when CLI returns an error to determine recovery
• MTHDS Agent Guide — read for CLI command syntax or output format details