Curate A Team Library

Goal

Build a managed skills library that another teammate or agent can actually browse, trust, and install.

Do not hand-edit skills.json, README.md, or WORK_AREAS.md when the CLI already has the mutation you need.

First Move

Start with a managed workspace.

npx ai-agent-skills init-library <name>
cd <name>

Ask at most 3 short questions before acting:

what kinds of work the library needs to support
whether the first pass should stay small and opinionated or aim broader
whether the output should stay local or end as a shareable GitHub repo

Shelf System

Use these 5 work areas as the shelf system:

frontend: web UI, browser work, design systems, visual polish
backend: APIs, data, security, infrastructure, runtime systems
mobile: iOS, Android, React Native, Expo, device testing, app delivery
workflow: docs, testing, release work, files, research, planning
agent-engineering: prompts, evals, tools, orchestration, agent runtime design

Map the user's stack to shelves before adding anything.

Example: React Native + Node backend maps to mobile + backend.
Add workflow only when testing, release, docs, or research are real parts of the job.
Add agent-engineering only when the team is doing AI features, prompts, evals, or tooling.
Make sure the first pass covers every primary shelf the user explicitly named.

Discovery Loop

Browse before curating.

npx ai-agent-skills list --area <work-area>
npx ai-agent-skills search <query>
npx ai-agent-skills collections

If the user named multiple primary shelves, inspect each one before choosing skills.

Mutation Rules

Keep the first pass small: around 3 to 8 skills.

Use add first for bundled picks and simple GitHub imports.
Use catalog when you want an upstream entry without copying files into skills/.
Use vendor only for true house copies the team wants to edit or own locally.

Every mutation must include explicit curator metadata like --area, --branch, and --why.

Good branch names:

React Native / UI
React Native / QA
Node / APIs
Node / Data
Docs / Release

Bad branch names:

stuff
misc
notes

Writing Good `whyHere`

whyHere is curator judgment, not filler.

Mention the stack or workflow it supports.
Mention the gap it fills in this library.
Be honest about why it belongs here.

Good:

Covers React Native testing so the mobile shelf has a real device-validation option.

Bad:

I want this on my shelf.

Featured Picks

Use --featured sparingly.

keep it to about 2 to 3 featured skills per shelf
reserve it for skills you would tell a new teammate to install first

Collections

After the library has about 5 to 8 solid picks, create a starter-pack collection.

Use --collection starter-pack while adding new skills.
Or use npx ai-agent-skills curate <skill> --collection starter-pack for existing entries.
Keep the collection small and onboarding-friendly.

Sanity Check

Before finishing:

npx ai-agent-skills list --area <work-area>
npx ai-agent-skills collections
npx ai-agent-skills build-docs

Run list --area for each primary shelf you touched.
If you created starter-pack, confirm the install command looks right.
Make sure the final shelf mix still matches the user's actual stack.

Finish

Return:

what you added
which shelves you used and why
which skills are featured
what starter-pack contains, if you created one
whether the library is local-only or ready to share

curate-a-team-library