Import a skill

There are currently four direct ways to import an external skill.

  1. Open an existing skill share link from share.openworklabs.com
  2. Paste a skill into the share site, then import it
  3. Create a skill with Create skill in chat and paste the external skill into that flow
  4. Install a shared skill from your OpenWork Cloud organization in Skills -> Cloud or Settings -> Cloud

There is another option if you’re technical: place it directly in .opencode/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md inside your workspace. We recommend (1) and (3) because they match the built-in OpenWork flows most closely. For teams, OpenWork Cloud can publish shared skills either as standalone org skills or inside a skill hub. Each desktop workspace can install them from the Cloud tab on the Skills page or from Settings -> Cloud.

Installing a skill from OpenWork Cloud

If someone on your team saved a skill to your active OpenWork Cloud organization, open either Skills -> Cloud or Settings -> Cloud in the desktop app. From there you can:

  • click Install to add the skill to the current workspace
  • click Sync when the cloud version changes
  • click Uninstall if you no longer want the workspace-managed copy

If the skill belongs to a hub, OpenWork also shows the hub name so you know where it came from.

Importing an existing skill with a share URL

When you have an OpenWork share URL, click Open in OpenWork.

Then select the workspace where you want to install it (for example, the-factory).

Once the skill is installed, OpenWork prompts you to reload so it can load the new skill into your workspace.

After you reload the app, you can use the skill directly in that workspace:

Pasting a skill into the share site, then importing it

Start at the OpenWork share page without any skill loaded. Paste or upload the skill there, then click Generate link:

To import an external skill, the file needs to follow this structure:

---
name: name of the skill
description: one line description of what the skill does
---

Any markdown text with instructions and description of the skill

Make sure the file follows that format when importing skills from other marketplaces or other teams. That redirects you to the share page for the valid skill, and from there you can follow the steps from the previous section.

Creating a skill with /skill-creator in chat

Type /skill-creator in chat, then either paste the external skill you want to import or describe what you want the skill to do. OpenWork will generate a workspace-local skill from that input.