# Skill Lookup > 1. Search for skills matching the user's request using search_skills Parent: [Claude Code Skills](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/claude-code-skills/) · 14 facets · 63 facts · page: https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/ ## Workflow - Search for skills matching the user's request using search_skills — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#workflow) - Present results with title, description, author, and file list — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#workflow) - If the user picks a skill, retrieve it with get_skill to get all files — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#workflow) - Install by saving files to .claude/skills/{slug}/ and verify the SKILL.md exists — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#workflow) - Confirm installation and explain what the skill does and when it activates — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#workflow) ## Available Tools - Use these prompts.chat MCP tools: — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#available-tools) - search_skills - Search for skills by keyword — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#available-tools) - get_skill - Get a specific skill by ID with all its files — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#available-tools) ## How to Search for Skills - Call search_skills with: — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-search-for-skills) - query: The search keywords from the user's request — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-search-for-skills) - limit: Number of results (default 10, max 50) — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-search-for-skills) - category: Filter by category slug (e.g., "coding", "automation") — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-search-for-skills) - tag: Filter by tag slug — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-search-for-skills) - Present results showing: — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-search-for-skills) - Title and description — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-search-for-skills) - File list (SKILL.md, reference docs, scripts) — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-search-for-skills) ## How to Get a Skill - Call get_skill with: — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-get-a-skill) - Returns the skill metadata and all file contents: — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-get-a-skill) - SKILL.md (main instructions) — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-get-a-skill) - Reference documentation — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-get-a-skill) ## How to Install a Skill - When the user asks to install a skill: — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-install-a-skill) - Call get_skill to retrieve all files — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-install-a-skill) - Create the directory .claude/skills/{slug}/ — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-install-a-skill) - Save each file to the appropriate location: — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-install-a-skill) - SKILL.md → .claude/skills/{slug}/SKILL.md — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-install-a-skill) - Other files → .claude/skills/{slug}/{filename} — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-install-a-skill) - Read back SKILL.md to verify the frontmatter is intact — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#how-to-install-a-skill) ## Guidelines - Always search before suggesting the user create their own skill — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#guidelines) - Present search results in a readable format with file counts — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#guidelines) - When installing, confirm the skill was saved successfully — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#guidelines) - Explain what the skill does and when it activates — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup/#guidelines) ## Where this helps - A user asks for a capability Claude doesn't have installed as a skill, and you need to search the prompts.chat registry before writing one from scratch. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Confirming whether a similar skill already exists before recommending the user build a custom one. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Installing a skill's full file set (SKILL.md plus reference docs) into .claude/skills/{slug}/ so it becomes available in a project. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Filtering skill search results by category (e.g. "coding", "automation") when a broad keyword search returns too many irrelevant hits. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* ## Project ideas - Build a small wrapper flow that always calls search_skills before suggesting a user hand-roll a new skill, and only falls back to authoring one when the search comes back empty. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Write a script that batches get_skill calls for a shortlist of candidate skills and diffs their file lists before deciding which one to install. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Build an installer helper that automates the "create .claude/skills/{slug}/, save each file, verify SKILL.md exists" sequence so a human doesn't have to do it by hand. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Add a post-install verification step that confirms the installed skill activates on its documented triggers before telling the user it's ready. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* ## Antipatterns - Recommending the user write a new skill from scratch without first running search_skills, missing an existing skill that already covers the request. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Installing a skill's files without verifying SKILL.md exists at the end, leaving a broken or partial skill directory that won't load. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Presenting raw search_skills output without title, description, author, and file list, leaving the user unable to judge whether a result actually fits their need. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Skipping the confirm-and-explain step after install — a silently-installed skill the user doesn't understand when it activates is as unhelpful as no skill at all. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* ## Known issues - Search results depend on how well the prompts.chat registry's keyword and category metadata match the user's phrasing; an oddly-worded query can miss a relevant skill that exists under different terminology. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - The default result limit (10, max 50) means a very broad query can silently truncate the candidate list before a good match is reached. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Installing a skill only copies its files into .claude/skills/{slug}/ — it does not vet the skill's content for quality or accuracy, so an installed skill can still be wrong or poorly written. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - This tool only searches and installs from the prompts.chat registry, so it has no visibility into locally-authored skills or other marketplaces. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* ## Where this helps - A user asks for a capability Claude doesn't have installed as a skill, and you need to search the prompts.chat registry before writing one from scratch. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Confirming whether a similar skill already exists before recommending the user build a custom one. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Installing a skill's full file set (SKILL.md plus reference docs) into .claude/skills/{slug}/ so it becomes available in a project. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Filtering skill search results by category (e.g. "coding", "automation") when a broad keyword search returns too many irrelevant hits. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* ## Project ideas - Build a small wrapper flow that always calls search_skills before suggesting a user hand-roll a new skill, and only falls back to authoring one when the search comes back empty. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Write a script that batches get_skill calls for a shortlist of candidate skills and diffs their file lists before deciding which one to install. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Build an installer helper that automates the "create .claude/skills/{slug}/, save each file, verify SKILL.md exists" sequence so a human doesn't have to do it by hand. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Add a post-install verification step that confirms the installed skill activates on its documented triggers before telling the user it's ready. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* ## Antipatterns - Recommending the user write a new skill from scratch without first running search_skills, missing an existing skill that already covers the request. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Installing a skill's files without verifying SKILL.md exists at the end, leaving a broken or partial skill directory that won't load. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Presenting raw search_skills output without title, description, author, and file list, leaving the user unable to judge whether a result actually fits their need. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Skipping the confirm-and-explain step after install — a silently-installed skill the user doesn't understand when it activates is as unhelpful as no skill at all. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* ## Known issues - Search results depend on how well the prompts.chat registry's keyword and category metadata match the user's phrasing; an oddly-worded query can miss a relevant skill that exists under different terminology. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - The default result limit (10, max 50) means a very broad query can silently truncate the candidate list before a good match is reached. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - Installing a skill only copies its files into .claude/skills/{slug}/ — it does not vet the skill's content for quality or accuracy, so an installed skill can still be wrong or poorly written. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* - This tool only searches and installs from the prompts.chat registry, so it has no visibility into locally-authored skills or other marketplaces. — [source](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/skill-lookup/) *(AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.)* ## Context files - [Skill Lookup](https://llms-explorer.com/downloads/sources/mdb-context-hub/skill-lookup.md)