Skill Loader MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for discovering, fetching, validating, and converting Claude skills from the skills.sh marketplace and GitHub repositories.

What's New in v1.1.0

• skills.sh API integration: Search uses the /api/search?q=<query> endpoint — no authentication needed
• Authenticated endpoints: list_skills and get_leaderboard use the /api/v1/skills endpoint (requires SKILLS_SH_API_KEY)
• Smarter Power conversion: convert_to_power now generates mcp.json when a skill has dependencies or tool references, and creates a steering/ directory when a skill has 3+ complex sections
• MCP SDK upgrade: Updated to @modelcontextprotocol/sdk v1.29

Features

• Discover Skills — Browse and search the skills.sh marketplace via its public search API
• Fetch Skills — Download raw skill content directly from GitHub
• Security Validation — Scan skills for dangerous commands, suspicious patterns, and code injection
• Format Conversion — Convert skills to Kiro steering files or power format (with optional mcp.json and steering/ directory)
• Complete Workflow — Import skills end-to-end with a single command (fetch + validate + convert)

Installation

Global Installation

npm install -g @goldzulu/skill-loader-mcp-server

Local Installation

npm install @goldzulu/skill-loader-mcp-server

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
SKILLS_SH_API_KEY	For list_skills and get_leaderboard only	API key for the skills.sh authenticated /api/v1/skills endpoint. Request from Vercel if needed. Not required for search_skills.

With Kiro

Add to your mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skill-loader": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@goldzulu/skill-loader-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SKILLS_SH_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      },
      "description": "Skill Loader MCP Server for managing Claude skills"
    }
  }
}

With Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skill-loader": {
      "command": "skill-loader-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "SKILLS_SH_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

The env block is optional — only needed if you want to use list_skills or get_leaderboard.

Standalone

skill-loader-mcp-server

Available Tools

1. search_skills

Search for skills by keyword using the skills.sh search API. No authentication required.

Parameters:

• query (required): Search query
• limit (optional): Max results (default: 20, max: 50)

Example:

{
  "tool": "search_skills",
  "arguments": { "query": "pdf", "limit": 5 }
}

2. list_skills

List all available skills from skills.sh with pagination. Requires SKILLS_SH_API_KEY.

Parameters:

• page (optional): Page number (default: 1)
• pageSize (optional): Results per page (default: 50, max: 100)

Example:

{
  "tool": "list_skills",
  "arguments": { "page": 1, "pageSize": 10 }
}

3. get_leaderboard

Get trending or top-installed skills. Requires SKILLS_SH_API_KEY.

Parameters:

• timeframe (optional): 'all' or '24h' (default: 'all')
• limit (optional): Max results (default: 20, max: 50)

Example:

{
  "tool": "get_leaderboard",
  "arguments": { "timeframe": "24h", "limit": 10 }
}

4. fetch_skill

Fetch raw skill content from GitHub.

Parameters:

• identifier (required): Skill name or owner/repo format

Example:

{
  "tool": "fetch_skill",
  "arguments": { "identifier": "anthropics/pdf-extractor" }
}

5. validate_skill

Validate skill content for security issues.

Parameters:

• content (required): Skill content to validate
• url (optional): Source URL for verification

Example:

{
  "tool": "validate_skill",
  "arguments": {
    "content": "---\nname: Test\n---\n\n# Test",
    "url": "https://example.com/skill.md"
  }
}

6. convert_to_steering

Convert skill to Kiro steering file format.

Parameters:

• content (required): Skill content
• sourceUrl (optional): Original source URL

Example:

{
  "tool": "convert_to_steering",
  "arguments": {
    "content": "---\nname: Test\ndescription: A test skill\n---\n\n# Test",
    "sourceUrl": "https://example.com/skill.md"
  }
}

7. convert_to_power

Convert skill to Kiro power format. Generates mcp.json when the skill has dependencies or tools, and a steering/ directory when the skill has 3+ complex sections.

Parameters:

• content (required): Skill content
• sourceUrl (optional): Original source URL

Example:

{
  "tool": "convert_to_power",
  "arguments": {
    "content": "---\nname: Test\ndescription: A test skill\n---\n\n# Test",
    "sourceUrl": "https://example.com/skill.md"
  }
}

8. import_skill

Complete import workflow (fetch + validate + convert).

Parameters:

• identifier (required): Skill identifier
• outputFormat (required): 'steering' or 'power'
• skipValidation (optional): Skip security validation (default: false)

Example:

{
  "tool": "import_skill",
  "arguments": {
    "identifier": "anthropics/pdf-extractor",
    "outputFormat": "steering"
  }
}

Security

The server includes security validation that scans for:

• Dangerous commands (rm -rf, sudo, eval, exec)
• Suspicious file operations (/etc/, /usr/, /bin/)
• Code injection patterns (${...}, $(...))
• Untrusted sources (non-GitHub URLs)

Skills that fail security validation will be blocked from import unless explicitly skipped.

Caching

The server caches skills.sh search results in memory for 1 hour to reduce API calls and improve performance. The cache is automatically refreshed when expired.

Error Handling

All tools return errors in a consistent JSON format with descriptive messages. Common error types:

• Network errors: Connection issues, timeouts, HTTP errors
• Validation errors: Security issues, format problems
• Parsing errors: YAML syntax errors, invalid markdown
• Resolution errors: Skill not found, ambiguous identifiers

Development

Build

npm run build

Test

npm test

Watch Mode

npm run test:watch

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or higher
• npm or yarn

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Support

For issues and questions, please open an issue on GitHub.