local-skills

Local Skills MCP is a universal server that makes your local skills library available to any MCP client. It aggregates skills from several directories and presents them through a single get_skill workflow, loading full skill content on demand while keeping a lightweight index of skill names and descriptions. You can invoke skills via any MCP client by requesting the named skill, e.g., "Use the my-skill skill". The server ships with built-in discovery and a hot-reload capability, so adding or editing skills in your configured directories is picked up immediately without restarting the server.

To get started, install the MCP server globally and configure your MCP client to point at the local-skills-mcp command. Once running, you can rely on the standard get_skill flow: the client queries for available skill names and brief descriptions, selects a skill, and the server loads the full SKILL.md content on demand when the skill is requested. Built-in skills include quick usage guidance and a skill-authoring helper, which helps you generate well-structured SKILL.md files. You can also customize where skills are loaded from by setting SKILLS_DIR in your MCP client configuration, enabling project-specific or custom directories to override built-ins as needed.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+ installed on your system
• npm (comes with Node.js) or yarn

Installation steps:

1. Install the MCP server globally from npm:

npm install -g local-skills-mcp

2. Verify installation:

local-skills-mcp --version

3. Run the server (default command from MCP client configuration):

local-skills-mcp

4. Configure your MCP client to use the local-skills server. Example configuration snippet provided in the Quick Start:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-skills": {
      "command": "local-skills-mcp"
    }
  }
}

5. If you clone and run locally (not installed globally), point the client at the built file directly, for example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-skills": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/local-skills-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Prerequisites recap: ensure Node.js 18+ is installed before attempting npm install or running the server.

Tips and common issues:

• Skill discovery order: the server auto-aggregates skills from multiple directories with later directories overriding earlier ones. If you add a custom skill path via SKILLS_DIR, it will take precedence over earlier sources.
• Hot reload: changes to skills are picked up immediately without restarting the MCP server.
• SKILL.md format: each skill should have a YAML frontmatter with name and description, followed by the Markdown content that defines the task and instructions. Use descriptive, concise descriptions to improve skill discoverability.
• Environment configuration: you can configure SKILLS_DIR in the MCP client config to point to a custom directory. This may be useful for project-specific or private skill sets.
• Built-in skills: local-skills-mcp-usage, local-skills-mcp-guide, and skill-creator help with usage and best practices for creating skills.
• If you encounter issues with skill loading, verify the path order and permissions of the skill directories, and ensure your MCP client is pointing to the correct local-skills-mcp executable.