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Install a Skill from GitHub

Your Bankr agent can install skills directly from any public GitHub repository — or from a bankr.bot skill link. This is the fastest way to add a new capability: point your agent at a repo or a link, and it pulls the skill in.

Install in one message​

Tell your agent the GitHub URL of the skill you want:

install the skill at https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/path/to/skill
install the bankr skill from https://github.com/BankrBot/skills/tree/main/bankr/bankr
install the botchan skill from https://github.com/BankrBot/skills/tree/main/botchan/botchan
install the skill at https://github.com/your-org/your-repo/tree/main/your-skill

Your agent will:

  1. Fetch the SKILL.md file from the URL.
  2. Pull in any files in the skill's references/ folder.
  3. Save the skill to your agent so it's available in future conversations.

If a skill with the same name already exists, the new version replaces it — that's how updates work.

What URLs work​

The URL should point to a public GitHub repo, folder, or skill file. All of these are accepted:

  • A tree/<branch>/<path> folder URL containing a SKILL.md at its root
  • A plain https://github.com/owner/repo (when the skill is at the repo root)
  • A blob/<branch>/<path>/SKILL.md URL — blob URLs are auto-rewritten to their raw equivalent, so they work too
  • A direct https://.../skill.md file URL (including non-GitHub hosts)
  • Bare owner/repo GitHub shorthand, a GitLab URL, or a git@host:owner/repo SSH URL

The skill folder can also include a references/ subfolder of supporting markdown — those files are pulled in alongside SKILL.md and become available to your agent on demand.

You can also paste a link straight out of Bankr's own skills UI — no GitHub URL needed. All three shapes resolve to the catalog entry and install the same skill:

  • https://bankr.bot/terminal/skills/<slug> — a Discover page
  • https://bankr.bot/terminal/skills/partner/<partner> — a partner page, which installs that partner's flagship skill
  • https://bankr.bot/skills/<wallet>/<slug> — the public share link from the skill drawer's Copy share link button
install https://bankr.bot/terminal/skills/partner/<partner>

If a link doesn't match a catalog entry, the agent says so rather than trying to fetch the page — a mistyped slug gives you a real error, not a format complaint.

For the full file format, see the SKILL.md format reference.

After installation​

Once installed, your agent will use the skill automatically when a request matches what the skill describes. You can also list, review, or remove installed skills from the Skills tab in your agent's terminal — see Create a skill manually for the same UI from the create-side.

Limits​

  • SKILL.md is capped at 1 MB and each reference file at 100 KB. If a file exceeds its cap, the install will fail with a clear message — split or trim the content and try again.
  • Each user has a maximum number of installed skills. If you hit it, remove an unused skill from the Skills tab and retry.

Troubleshooting​

"Couldn't find SKILL.md at that URL"​

Confirm the URL points to a folder that has a SKILL.md file at its root, or directly to a SKILL.md file. GitHub blob/ URLs are accepted (they're rewritten to their raw form automatically), but the path must actually resolve to a SKILL.md.

"Repository is private"​

The skill repo must be publicly accessible. Private repos aren't supported via the GitHub install flow — copy the contents into your agent manually instead. See Create a skill manually.

The skill installed but my agent isn't using it​

Skills are loaded by description match. If the skill's description frontmatter doesn't mention the kind of request you're making, your agent may not pick it up. Tell it explicitly:

use the <skill-name> skill to ...

If that works, consider rewriting the skill's description field so it triggers automatically next time.

Next steps​