VS Code Extension

The Skillsmith VS Code extension brings skill discovery, install, and authoring into the editor. It is a visual surface over the same MCP server you use from Claude Code or the CLI — install the extension and you get a sidebar tree, commands, and a guided walkthrough without leaving VS Code.

Install

Install Skillsmith from the VS Code Marketplace, or run from the editor:

code --install-extension skillsmith.skillsmith-vscode

The extension activates on startup. On first activation, it connects to a local Skillsmith MCP server (spawned via npx) and loads your installed skills tree.

Activity bar and views

The extension contributes a Skillsmith entry in the activity bar. Click it to open two views:

Skills — tree view of the skills currently installed in your runtime's skills directory (default ~/.claude/skills; configurable via skillsmith.skillsDirectory).
Search Results — populated when you run the Search Skills command. Collapsed by default.

Commands

All commands are listed in the Command Palette under the Skillsmith category (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows / Linux).

Command	Command ID	Lifecycle stage	Description
Search Skills	`skillsmith.searchSkills`	Discover	Open a quick-pick to search the registry; results land in the Search Results view.
View Skill Details	`skillsmith.viewSkillDetails`	Evaluate	Open a webview panel with the selected skill's full details.
Install Skill	`skillsmith.installSkill`	Install	Install the selected skill into the configured skills directory.
Refresh Skills	`skillsmith.refreshSkills`	Maintain	Re-scan the skills directory and refresh the tree view.
Create Skill	`skillsmith.createSkill`	Author	Scaffold a new skill via the CLI; opens a terminal with the prompt sequence.
Uninstall Skill	`skillsmith.uninstallSkill`	Retire	Remove the selected installed skill.
Connect / Reconnect to MCP Server	`skillsmith.mcpReconnect`	(maintenance)	Manually reconnect to the MCP server. Useful after restarting the server externally.

Walkthrough

First-time users see a guided walkthrough at Welcome → Get Started with Skillsmith. It has three steps:

Discover skills — search the registry by keyword, category, or trust tier.
Install a skill — install any skill with one click from the Search Results view.
Create your own skill — scaffold a new skill via the CLI from inside VS Code.

Re-open the walkthrough at any time via the Command Palette: Welcome: Open Walkthrough → Get Started with Skillsmith.

Configuration keys

Configure the extension via Settings (Cmd+, on macOS, Ctrl+, elsewhere) or directly in settings.json.

Key	Type	Default	Description
`skillsmith.skillsDirectory`	string	`~/.claude/skills`	Directory where skills are installed.
`skillsmith.apiEndpoint`	string	(empty)	Custom API endpoint for skill search. Leave empty for the default registry.
`skillsmith.mcp.serverCommand`	string	`npx`	Command to run the MCP server.
`skillsmith.mcp.serverArgs`	array	`["@skillsmith/mcp-server"]`	Arguments for the MCP server command.
`skillsmith.mcp.autoConnect`	boolean	`true`	Automatically connect to the MCP server on extension activation.
`skillsmith.mcp.autoReconnect`	boolean	`true`	Automatically reconnect when the connection is lost.
`skillsmith.mcp.connectionTimeout`	number	`30000`	Connection timeout in milliseconds.
`skillsmith.mcp.minServerVersion`	string	`0.4.9`	Minimum required `@skillsmith/mcp-server` version. When the connected server is older, an informational toast prompts to run `npm install -g @skillsmith/mcp-server@latest`. Non-blocking.
`skillsmith.telemetry.enabled`	boolean	`true`	Send anonymous usage telemetry. Also respects VS Code's global `telemetry.telemetryLevel` setting — either being off disables telemetry.
`skillsmith.telemetryEndpoint`	string	(empty)	Telemetry endpoint URL. Leave empty to disable network calls. Events POST as `{ event, anonymous_id, metadata }`.

 Lifecycle stage coverage
 
The VS Code extension covers most lifecycle stages with a visual surface; some stages remain
    CLI-only because they are inherently filesystem- or terminal-led.
    Stage  VS Code support  Notes  
 
   Discover  Yes  Search Skills command + Search Results view.  
  Evaluate  Yes (partial)  View Skill Details opens a details panel; compare and diff are MCP
          / CLI only.  
  Install  Yes  Install Skill command from the Search Results view.  
  Use  Runtime-dependent  VS Code itself is not the agent runtime; use Claude Code, Continue, Copilot, or Cursor
          inside VS Code as the runtime layer.  
  Maintain  Partial  Refresh Skills re-scans the tree; pin / audit collisions remain CLI-only.  
  Author  Yes (CLI-driven)  Create Skill command opens a terminal with skillsmith create.  
  Govern  No  Audit query and SIEM export are MCP only — drive them from Claude Code or curl.  
  Retire  Yes  Uninstall Skill command from the Skills tree.  
 
 
 Troubleshooting
 "MCP server not connecting"
 
The extension spawns the MCP server via npx by default. If your shell does not have npx on its PATH (rare on developer machines), set skillsmith.mcp.serverCommand to an absolute
    path. Use the Command Palette's Connect / Reconnect to MCP Server command to retry.
 "Skills tree is empty but I have skills installed"
 
Check skillsmith.skillsDirectory — the default
~/.claude/skills is correct for Claude Code, but Cursor, Copilot, and Windsurf use different
    paths. Set the directory to your runtime's skills location and refresh the tree.
 "MCP server version mismatch toast"
 
The extension checks the connected server's version against
skillsmith.mcp.minServerVersion. The toast is informational only — features still
    work — but upgrading the server is recommended. Run npm install -g @skillsmith/mcp-server@latest.
 "Telemetry"
 
The extension respects VS Code's global telemetry setting in addition to its own skillsmith.telemetry.enabled flag. Either being off disables telemetry. Events post to skillsmith.telemetryEndpoint
if configured; the empty default means no network calls.
 Source
 
The extension is source-available under the
Elastic License 2.0. Source lives
    under
packages/vscode-extension
in the main repository.
 Where to next
 
The lifecycle tutorials show every stage end-to-end; if you prefer a
    CLI-led path, the
CLI reference covers the same surface from the terminal. The MCP Server reference
documents the underlying tools the extension drives.

Stage	VS Code support	Notes
Discover	Yes	Search Skills command + Search Results view.
Evaluate	Yes (partial)	View Skill Details opens a details panel; `compare` and `diff` are MCP / CLI only.
Install	Yes	Install Skill command from the Search Results view.
Use	Runtime-dependent	VS Code itself is not the agent runtime; use Claude Code, Continue, Copilot, or Cursor inside VS Code as the runtime layer.
Maintain	Partial	Refresh Skills re-scans the tree; pin / audit collisions remain CLI-only.
Author	Yes (CLI-driven)	Create Skill command opens a terminal with `skillsmith create`.
Govern	No	Audit query and SIEM export are MCP only — drive them from Claude Code or curl.
Retire	Yes	Uninstall Skill command from the Skills tree.