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[ARTICLE · art-59795] src=dev.to ↗ pub= topic=developer-tools verified=true sentiment=↑ positive

Stop re-explaining your codebase to every AI agent — `cast-skills`

Developer Pedro Castanha released cast-skills, a CLI tool that bootstraps cross-tool AI skills for project knowledge. It installs native SKILL.md files into Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, and Codex, and auto-converts for Cursor and Windsurf, enabling agents to load only relevant context per session instead of re-explaining the entire codebase.

read2 min views1 publishedJul 15, 2026

Every session, the agent forgets:

So you re-explain. It rewrites. Context drifts. Tokens burn.

Dumping a 40k-token AGENTS.md

into every prompt is not a strategy. It’s a tax.

I wanted something simpler: write project knowledge once, in a format agents already understand, and install it into every tool I actually use.

That’s cast-skills.

npx cast-skills

cast-skills

is a small CLI that bootstraps cross-tool AI skills for your machine (or project):

Skill Job
using-project-skills
Always-on router. When you start a feature/fix/refactor, it loads project context and routes work through the right module + workflow.
creating-project-skills
Bootstrapper (/skill-creator ). Reads the repo, asks sharp questions, generates a project skill tree.
explaining-changes
After non-trivial work, offers a beginner-friendly explanation (ELI5 → runtime) as Markdown/HTML.

Skills use the open SKILL.md format — progressive disclosure: the agent loads what it needs, not your entire wiki every turn.

cast-skills is built around Anthropic's Agent Skills approach: instead of one massive prompt every session, the agent progressively loads only the knowledge it needs.

The wizard auto-detects what you have and drops skills in the right place:

Tool Where it goes Format
Claude Code ~/.claude/skills/
native SKILL.md
GitHub Copilot ~/.copilot/skills/
native
Gemini CLI ~/.gemini/skills/
native
Codex ~/.agents/skills/
native
Cursor
.cursor/skills/ (project)
converted .mdc
Windsurf
.windsurf/rules/ (project)
converted rules

Native tools get SKILL.md

as-is. Cursor/Windsurf get an auto-converted format so you’re not maintaining six copies by hand.

npx cast-skills
npm i -g cast-skills && cast-skills

Requires Node ≥ 18.

using-project-skills

explaining-changes

The point isn’t another chatbot persona. It’s stable project memory that survives sessions and tools.

Most of us don’t live in one harness.

Monday: Claude Code.

Tuesday: Cursor on a design-heavy UI.

Wednesday: Copilot in a boring enterprise repo.

If “project brain” only works in one tool, you still re-explain on Tuesday.

cast-skills

optimizes for write once → run everywhere that speaks skills/rules.

If your team has no conventions, the bootstrapper will still force a few useful questions. That’s a feature.

cd your-repo
npx cast-skills

Pick the tools you use → let it install the three skills → start a real task and see if the agent stops inventing your architecture from scratch.

Repo: github.com/pedrocastanha/cast-skills

npm: npmjs.com/package/cast-skills

If you try it, tell me:

Issues and PRs welcome — especially path fixes for tool updates (these CLIs move the goalposts often).

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