# Find and install skills

Discover skills on the AgentXM.ai registry, from the CLI, or from your agent, and install them in one command.

A [skill](/docs/skills) you install once works in every coding agent you've
configured. This how-to covers the two halves: finding a skill worth installing,
and installing it.

## Discover skills

There are three ways to find a skill.

### Browse the registry

The [AgentXM.ai registry](https://agentxm.ai) is the catalog of published
skills. Browse by category, search by keyword, and read each skill's description
and versions before installing. Every skill page shows the exact identifier to
pass to `axm skills install`.

### Discover companions from the CLI

[`axm discover`](/docs/cli-reference/discover) scans your project without
leaving your terminal:

```bash
axm discover
```

It takes no search term — instead it detects the packages your project already
depends on (npm, PyPI, and the other supported ecosystems) and surfaces the
_companion_ extensions attested to those packages. Pass `--path` to scan a
different directory. Copy the identifier of a companion you want and install it.

For free-text keyword search across the whole registry, browse
[agentxm.ai](https://agentxm.ai) or ask a connected agent (see below) —
`axm discover` is project-aware, not a keyword search.

When `axm discover` submits detected package signals to a registry, AXM uses
credentials saved for that registry origin when they are available. The
submission is then attributed to your signed-in identity; without matching
credentials, it is submitted anonymously. Authentication changes attribution
only — discovery results remain limited to public companion extensions in both
cases.

### Let your agent find it

AXM also exposes discovery through its MCP server connection, so an agent you've
connected can search the registry on your behalf. Ask your agent for a
capability in plain language and it can surface a matching skill — discovery
becomes part of the conversation instead of a separate step.

## Install a skill

Install from the registry, a GitHub repository, or a local path:

```bash
axm skills install @owner/skills/code-review   # registry
axm skills install owner/repo                   # GitHub
axm skills install ./path/to/skill              # local
```

Installing writes the skill into the universal `.agents/skills/<name>` location
plus the native directory of every
[coding agent you've configured](/docs/managing-coding-agents). Install once; it
appears everywhere you work — install already materializes the skill into your
configured agents, so there's nothing else to run. If you ever need to rebuild
those files (for example after editing settings by hand), run:

```bash
axm sync
```

For version ranges, cherry-picking from a multi-skill source, scopes, and
preview, see the [`axm skills install`](/docs/cli-reference/skills/install)
reference. [`axm skills list`](/docs/cli-reference/skills/list) shows what's
installed.

## The same works for every type

Discovery and installation aren't skill-specific. The registry, `axm discover`,
and agent-driven discovery surface every extension type, and each type has a
matching `install` command:

```bash
axm subagents install @owner/subagents/refactorer
axm packs install @owner/packs/frontend
```

The same works for subagents, packs, and the other extension types AXM manages —
skills are just the most common starting point.

## See also

- [Skills](/docs/skills) — what a skill is and how AXM manages it
- [Create a skill](/docs/create-a-skill) — author your own from scratch
- [Publish a skill](/docs/publishing) — share a skill you've made
- [Set up your team](/docs/set-up-your-team) — install the same skills across a
  repo
- [`axm skills install`](/docs/cli-reference/skills/install) and
  [`axm discover`](/docs/cli-reference/discover) — full CLI reference