PluginBench
MCP Server
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Apache-2.0

Agent Skills Search Server MCP Server

ai.com.mcp/skills-search

Search and discover Agent Skills — reusable AI agent capability packages — from the skills.sh registry.

What is the Agent Skills Search Server MCP server?

Agent Skills Search Server is an MCP server that lets AI agents search and discover "Agent Skills" — standardized, portable packages of instructions and resources (SKILL.md files) — from the skills.sh registry. It is powered by the HAPI MCP server and exposed as a remote streamable-HTTP MCP endpoint. It helps agents find domain-specific expertise and workflows to load on demand rather than building them from scratch.

This MCP server provides search access to the skills.sh registry of Agent Skills — an open, lightweight format (originally developed by Anthropic) for packaging domain expertise, repeatable workflows, and bundled resources (scripts, references, templates) into folders containing a SKILL.md file. Agents use progressive disclosure to discover skill names/descriptions, activate matching skills by loading full instructions, and execute them, optionally running bundled code. This server specifically enables discovery and search of available skills so an agent or developer can find and reuse existing skills rather than authoring new ones.

How to install Agent Skills Search Server

Copy-paste configuration for popular MCP clients.

transport: http
Config generated by PluginBench — verify against the source before use.
Cursor
~/.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skills-search": {
      "url": "https://skills-sh.run.mcp.com.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Windsurf
~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skills-search": {
      "serverUrl": "https://skills-sh.run.mcp.com.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}
VS Code
.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "skills-search": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://skills-sh.run.mcp.com.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Claude Desktop
Claude Desktop connects to remote servers via the mcp-remote bridge.
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skills-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://skills-sh.run.mcp.com.ai/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http skills-search https://skills-sh.run.mcp.com.ai/mcp

Tools & capabilities

Tools this server exposes to the agent.

  • searchSearch and discover Agent Skills available in the skills.sh registry.

Use cases

  • Search the skills.sh registry for existing Agent Skills matching a task or domain
  • Discover reusable, community-built skills before building a custom one from scratch
  • Find skills bundling scripts, references, and templates for a specific workflow (e.g., legal review, data analysis, presentation formatting)
  • Explore available skills to extend an AI agent's capabilities without writing new instructions manually

Agent Skills Search Server MCP server FAQ

What does the Agent Skills Search Server do?

It lets AI agents and developers search the skills.sh registry to discover existing Agent Skills — portable packages of instructions, scripts, and resources for specific tasks or domains.

Is the Agent Skills Search Server free to use?

The README does not state pricing details; it is provided as a remote MCP endpoint at https://skills-sh.run.mcp.com.ai/mcp.

How do I connect this server in Cursor or Claude?

Add it as a remote streamable-HTTP MCP server using the endpoint https://skills-sh.run.mcp.com.ai/mcp in your client's MCP server configuration.

Does this server require authentication?

The README does not mention any required authentication for connecting to the remote endpoint.

What are Agent Skills?

Agent Skills are an open, lightweight format for extending AI agent capabilities — a folder with a SKILL.md file containing metadata and instructions, plus optional scripts, references, and assets, loaded on demand via progressive disclosure.

Who created the Agent Skills format?

The format was originally developed by Anthropic and released as an open standard, now adopted by a growing number of agent products.

README (reference)

Source of truth, from the repository.

Agent Skills

Discord

A standardized way to give AI agents new capabilities and expertise.

What are Agent Skills?

Agent Skills are a lightweight, open format for extending AI agent capabilities with specialized knowledge and workflows.

At its core, a skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file. This file includes metadata (name and description, at minimum) and instructions that tell an agent how to perform a specific task. Skills can also bundle scripts, reference materials, templates, and other resources.

my-skill/
├── SKILL.md          # Required: metadata + instructions
├── scripts/          # Optional: executable code
├── references/       # Optional: documentation
├── assets/           # Optional: templates, resources
└── ...               # Any additional files or directories

Why Agent Skills?

Agents are increasingly capable, but often don't have the context they need to do real work reliably. Skills solve this by packaging procedural knowledge and company-, team-, and user-specific context into portable, version-controlled folders that agents load on demand. This gives agents:

  • Domain expertise: Capture specialized knowledge — from legal review processes to data analysis pipelines to presentation formatting — as reusable instructions and resources.
  • Repeatable workflows: Turn multi-step tasks into consistent, auditable procedures.
  • Cross-product reuse: Build a skill once and use it across any skills-compatible agent.

How do Agent Skills work?

Agents load skills through progressive disclosure, in three stages:

  1. Discovery: At startup, agents load only the name and description of each available skill, just enough to know when it might be relevant.

  2. Activation: When a task matches a skill's description, the agent reads the full SKILL.md instructions into context.

  3. Execution: The agent follows the instructions, optionally executing bundled code or loading referenced files as needed.

Full instructions load only when a task calls for them, so agents can keep many skills on hand with only a small context footprint.

Where can I use Agent Skills?

Agent Skills are supported by a large number of AI tools and agentic clients — see the Client Showcase to explore some of them!

Getting started

Open development

The Agent Skills format was originally developed by Anthropic, released as an open standard, and has been adopted by a growing number of agent products. The standard is open to contributions from the broader ecosystem — see CONTRIBUTING.md for how to get involved.

License

Code in this repository is licensed under Apache 2.0. Documentation is licensed under CC-BY-4.0. See individual directories for details.

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