About Skillselion
Skillselion is an MCP server that searches a catalog of Claude Code skills, MCP servers, and marketplaces, then loads skill instructions and files into an agent session. It helps coding agents find community skills on demand and compare rules synthesized from multiple sources.
Key features
- 01Search skills, MCP servers, and marketplaces
- 02Load skill instructions and bundled files
- 03Synthesize rules from multiple skills
- 04Browse install and star rankings
- 05Prime sessions with relevant skills
Use cases
- 01Find a skill for an active coding task
- 02Compare guidance from several community skills
- 03Load task-matched skills at session start
MCP support
Skillselion exposes catalog search, ranking, skill loading, and synthesis tools to MCP clients. Its setup can also register the server and install a Claude Code SessionStart hook.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
Tools
4Saved tool list · updated 3w ago
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| type | enum | No | Restrict to one listing type. Omit to search all.skill | mcp | marketplace |
| limit | integer | No | Max results (default 8). |
| query | string | Yes | What to search for - a tool, framework, task, or keyword. |
Details
From the project READMESkillselion MCP
The catalog behind it: skillselion.com - 86,000+ skills, plugin marketplaces & MCP servers, ranked by real installs.
Give your coding agent thousands of community-proven skills - loaded on demand, mid-task.
It searches Skillselion, a curated directory of Claude Code skills, MCP servers & marketplaces ranked by real installs,
and pulls a skill's actual instructions + bundled files into the session. Proven patterns, not guesses.
🧩 Works with Claude Code · Claude Desktop · Cursor · Codex · any MCP client
Real, unedited session: the agent pulls a consensus playbook from 5 community skills, then loads the top skill and applies it.
🚀 Install
Claude Code - one line:
claude mcp add skillselion --scope user -- npx -y skillselion-mcp
Claude Desktop / Cursor / Codex - add to your MCP config:
{ "mcpServers": { "skillselion": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "skillselion-mcp"] } } }
No build step, no auth, no API key. One ~30 KB file via npx.
Want it fully automatic? npx -y skillselion-mcp setup registers the server and installs a session hook so your agent loads the right skill the moment a task matches - see Skill autopilot.
🔧 Tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
📥 load_skill | The everyday default: finds the best-matching skill for your task and materializes it - real SKILL.md in context + bundled scripts/references on disk - so the agent follows it like an installed skill. Returns ranked runner-ups you can switch to. |
🧬 synthesize_skills | The cross-source playbook: merges the key rules of the top ~5 matching skills into one deduped, provenance-tagged digest - the field's consensus, not one author's take. |
🔍 search_skillselion | Search the catalog by keyword or task; filter by skill / mcp / marketplace. |
🏆 top_skillselion | The leaderboard - the most-installed skills and top-starred MCP servers right now. |
We asked Claude, on camera, what the MCP gave it: "I couldn't have told you 'this is the field's consensus, not my opinion' - that's the part I can't fake."
🔒 Private by default
Read-only, no auth, no secrets. It never sends your code, files, or the context you pass - only a scrubbed search query + which skill matched, so the catalog learns what to add next. Set DO_NOT_TRACK=1 to disable even that.
🪄 Skill autopilot
npx -y skillselion-mcp setup # interactive - pick your packs
npx -y skillselion-mcp setup --yes # non-interactive - agents / CI
Registers the MCP globally and installs a Claude Code SessionStart hook that primes every session with skills relevant to you - so loads happen on their own.
Setup flags & packs
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
--packs <a,b,…> | one or more packs (or all), e.g. --packs frontend,backend; frontend:6 sets a per-pack count |
--per-pack N | skills per pack (default 3) · --top N sets the popular count |
--auto | adapt each session to the current repo's stack |
--history | infer your focus from Claude Code / Codex history (one-time scan) |
--yes | never prompt (default when there's no terminal) |
Packs: popular (default) · frontend · ai-agents · media · backend · devops · quality · automation.
Safe by design: ~/.claude/settings.json is merged, never clobbered; re-running de-dupes and upgrades the hook in place.
Env vars
| Var | Default | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
GITHUB_TOKEN | - | optional, read-only; raises GitHub's rate limit for full multi-file skill loads (60 → 5000 req/hr) |
SK_INLINE_BUDGET | 6000 | char cap on the in-context SKILL.md portion (the full skill is always on disk) |
SK_SYNTH_N | 5 | how many top skills synthesize_skills merges (2-8) |
SK_SYNTH_PER_SKILL | 12 | max rules kept per source skill |
SK_SYNTH_BUDGET | 4000 | char cap on the merged digest |
DO_NOT_TRACK | - | set 1 to disable the anonymous demand signal |
Troubleshooting
The agent doesn't see the tools. Some clients surface MCP tools lazily - tell the agent to search its tools for "skillselion" first (e.g. ToolSearch), then call it. The setup hook automates this nudge.
load_skill returns only the SKILL.md, no bundled files. You hit GitHub's unauthenticated 60 req/hr limit - set a read-only GITHUB_TOKEN in the server's env.
"No skill on Skillselion clearly matches..." The relevance floor working as intended - nothing topical matched, so it refuses to waste your context. Try a more specific query.
Setup couldn't auto-register. Run the printed claude mcp add ... line yourself.
Development
npm install
npm test # offline: server boots, tools, synthesis
npm run test:live # live catalog + GitHub (set GITHUB_TOKEN)
⭐ Like it?
- Star the repo - it helps other developers find it.
- Browse the full catalog → skillselion.com - thousands of skills, MCP servers & marketplaces, ranked by real installs.
- Bug or missing skill? Open an issue - PRs welcome.
📄 License
Built for developers. Find the skill, not the noise. → skillselion.com/skillselion-mcp
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