# Setting up SkillsJars in your project SkillsJars packages [Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io/) as JARs on Maven Central under the `com.skillsjars` groupId. This guide walks you (an AI coding agent) through wiring SkillsJars into a project: adding the extraction build plugin, choosing skills, extracting them onto the filesystem, and recording the workflow in `AGENTS.md` so it repeats on every checkout. ## 1. Detect the project's build tool Look at the project root and pick the matching section below: - `pom.xml` present -> **Maven** - `build.gradle` / `build.gradle.kts` / `settings.gradle(.kts)` present -> **Gradle** - `build.sbt` present -> **sbt** Only follow the one section that matches the project. ## 2. Add the SkillsJars extraction plugin ### Maven Add the plugin to the `` section of `pom.xml`. SkillsJar dependencies go *inside* the plugin's own `` so they never leak onto your app's classpath: ```xml com.skillsjars maven-plugin 0.0.7 com.skillsjars SKILLJAR_ARTIFACT_ID SKILLJAR_VERSION ``` ### Gradle Apply the plugin in `build.gradle.kts` (or `build.gradle`) and declare SkillsJar dependencies. Use a resolvable-but-isolated configuration such as `testRuntimeOnly` so the skills stay off your main runtime classpath — the plugin scans every resolvable configuration for the `com.skillsjars` group: ```kotlin plugins { id("com.skillsjars.gradle-plugin") version "0.0.2" } dependencies { // SkillsJar dependencies (see step 3) testRuntimeOnly("com.skillsjars:SKILLJAR_ARTIFACT_ID:SKILLJAR_VERSION") } ``` ### sbt Add the plugin to `project/plugins.sbt`: ```scala addSbtPlugin("com.skillsjars" % "skillsjars-sbt-plugin" % "0.0.9") ``` Then, in `build.sbt`, set an output directory and declare SkillsJar dependencies in the plugin's `Skills` configuration (which keeps them off the compile/runtime classpath): ```scala skillsJarsOutputDir := Some(file(".kiro/skills")) // SkillsJar dependencies (see step 3) libraryDependencies += "com.skillsjars" % "SKILLJAR_ARTIFACT_ID" % "SKILLJAR_VERSION" % Skills ``` ### Finding the latest plugin (or any library) version The plugin versions above were current when this guide was written. To resolve the latest version of any Maven Central artifact, request `javadocs.dev` — it returns JSON like `{"version":"0.4.0"}`: ```bash # https://www.javadocs.dev///latest curl https://www.javadocs.dev/com.jamesward/zio-http-mcp_3/latest ``` For example, `curl https://www.javadocs.dev/com.skillsjars/maven-plugin/latest` returns the newest Maven plugin version, and `.../com.skillsjars/gradle-plugin/latest` the newest Gradle plugin version. (For the sbt plugin, use the cross-versioned artifactId, e.g. `skillsjars-sbt-plugin_sbt2_3`.) ## 3. Choose which SkillsJars to add List the available skills as markdown and pick the ones relevant to the project: ```bash curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" https://skillsjars.com/ ``` You can also search: `curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" "https://skillsjars.com/?q=KEYWORD"`. Each entry prints its Maven coordinates in `groupId:artifactId:version` form, e.g. `com.skillsjars:anthropics__skills__pdf:2026_02_06-1ed29a0`. For every skill you want, replace the `SKILLJAR_ARTIFACT_ID` / `SKILLJAR_VERSION` placeholders from step 2 with the `artifactId` and `version` from its coordinates (add one dependency entry per skill). > Security note: Agent Skills can do harmful things. Vet each skill before adding it — the > automated scan on SkillsJars.com is not a substitute for review. ## 4. Extract the skills to the filesystem First choose the build launcher. Prefer a project-local wrapper committed to the repo (it pins the build-tool version), and fall back to a globally installed launcher on your `PATH` only when no wrapper is present: - Maven: use `./mvnw` if it exists in the project root, otherwise `mvn`. - Gradle: use `./gradlew` if it exists, otherwise `gradle`. - sbt: use `./sbt` if it exists, otherwise `sbt`. On Windows the wrappers are `mvnw.cmd`, `gradlew.bat`, and `sbt.bat`. A POSIX shell can pick the right one automatically (Maven shown): ```bash MVN=$([ -x ./mvnw ] && echo ./mvnw || echo mvn) "$MVN" --version ``` Then run the extraction command for your build tool, pointing at the directory your agent reads skills from (e.g. `.kiro/skills`, `.claude/skills`, or `.agent/skills`): ```bash # Maven (use ./mvnw if present, else mvn) ./mvnw skillsjars:extract -Ddir=.kiro/skills # Gradle (use ./gradlew if present, else gradle) ./gradlew extractSkillsJars -Pdir=.kiro/skills # sbt (use ./sbt if present, else sbt; uses skillsJarsOutputDir set above, or pass a path) ./sbt extractSkillsJars ``` Extraction clears the target directory and writes each skill under `skillsjars______/SKILL.md`. Add that directory to `.gitignore` — it is regenerated from the build. ## 5. Record the workflow in AGENTS.md So the skills are always present, tell agents to run extraction before working on the project. Create `AGENTS.md` in the project root if it does not exist, or merge the following into the existing file (adjust the command to the build tool and the skills directory you chose): ## Agent Skills (SkillsJars) This project pulls in Agent Skills as SkillsJars build dependencies. Before working, extract them so they are available on the filesystem (prefer the project's wrapper — `./mvnw` / `./gradlew` / `./sbt` — and fall back to `mvn` / `gradle` / `sbt` on PATH): # Maven: ./mvnw skillsjars:extract -Ddir=.kiro/skills (or mvn) # Gradle: ./gradlew extractSkillsJars -Pdir=.kiro/skills (or gradle) # sbt: ./sbt extractSkillsJars (or sbt) Read the extracted `SKILL.md` files under `.kiro/skills/` and follow any that are relevant to the task. To add more skills, browse https://skillsjars.com and add the dependency, then re-run extraction. If the project uses a different agent instructions file (`CLAUDE.md`, `.cursorrules`, `.github/copilot-instructions.md`, etc.), add the same guidance there instead of, or in addition to, `AGENTS.md`.