How to install agent skills in Codex

Codex reads the same SKILL.md skills as Claude and other agents. Install one and Codex loads it whenever your request matches what the skill does.

Where skills work in Codex

Skills you install yourself work in the Codex CLI, the Codex IDE extension and the ChatGPT desktop app. All three read the same folders, so a skill installed once shows up in each.

Install a skill in Codex

Every skill page in the collection has these steps filled in for that skill. The examples below install Anthropic's Frontend Design.

With the skills CLI (quickest)

The open-source skills CLI downloads a skill from GitHub and puts it where Codex looks. You need Node.js 22.20 or later. Run this in your terminal:

npx skills add anthropics/skills --skill frontend-design -a codex -g Copy Copied

-g installs it for every project, in ~/.agents/skills/. Leave it out to install the skill into the current repository only, in .agents/skills/.

With Codex's own installer

Codex ships with a skill called $skill-installer. Mention it in a message and tell it where the skill is:

$skill-installer install the skill at https://github.com/anthropics/skills/tree/main/skills/frontend-design Copy Copied

For a skill from OpenAI's own curated list, the name is enough, for example $skill-installer linear. Restart Codex if the new skill does not show up.

By hand

Download the skill's folder from GitHub and copy it into your skills folder. The folder name stays the skill's name and SKILL.md sits directly inside it:

~/.agents/skills/frontend-design/SKILL.md

On Windows, ~ is your user folder, for example C:\Users\you\.agents\skills\.

Where Codex looks for skills

Scope	Folder	Who gets it
Repository	.agents/skills/	Everyone who works in the repository, once committed
User	~/.agents/skills/	You, in every project
Admin	/etc/codex/skills/	Every user on the machine
System	Bundled with Codex	Everyone: $skill-creator and $skill-installer

In a repository, Codex checks .agents/skills/ in the folder you started it in and in every folder above it, up to the repository's root. So a skill at the root works from any subfolder. Skills with the same name are not merged; both appear in the list.

.agents/skills/ is shared: Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode read project skills from the same folder, so one install there covers them too.

Use a skill in Codex

• Let Codex pick it. Codex reads each skill's name and description up front and loads the full skill only when your task matches it.
• Mention it. Type $ and the skill's name in your message, for example $frontend-design design a pricing page.
• Pick it from the list. Run /skills in the CLI or the IDE extension to see your skills and choose one.

Turn off, update or remove a skill

Turn one off without deleting it in ~/.codex/config.toml, with the path to its SKILL.md, then restart Codex:

[[skills.config]]
path = "/Users/you/.agents/skills/frontend-design/SKILL.md"
enabled = false

Update skills installed with the skills CLI:

npx skills update -g Copy Copied

Remove one the same way, by its name:

npx skills remove --global frontend-design Copy Copied

A skill you installed by hand or with $skill-installer is updated by replacing its folder and removed by deleting it. Codex notices changes on its own; restart it if one does not show up.

Make your own skill

Mention $skill-creator and describe the job. It asks what the skill should do, when it should trigger and whether it needs scripts, then writes the folder for you. A skill needs only a SKILL.md whose top block has a name and a description; the description is what Codex matches your requests against, so write it in the words you would use to ask.

When a skill does not work

• It does not show up. Restart Codex. Then check the folder: it has to sit directly in a skills folder, as skills/<name>/SKILL.md, not one level deeper.
• It shows up but Codex never uses it. Mention it with $ to check that it runs. If it does, its description does not match how you ask; use its words, or mention it by name.
• The skills CLI says “No skills found”. The SKILL.md is missing its name or description. Check that you pointed at the right repository and skill name.
• You turned it off but it still loads. The path in config.toml has to point at the skill's SKILL.md exactly, and Codex reads the file only when it starts.

Before you install any skill

A skill is instructions Codex follows, and some include scripts it can run. Read a third-party skill's SKILL.md before you install it, the way you would read code before running it. Every skill page here links to its source.