> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tessl.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tessl.io/use/understand-your-skill-estate.md). # Understand your skill estate Skills are multiplying across your repos. Most teams have no idea how many they have, who owns them, or how many are near-duplicates of each other. Tessl Skill Inventory gives you a living map of every skill in your org - what exists, where it's used, and where you're duplicating effort. It's free, and you can run it today. *** ### Quickstart **1.** [**Download Tessl**](/introduction-to-tessl/installation.md) **2.** [**Download the Github CLI**](https://cli.github.com/) (we access your code through your Github auth via the CLI) **3. Authenticate** ``` tessl login ``` **4. Run the import** ``` tessl inventory import ``` Tessl scans your repos, collects your skills and manifests, and gives you a snapshot of your whole inventory. Run it again any time - each scan is diffed, so you get a living view of what's new, unchanged, and removed over time. > Want to test on a subset first? `tessl inventory import --repo repo-a --repo repo-b` *** ### Detailed Guide #### How It Works The tessl CLI scans your repository, collects your skills and manifest files, and uploads them to Tessl. Each upload is a snapshot — Tessl tracks what's new, what's unchanged, and what's been removed across successive uploads so you get a living view of your skill inventory over time. *** #### The Tessl CLI The scan runs entirely from your local machine using the `tessl` CLI. Before running it, you need two things: * **GitHub CLI (`gh`) authenticated** - the CLI uses your GitHub credentials to read repos and files. Access is scoped to whatever your GitHub account can see. * **Logged in to Tessl** - run `tessl login` to authenticate before scanning. **Running the scan** By default, `tessl` scans your last 100 most recently active repositories. For large organisations this is a good starting point, but you can be more selective using `--repo`: `tessl inventory import --repo repo-a --repo repo-b` You can pass `--repo` as many times as you like. This is useful for testing the import on a small subset before running it across your whole organisation. **What we don't collect** * **No code** - only `skill.md` files and manifest files are read. Source code files are never accessed. * **No names or email addresses** - only GitHub usernames are collected, never real names or email addresses. * **No repo clones** - repos are never checked out. Individual files are fetched directly via the GitHub API. **GitHub API rate limits** The CLI uses the GitHub API under the hood, which has a limit of 5,000 requests per hour. If you have a large number of repos or skills, you may hit this limit mid-scan. In that case, wait for the limit to reset and re-run - successive scans are diffed, so you won't lose previously collected data. *** #### What Gets Collected **Skills (`skill.md` files)** Every `skill.md` file found anywhere in your repository is collected, including: * The full markdown body * Any YAML frontmatter (name, description, etc) * The file path within the repo * Git metadata: created/updated dates, last touched by username. Skills inside test fixture directories are included but tagged separately so they don't pollute your inventory metrics. **Manifest files** The following manifest files are collected if present: | File | What it represents | | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `skills-lock.json` | Skills installed via `npx skills` with pinned versions and content hashes | | `tessl.json` | Tessl's installed skill manifest | | `tile.json` | Legacy tessl plugin definition with skill declarations | | `.tessl-plugin/plugin.json` | Tessl plugin definition | | `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` | Claude plugin definition | | `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` | Marketplace plugin listing | | `.claude/settings.json` | Claude Code agent settings. Used to determine which marketplaces are being used | *** #### Limitations * **Linked files are not uploaded.** If your `skill.md` references other markdown files (e.g. via `@rules.md` or a markdown link), those files are not followed or stored — only the `skill.md` itself is captured. * **Scripts are not uploaded.** Any executable files (`.sh`, `.py`, etc.) associated with a skill are not collected. * **Manifest references are not resolved.** The manifest files themselves are stored, but any file paths referenced *inside* them are not read or uploaded. * **Default scan is capped at 100 repos.** Only the 100 most recently active repositories are scanned by default. Use `--repo` to target specific repos if needed. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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