Upskill - Learn New Capabilities from Package Registries

Purpose

Meta-skill that automatically learns new capabilities by searching NPM and pip registries, installing packages globally, and generating skill documentation. Enables the system to recursively teach itself new tools.

How Skills Work:

• Skills are documentation/instructions loaded into context via the Skill tool
• Main context reads the skill, then writes and executes scripts directly
• No subagents - execution happens in main context for simplicity and speed
• Skills are lightweight reference material (~20-30 lines), full docs separate

When to Use

Auto-trigger on:

• User asks to integrate with a service: "I need to use Asana", "Connect to Slack"
• User mentions an API/system we don't have a skill for
• Explicit invocation:

  /skill upskill <package-name>

• DEFAULT: Any time system needs to use an API → check package registries first

Process

Step 1: Search Both Registries (NPM first, then pip)

# Search NPM
curl -s "https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=<package-name>&size=20" | jq '.objects[] | {name: .package.name, version: .package.version, description: .package.description, downloads: .package.downloadsLastWeek}'

# Search PyPI (package must exist for direct query)
curl -s "https://pypi.org/pypi/<package-name>/json" | jq '{name: .info.name, version: .info.version, description: .info.summary}'

Selection criteria:

• Official/maintained packages
• Download counts and maintenance frequency
• TypeScript definitions (NPM) or type stubs (pip)
• Recently updated

Step 2: Fetch Package Info

NPM packages:

# Get full metadata
curl -s "https://registry.npmjs.org/<package-name>" | jq > npm-metadata.json

# Key fields: .versions, .dist.tarball, .readme, .types, .repository

pip packages:

# Get full metadata
curl -s "https://pypi.org/pypi/<package-name>/json" | jq > pypi-metadata.json

# Key fields: .info, .releases, .urls, .project_urls

Step 3: Install Package Globally

CRITICAL: Install to

~/.claude/

(not project-specific, not system-wide)

For NPM packages:

cd ~/.claude
npm install <package-name>
# Verifies: ~/.claude/node_modules/<package-name>/

For pip packages:

pip install --target ~/.claude/lib <package-name>
# Verifies: ~/.claude/lib/python3.X/site-packages/<package-name>/

Step 4: Analyze API Surface

NPM packages (TypeScript):

• Check for

  .d.ts

  files in package
• Parse exported functions, classes, interfaces
• Extract main entry points from

  package.json

• Identify authentication patterns (API keys, OAuth)

pip packages (Python):

• Look for

  .pyi

  type stub files
• Inspect module structure
• Extract docstrings and function signatures
• Identify authentication requirements

Fallback for both:

• Extract examples from README.md
• Look for common patterns (Client classes, resources)
• Search for "authentication", "API key" patterns

Step 5: Generate Skill Structure

CRITICAL: Use correct directory structure

~/.claude/skills/<package-name>/
├── SKILL.md              # Main skill file (minimal, loaded into context)
├── full-docs.md          # Complete API reference (reference only)
└── metadata.json         # Machine-readable metadata

SKILL.md template (minimal, ~20-30 lines):

---
name: <package-name>
description: Use when <specific use case> - supports <main features>. Package installed at ~/.claude/node_modules/<package>/ (or ~/.claude/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages/<package>/)
---

# <Package-Name> Skill

## Overview
<Brief description of what the package does>

## Package Info
- **Registry**: NPM | pip
- **Package**: <package-name>
- **Version**: X.Y.Z
- **Runtime**: Node.js | Python
- **Location**: ~/.claude/node_modules/<package>/ | ~/.claude/lib/python3.X/site-packages/<package>/

## Installation
Already installed globally at ~/.claude/<location>
Available in all projects.

## Authentication
<If required, explain how to get and set credentials>
<If not required, state: No authentication required>

## Quick Reference
<Main functions/methods with signatures>

metadata.json template:

{
  "name": "<package-name>",
  "package": "<package-name>",
  "version": "X.Y.Z",
  "runtime": "node" | "python",
  "registry": "npm" | "pypi",
  "last_checked": "2025-01-13T10:00:00Z",
  "last_updated": "2025-01-13T10:00:00Z",
  "capabilities": ["cap1", "cap2"],
  "triggers": ["keyword1", "keyword2"],
  "credential_env": null | "CLAUDE_<SERVICE>_TOKEN",
  "install_path": "~/.claude/node_modules/<package>/",
  "requires_auth": false | true
}

Step 6: Update Version Cache

# Update ~/.claude/skill-cache/package-versions.json
{
  "<package-name>": {
    "installed": "X.Y.Z",
    "latest": "X.Y.Z",
    "last_checked": "2025-01-13T10:00:00Z",
    "update_available": false,
    "critical": false,
    "breaking": false
  }
}

Step 7: Credential Setup (if required)

If package requires authentication:

1. Identify auth mechanism (API key, OAuth, token)

2. Provide URL to get credentials

3. Guide user to set environment variable:

   # Recommended: App-specific prefix
   export CLAUDE_<SERVICE>_TOKEN=your_token_here
   
   # Or add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
   

4. Test credentials before confirming success

Step 8: Test and Confirm

Verify installation:

# For NPM packages
node -e "const pkg = require('/Users/davidpreil/.claude/node_modules/<package>'); console.log('OK');"

# For pip packages
python3 -c "import sys; sys.path.insert(0, '/Users/davidpreil/.claude/lib'); import <package>; print('OK')"

Confirm success:

✓ Learned <package-name> vX.Y.Z (NPM|pip)
✓ Skill: ~/.claude/skills/<package-name>/
✓ Runtime: Node.js | Python
✓ Auth: <requirements>

Ready to use!

Package Selection Strategy

When both NPM and pip have options:

Prefer NPM if:

• Official package with better TypeScript definitions
• More downloads/active maintenance
• Recently updated
• Better documentation

Prefer pip if:

• Python-only service or domain
• Official SDK maintained by service
• Better Python ecosystem integration

Ask user if:

• Tie in quality
• Different capabilities between versions

Always inform:

• If alternative exists in other registry
• Trade-offs of selected option

Registry APIs

NPM Registry

# Search
curl "https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=<query>&size=20"

# Package info
curl "https://registry.npmjs.org/<package-name>"

# Specific version
curl "https://registry.npmjs.org/<package-name>/<version>"

PyPI Registry

# Package info
curl "https://pypi.org/pypi/<package-name>/json"

# Search (no simple API, use web search or alternative)

Type Parsing Guide

NPM (TypeScript)

• Parse

  .d.ts

  files for function signatures
• Extract exported classes and interfaces
• Look for JSDoc comments
• Fall back to README examples if no types

pip (Python)

• Parse

  .pyi

  type stub files
• Extract docstrings from modules
• Inspect function signatures
• Fall back to README examples

Error Handling

Package not found:

• Try alternative registry
• Suggest similar names
• Offer manual search

Install fails:

• Check permissions
• Verify network connection
• Show error message
• Suggest fixes

Package lacks types:

• Warn user but proceed
• Use README examples
• Note limitations

Auth required but missing:

• Prompt for credentials
• Provide setup instructions
• Don't proceed without auth

Example Workflow

User: "I need to work with Notion"

System execution:

1. Search NPM for "notion" → Found

   @notionhq/client

   • Official package ✓
   • TypeScript definitions ✓
   • Weekly downloads: 300K ✓

2. Install:

   npm install @notionhq/client

   to ~/.claude/node_modules/

3. Analyze:

   • Main export:

     Client

   • Auth: Requires integration token
   • Key methods:

     databases.query

     ,

     pages.retrieve

     , etc.

4. Generate skill structure:

   ~/.claude/skills/notion/
   ├── SKILL.md
   ├── full-docs.md
   └── metadata.json
   

5. Credential setup:

   Get integration token: https://www.notion.so/my-integrations
   Set: export CLAUDE_NOTION_TOKEN=your_token
   

6. Test and confirm:

   ✓ Learned @notionhq/client v2.2.3 (NPM)
   ✓ Skill: ~/.claude/skills/notion/
   ✓ Runtime: Node.js
   ✓ Auth: Set CLAUDE_NOTION_TOKEN
   

How Generated Skills Are Used

When a generated skill is invoked (e.g.,

/skill notion

):

1. Skill tool loads

   ~/.claude/skills/notion/SKILL.md

   into context
2. Main context reads the skill documentation
3. Main context writes a script (e.g.,

   notion-query.js

   )
4. Main context executes the script directly:

   node notion-query.js

5. Results returned immediately

No subagents - simple, fast, direct execution in main context.

Important Notes

• Always install to

  ~/.claude/

  (never project-specific)
• Use subdirectory structure:

  skills/<package>/SKILL.md

• Keep SKILL.md minimal (~20-30 lines) for context efficiency
• Full documentation goes in

  full-docs.md

• Test before confirming success
• Inform user of alternatives in other registry
• Document auth requirements clearly
• Update version cache for all packages
• Skills are documentation, execution is direct and simple