GH-SKILL-UPDATE(1)

NAME
gh-skill-update - Update installed skills to their latest versions (preview)

SYNOPSIS
gh skill update [<skill>...] [flags]

DESCRIPTION
Checks installed skills for available updates by comparing the local tree SHA (from SKILL.md frontmatter) against the remote repository.

Scans all known agent host directories (Copilot, Claude, Cursor, Codex, Gemini, Antigravity) in both project and user scope automatically.

Without arguments, checks all installed skills. With skill names, checks only those specific skills.

Pinned skills (installed with --pin) are skipped with a notice. Use --unpin to clear the pinned version and include those skills in the update.

Skills without GitHub metadata (e.g. installed manually or by another tool) are prompted for their source repository in interactive mode. With --all or in non-interactive mode, they are skipped with a notice. The update re-downloads the skill with metadata injected, so future updates work automatically.

With --force, re-downloads skills even when the remote version matches the local tree SHA. This overwrites locally modified skill files with their original content, but does not remove extra files added locally.

In interactive mode, shows which skills have updates and asks for confirmation before proceeding. With --all, updates without prompting. With --dry-run, reports available updates without modifying any files.

OPTIONS

--all
    Update all skills without prompting

--dir <string>
    Scan a custom directory for installed skills

--dry-run
    Report available updates without modifying files

--force
    Re-download even if already up to date

--unpin
    Clear pinned version and include pinned skills in update

EXIT CODES
0: Successful execution

1: Error

2: Command canceled

4: Authentication required

NOTE: Specific commands may have additional exit codes. Refer to the command's help for more information.

EXAMPLE
    # Check and update all skills interactively
    $ gh skill update
    # Update specific skills
    $ gh skill update mcp-cli git-commit
    # Update all without prompting
    $ gh skill update --all
    # Re-download all skills (restore locally modified files)
    $ gh skill update --force --all
    # Check for updates without applying (read-only)
    $ gh skill update --dry-run
    # Unpin skills and update them to latest
    $ gh skill update --unpin

SEE ALSO
gh-skill(1)