Cloning Project

SkillFiles & storage

Exports a Claude.ai workspace — its custom instructions and its uploaded knowledge files — into a bundle that can be re-imported elsewhere. Use for "back up my project instructions", "export my project knowledge", "copy this workspace to a new one", "migrate my project to another account", or "recreate this setup somewhere else". Operates on the Claude.ai workspace you are talking in, and reads nothing from disk.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Cloning Project skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by oaustegard/claude-skills in cloning-project/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

When users request to clone, copy, export, or backup their current project:

When NOT to use this skill

"Project" here is a Claude.ai workspace, never a code repository. The word collides badly, so route by what is actually being copied:

SituationUse
Clone or fetch a git repoaccessing-github-repos
"I just cloned this, what is it?"exploring-codebases
What a codebase contains or exposestree-sitting
Back up a repo's filesgit, not this

This skill reads the Claude.ai workspace you are talking in. It touches no checkout and knows nothing about code.

Step 1: Verify Project Context

Check if the user is in a project by looking for project-specific indicators:

  • Project instructions in the context window
  • Knowledge files mentioned in <available_skills> or similar sections
  • User explicitly stating they're in a project

If not in a project, inform the user that this skill requires being inside a Claude project.

Step 2: Gather Project Instructions

Project instructions are typically found in the context window as XML or markdown content describing the project's purpose and configuration. Extract and save these instructions to a file.

Create the instructions file:

cat > /home/claude/project-instructions.md << 'INSTRUCTIONS'
[Extracted project instructions content]
INSTRUCTIONS

Step 3: Locate Knowledge Files

Knowledge files are user-uploaded documents stored in /mnt/user-data/uploads/. List all files:

ls -lh /mnt/user-data/uploads/

If knowledge files exist, copy them to the working directory for bundling:

cp /mnt/user-data/uploads/* /home/claude/project-export/

Step 4: Create Export Bundle

If only project instructions exist (no knowledge files):

  • Copy instructions directly to outputs:
    cp /home/claude/project-instructions.md /mnt/user-data/outputs/
    

If project has both instructions and knowledge files:

  • Create an organized export directory:
    mkdir -p /home/claude/project-export
    cp /home/claude/project-instructions.md /home/claude/project-export/
    cp /mnt/user-data/uploads/* /home/claude/project-export/ 2>/dev/null || true
    
  • Create zip bundle:
    cd /home/claude
    zip -r /mnt/user-data/outputs/project-export.zip project-export/
    
  • Show bundle contents:
    unzip -l /mnt/user-data/outputs/project-export.zip
    

Step 5: Provide Files and Instructions to User

Link the exported files:

For single instructions file:

[Download project-instructions.md](computer:///mnt/user-data/outputs/project-instructions.md)

For bundled export:

[Download project-export.zip](computer:///mnt/user-data/outputs/project-export.zip)

Then provide clear setup instructions:

## How to Import Into a New Project

1. **Create a new Claude project** (or open an existing one where you want to clone this configuration)

2. **Add project instructions:**
   - Open the new project's settings
   - Navigate to the "Instructions" section
   - Copy and paste the content from `project-instructions.md`
   - Save the instructions

3. **Upload knowledge files** (if applicable):
   - In the new project, go to the "Knowledge" section
   - Upload all files from the export (except project-instructions.md)
   - Files will become available as project knowledge

Your project is now cloned with the same configuration and knowledge base.

Edge Cases

Empty project (no custom instructions or knowledge):

  • Inform the user that the project has no custom configuration to export
  • Explain that projects by default only have access to Claude's base capabilities

Large knowledge bases:

  • If the zip file exceeds reasonable size (~50MB), warn the user and suggest selective export
  • Provide individual file links as fallback

Corrupted or inaccessible files:

  • Skip files that cannot be read
  • Report which files were successfully exported vs. skipped
  • Provide export anyway with available content

Signals

GitHub stars
148
Forks
5
Last commit
Sep 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
cloning-project
Source
github.com/oaustegard/claude-skills