Rename Skill

SkillAI & models

Lets your agent rename Claude skill files and update every reference across the codebase.

Use Rename Skill in Claude, ChatGPT or Ahel Desktop

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Also: Claude Code · Cursor · Codex

Then ask your AI: use the Rename Skill

Details

Instructions available. Your AI can read the instructions. Execution depends on the setup they require.

Add Ahel to your AI once: Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code or Codex. Then ask it to use this.

Rename SkillStart free
About this skill

Rename an existing agent skill (internal or external), updating its directory name, frontmatter name, and codebase-wide references. Use when the user requests to rename a skill, change a skill's identifier, or restructure a skill's folder.

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by yamcodes/arkenv in skills/rename-skill/SKILL.md and read by Ahel’s review.

This skill guides you through safely and comprehensively renaming an existing skill (either internal or external) in the workspace.

Workflow

1. Gather Information

  • Identify the skill to rename (e.g., old-name).
  • Determine the target name (e.g., new-name).
  • Locate the skill directory. Typically, it will be under:
    • skills/old-name (internal skills)
    • .agents/skills/old-name (external/cache skills)

2. Rename the Directory

Rename the skill directory on the filesystem:

# For internal skills:
mv skills/<old-name> skills/<new-name>

# For external skills:
mv .agents/skills/<old-name> .agents/skills/<new-name>

3. Update Frontmatter and Attribution

Open SKILL.md in the newly renamed directory and update the name field in the frontmatter:

---
name: <new-name>
...
---

Ensure you handle attribution and metadata correctly:

  • Preserve Attribution: Do NOT delete existing attribution metadata in the frontmatter (e.g., original_author, origin). These track the provenance of the skill.
  • Update Maintainer (Optional): If you are taking over maintenance or updating the skill extensively, you can update or add the author field to yourself/your team, but keep original_author intact.
  • Update Internal Flag: Ensure metadata.internal: true is set if it is an internal skill.
  • Update Credits Section: If the bottom of SKILL.md contains a ## Credits or ## Acknowledgements section, preserve it and update any local folder/file links to reflect the renamed directory.

4. Search and Update References

Scan the codebase and docs for any references to the old skill name and update them to the new skill name. Look specifically for:

  • Markdown links to the skill or its files (e.g., [link](file:///.../skills/old-name/SKILL.md)).
  • References to the old name in descriptions or lists of available skills.
  • Importing/requiring any scripts inside the skill.

You can find references using grep or the grep_search tool:

# Search for old name references in skills and docs
grep -rn "old-name" skills/ .agents/skills/ docs/ README.md

5. Verify the Rename

Ensure the renamed skill is healthy:

  • Check that skills/<new-name>/SKILL.md exists and contains valid markdown and YAML frontmatter.
  • If there are tests associated with the skill, verify they still run successfully.
  • Check that all updated links/references point to valid files.

Signals

GitHub stars
145
Forks
6
Last commit
Oct 2026
Advanced
Item type
skill
Key
rename-skill
Source
github.com/yamcodes/arkenv