ToolUniverse Install Skills
SkillFiles & storageDetect and auto-install missing ToolUniverse research skills. Checks common Claude Code/Cursor/Codex skill directories for the canary file, and installs any missing skills if none found. Use when the plugin's research skills aren't loading, when migrating between clients, or when verifying a skill installation.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.
Then ask your AI: use the ToolUniverse Install Skills skill
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by mims-harvard/tooluniverse in skills/tooluniverse-install-skills/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
Checks whether the ToolUniverse specialized skills are installed and installs them automatically if not.
Detection
Use the Shell tool to check for the canary file across all common client locations:
ls .cursor/skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null \
|| ls .agents/skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null \
|| ls .windsurf/skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null \
|| ls .gemini/skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null \
|| ls .claude/skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null \
|| ls .opencode/skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null \
|| ls .trae/skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null \
|| ls .skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null \
|| echo "NOT_INSTALLED"
- Output is a file path → skills already installed, stop here.
- Output is
NOT_INSTALLED→ proceed to installation.
Installation
# 1. Download skills from GitHub (shallow, sparse — only skills/ folder)
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse \
https://github.com/mims-harvard/ToolUniverse.git /tmp/tu-skills
cd /tmp/tu-skills && git sparse-checkout set skills
# 2. Copy to the correct directory for the detected client:
mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r /tmp/tu-skills/skills/* .cursor/skills/ # Cursor
# mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r /tmp/tu-skills/skills/* .agents/skills/ # Codex/OpenAI
# mkdir -p .windsurf/skills && cp -r /tmp/tu-skills/skills/* .windsurf/skills/ # Windsurf
# mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r /tmp/tu-skills/skills/* .gemini/skills/ # Gemini CLI
# mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r /tmp/tu-skills/skills/* .claude/skills/ # Claude Code
# mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r /tmp/tu-skills/skills/* .opencode/skills/ # OpenCode
# mkdir -p .trae/skills && cp -r /tmp/tu-skills/skills/* .trae/skills/ # Trae
# mkdir -p .skills && cp -r /tmp/tu-skills/skills/* .skills/ # Cline/VS Code
# 3. Clean up
rm -rf /tmp/tu-skills
If the client cannot be detected automatically, ask the user which one they use before running step 2.
Client Detection
Detect the client from the presence of config files:
| Config file present | Client |
|---|---|
.cursor/ | Cursor |
.agents/ | Codex / OpenAI |
.windsurf/ | Windsurf |
.gemini/ | Gemini CLI |
.claude/ | Claude Code |
.opencode/ | OpenCode |
.trae/ | Trae |
| None of the above | Ask the user |
After Installation
Confirm success:
ls .cursor/skills/tooluniverse-drug-research/SKILL.md
Tell the user: "ToolUniverse skills installed successfully. You now have access to 50+ specialized research workflows."
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 2k
- Forks
- 254
- Last commit
- Sep 2026
Advanced
- Catalog kind
- skill
- Gateway key
tooluniverse-install-skills- Source
- github.com/mims-harvard/tooluniverse