---
title: "Advanced Installation"
description: "Install, update, and remove NVIDIA skills with control over agent, scope, and non-interactive workflows."
---

Use this guide when you need more control than the root README quickstart: non-interactive installs, specific agents, global vs project scope, updates, removals, or a manual fallback.

## Requirements

- Node.js and npm available on your PATH. The examples use `npx`, which ships with npm.
- A current `skills` CLI — **version 1.5.16 or newer**. Running via `npx skills@latest` always uses the latest. Versions 1.5.15 and earlier do not create the Claude Code skills link, so installed skills won't appear in Claude Code (Codex and other agents that read `.agents/skills/` directly are unaffected).
- Access to `https://github.com/NVIDIA/skills`.
- An AI agent that supports Agent Skills, such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, or another compatible agent.

## List Skills Before Installing

```bash
npx skills add nvidia/skills --list
```

Use this when you want to inspect the catalog before selecting a skill.

## Install One Skill

```bash
npx skills add nvidia/skills --skill cuopt-numerical-optimization-api
```

Use the skill name from the `name:` field in the skill's `SKILL.md`. In this catalog, names usually match the leaf folder under `skills/<product>/`.

## Install to a Specific Agent

```bash
npx skills add nvidia/skills --skill cuopt-numerical-optimization-api --agent codex
npx skills add nvidia/skills --skill cuopt-numerical-optimization-api --agent claude-code
npx skills add nvidia/skills --skill cuopt-numerical-optimization-api --agent cursor
```

You can pass `--agent` more than once:

```bash
npx skills add nvidia/skills \
  --skill cuopt-numerical-optimization-api \
  --agent codex \
  --agent claude-code
```

## Choose Project or Global Scope

Project installs are the default. They place links under the current project's agent-specific skills directory so the skills travel with that project.

```bash
npx skills add nvidia/skills --skill cuopt-numerical-optimization-api
```

Global installs make the skill available across projects for the selected agent:

```bash
npx skills add nvidia/skills \
  --skill cuopt-numerical-optimization-api \
  --agent codex \
  --global
```

## Non-Interactive Install

Use `--yes` when scripting setup or bootstrapping a development environment:

```bash
npx skills add nvidia/skills \
  --skill cuopt-numerical-optimization-api \
  --agent codex \
  --global \
  --yes
```

## Update or Remove Installed Skills

```bash
# See installed skills
npx skills list

# Check for updates
npx skills check

# Update all installed skills
npx skills update

# Remove a skill
npx skills remove cuopt-numerical-optimization-api
```

## Manual Fallback

Prefer `npx skills add` because it handles agent directories, global vs project scope, and updates. If you cannot use Node.js or npm, you can still copy a skill directory manually:

1. Open the product folder under [`skills/`](../skills/).
2. Copy the specific skill directory containing `SKILL.md`.
3. Place it in your agent's skills directory.

Common global locations are:

| Agent | Global skills directory |
|-------|-------------------------|
| Claude Code | `~/.claude/skills/` |
| Codex | `~/.codex/skills/` |
| Cursor | `~/.cursor/skills/` |

Manual installs do not participate in `npx skills update`, so use them only as a fallback.

## Troubleshooting

### Installed skills don't appear in your agent

1. **Check your CLI version first.** Run `npx skills --version`. If it is older than **1.5.16**, upgrade by installing via `npx skills@latest ...`. Versions 1.5.15 and earlier fail to link skills into Claude Code's `.claude/skills/` directory, so the files install but the agent never sees them.
2. **Reload skills in your session.** In Claude Code, run `/reload-skills` (or restart the session) so newly installed skills are picked up.

### Verify your agent can see an installed skill

After installing `<skill-name>`, confirm it landed where your agent looks:

| Agent | Check |
|-------|-------|
| Claude Code | `.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md` resolves (project) or `~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md` (global); the skill also appears in `/skills`. |
| Codex | `.agents/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md` resolves — Codex reads `.agents/skills/` directly, so no per-agent link is needed. |

If `.claude/skills/<skill-name>` is missing or empty on Claude Code, it is almost always the stale-CLI issue above — upgrade to 1.5.16+ and re-run the install.