A team skills pack is project-scoped SKILL.md workflows under .cursor/skills (or your harness’s pack path), each with a clear when-to-use description—carried by the repo, not only a personal user folder. Version them in git with the product; prefer small, named skill ids and never overwrite Spec Kit /speckit-* ids if you coexist. Team install is clone/pull: skills arrive with the code; AGENTS.md routes which skills exist—it does not paste every body. The pack cannot replace AGENTS.md. Soft start: /free; pack: the Agent Starter Kit ($47).
Who this is for
You already know rules vs skills (or you’re about to)—and now you need the ops packaging move: one shared pack the whole desk installs the same way. Companions on this shelf: the decision split in Cursor rules vs skills — when to use each (and how Spec Kit fits), the install path in Spec Kit → `.cursor/skills` install guide, and the one-pass call in When should I use a skill instead of a rule?.
Official Cursor docs remain the authority for product UI, flags, and `/migrate-to-skills`. This post does not rewrite that help center. It owns the kit wedge: layout, versioning, team install, and how an opinionated pack sits under an `AGENTS.md` router.
Layout (project-scoped pack)
Prefer project skills so the repo carries the pack:
.cursor/skills/
your-ops-namespace/
draft-brief/
SKILL.md
verify-checklist/
SKILL.md
# Spec Kit skills (if used) stay under their own ids — do not overwriteEach `SKILL.md` needs a short when to use description up front. Keep rules thin (globs / alwaysApply). Put portable commands, verify, and guardrails in `AGENTS.md`—router, not a dump of every skill body.
Anti-pattern: user-only skills with no repo copy. Personal shortcuts are fine; team ops need the pack in git.
Versioning and coexistence
Ship skills in the same git history as the product:
- Small, named ids — stable folders your desk can cite in runbooks.
- Don’t overwrite Spec Kit — if you use `specify init --integration cursor-agent`, keep `/speckit-*` ids intact; namespace your ops pack beside them.
- Document in `AGENTS.md` — which skills are Spec Kit vs team ops, and that the pack is project-scoped (preferred) vs user-level personal shortcuts.
- Change with the product — bump or rename deliberately; avoid silent overwrites of upstream skill trees.
Coexist, don’t fork Spec Kit. Operationalize it under your router.
Team install
| Step | Do this | Not this |
|---|---|---|
| Get the pack | Clone/pull the repo so project skills arrive with the code | Emailing zip folders of `SKILL.md` files |
| Route | List required skills in `AGENTS.md` as pointers | Pasting every skill body into the contract |
| Thin rules | Keep `.mdc` constraints short | Guides in always-on rules |
| Spec Kit | Namespace ops pack beside Spec Kit ids | Overwriting `/speckit-*` |
| Personal shortcuts | User-level skills for individuals only | Treating user skills as the team source of truth |
Debug order when someone “doesn’t have the pack”: confirm project `.cursor/skills` is in the clone → confirm `AGENTS.md` lists the ids → confirm no id collision with Spec Kit → then look at user-level folders.
Decision table
| If you need… | Use… | Not… |
|---|---|---|
| Team-shared multi-step how-to | Project skill in the pack | Always-on rule essay |
| Short always/never on matching files | Thin rule (glob / alwaysApply) | Dumping the guide into rules |
| Portable verify / commands / stops | `AGENTS.md` router | Replacing the contract with Cursor-only skills |
| Spec-driven `/speckit-*` flows | Spec Kit skills after official install | Forking Spec Kit into your pack |
| Opinionated layout + harness templates | Skills pack under Agent Starter path | Assembling three conflicting rule dumps |
What the Agent Starter Kit is for
The Agent Starter Kit ($47) packages an opinionated skills pack plus the `AGENTS.md` router angle for agent-ops desks—harness templates under the instruction layer, not a Cursor help-center rewrite and not a Spec Kit fork. Soft path: /free first if you want the layout mindset before buying. Secondary skim: Cheat Sheet vocabulary when you name Bot / skill / routine on the same desk.
Soft next step
Put the pack in the repo, keep `AGENTS.md` as the router, and namespace beside Spec Kit if you use it—don’t fork upstream or paste skill bodies into always-on rules. Soft ladder: /free for the starter desk, then the Agent Starter Kit ($47) when you want the opinionated pack + harness templates. No rush—ship the layout into your own runbook either way.