Agent skill manager for AI coding tools (Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.).
Ion manages installation, validation, and organization of skills — reusable prompts and instructions that enhance AI agent capabilities.
The agent skills ecosystem has grown rapidly. Tools like Vercel's npx skills pioneered the idea of an "npm for agent skills." Ion takes a different approach — it's a standalone binary with no runtime dependency, built for reproducible installs and agent-driven workflows.
| Ion | npx skills |
|
|---|---|---|
| Runtime | Single binary (Rust) | Node.js / npx |
| Manifest & lockfile | Ion.toml + Ion.lock with checksums |
No lockfile |
| Reproducibility | Pinned revisions, lockfile checksums | Latest-only |
| Validation | Built-in security, structure, and markdown checks | None |
| Agent interface | --json mode on every command with structured envelope |
None |
| Local skills | First-class type = "local", eject from remote |
Symlink/copy from path |
| Binary skills | Download, checksum, and run compiled tools via ion run |
Not supported |
| Self-update | ion self update with signed GitHub Release binaries |
npm/npx update |
Ion is designed for teams that want their skill dependencies to be versioned, validated, and reproducible — the same properties you expect from a package manager, applied to agent instructions.
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Roger-luo/Ion/main/install.sh | sh
To install a specific version:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Roger-luo/Ion/main/install.sh | sh -s -- 0.1.2
Or install from source:
cargo install --git https://github.com/Roger-luo/Ion
# Initialize a project with a target
ion project init --target claude
# Add a skill
ion add obra/superpowers/brainstorming
# Install all skills from Ion.toml
ion add
# Search for skills
ion search "code review"
# Create a new local skill
ion skill new
# List installed skills
ion skill list
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ion add [source] |
Add a skill, or install all from Ion.toml |
ion remove <name> |
Remove a skill |
ion search <query> |
Search registries and GitHub |
ion update [name] |
Update skills to latest versions |
ion run <name> |
Run a binary skill |
ion skill new |
Create a new skill |
ion skill eject <name> |
Eject a remote skill into an editable local copy |
ion skill validate |
Validate skill definitions |
ion skill list |
List installed skills |
ion skill info <name> |
Show skill details |
ion skill link <path> |
Link a local skill directory |
ion project init |
Initialize Ion.toml with targets |
ion project migrate |
Migrate from legacy formats |
ion cache gc |
Clean up stale cached repos |
ion config |
View and set configuration |
All commands support ion --json <command> for structured, non-interactive output. This enables AI agents and CI scripts to operate Ion programmatically.
# Structured search results
ion --json search "testing"
# Two-stage commands: preview first, then execute
ion --json remove my-skill # returns what would be removed (exit 2)
ion --json remove my-skill --yes # executes the removal (exit 0)
See SKILL.md for the full agent interface reference.
MIT