Claude Skills in VS Code Copilot and Copilot CLI

Agent Skills use a simple distribution model: a skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md file and, optionally, scripts, examples, or other resources. The format is portable, but portability does not mean that every client searches the same directories.

This distinction matters when a skill works in VS Code but does not appear in Copilot CLI.

The Short Version

The important boundary is the last two rows. VS Code explicitly scans ~/.claude/skills as a personal skill location. The Copilot CLI documentation lists ~/.copilot/skills and ~/.agents/skills for personal skills, but does not list ~/.claude/skills.

Repository Skills Are Portable

For a skill that belongs to a project or team, put the skill under one of the documented project directories:

repository/
└── .claude/
	└── skills/
		└── release-check/
			└── SKILL.md

The directory name should normally match the name in the SKILL.md frontmatter. A minimal skill looks like this:

---
name: release-check
description: Check release metadata and required validation steps.
---

Inspect the release metadata, run the required checks, and report failures.

Because .claude/skills is a documented project location for both VS Code Copilot and Copilot CLI, this is a reasonable place for a repository-owned skill. The skill remains part of the repository and can be reviewed, versioned, and shared with the project.

Personal Skills Have Different Defaults

Personal skills are discovered from the user’s home directory rather than from a repository. VS Code supports these three personal locations:

~/.copilot/skills/
~/.claude/skills/
~/.agents/skills/

Copilot CLI documents only these two default personal locations:

~/.copilot/skills/
~/.agents/skills/

Therefore, placing a skill in ~/.claude/skills can make it available to VS Code without making it automatically available to Copilot CLI. The skill format is the same; the default discovery paths are different.

For a personal skill that should work in both clients without extra configuration, use ~/.copilot/skills or ~/.agents/skills.

Adding Another Location in Copilot CLI

Copilot CLI provides a way to add an alternative skills directory. Inside an interactive session, use:

/skills add ~/.claude/skills

The equivalent command-line form is:

copilot skill add ~/.claude/skills

After adding a directory during a session, reload the skills and inspect the result:

/skills reload
/skills list
/skills info release-check

This is a discovery configuration change, not a conversion of the skill. It tells the CLI to consider an additional location. If a skill was added while a session was already running, reloading avoids requiring a new session.

Choosing the Location

Use the location according to ownership and scope:

1. Put team or repository behavior in .github/skills, .claude/skills, or .agents/skills.
2. Put a personal cross-client skill in ~/.copilot/skills or ~/.agents/skills.
3. Keep a VS Code-specific personal skill in ~/.claude/skills when that compatibility path is useful.
4. Add ~/.claude/skills to Copilot CLI explicitly when moving the same personal collection to the CLI.

The practical lesson is simple: check both the skill format and the client’s discovery paths. A valid SKILL.md can still be invisible when it is stored outside the client’s default locations.

References

• Use Agent Skills in VS Code - documents the Agent Skills format, project locations, VS Code personal locations including ~/.claude/skills, and progressive loading.
• About agent skills - documents Copilot’s supported project locations and personal locations, including the absence of ~/.claude/skills from the personal list.
• Adding agent skills for GitHub Copilot CLI - documents project and personal skill directories, /skills add, copilot skill add, reload, and inspection commands.