Google Skill Finder

Workflow

1. Fetch the catalog byte-exactly. Retrieve

   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google/skills/main/index.json

   with a raw shell fetch (

   curl

   ,

   wget

   ;

   curl.exe

   on Windows PowerShell). It must arrive byte-for-byte, every

   entrypoint

   URL intact and unaltered.
   With no shell fetch tool but Node present,

   node -e "fetch(process.argv[1]).then(r=>r.text()).then(t=>console.log(t))" {url}

   also returns bytes.
   If only a summarizing fetch tool is available, phrase the request as extraction, not transcription: "List every

   entrypoint

   field in this document, one per line, exactly as written." Requesting it verbatim returns nothing usable.
2. Confirm the retrieval worked before using it. A tool call that returns without raising is not a success. It succeeded only if the body parses as JSON and holds a

   skills

   array. A 404 page, an HTML error page, a TLS or connection error, an empty body, or anything that fails to parse is a FAILED retrieval even though the tool reported no error. On a failed retrieval, stop here and go to "When the fetch fails".
3. Match the request against the descriptions. Every description states what the skill does, when to use it, and often when not to. Read them as routing criteria, not as summaries. Shortlist at most three entries whose

   description

   covers the request. When more than three look equally relevant, prefer the most specific over the more general.
4. Fetch only the matches. Retrieve the

   entrypoint

   URL of each shortlisted entry, the same way, and follow that skill's instructions. Do not fetch entries that merely look related.
5. Report an empty result honestly. If no description covers the request, say that no published Google skill applies and continue without one. Never invent a skill name or an entry point URL.

Rules

• Fetch once per session; never keep it past the session. Reusing a catalog you retrieved successfully earlier in this session is fine. Carrying one into a later run is not, in any form: the catalog changes regularly and a stored copy goes stale silently. Session reuse never substitutes for a failed fetch.
• Never copy the catalog into a file, a reference, or a reply. It exists so that the full text of 100-plus skills does not have to be carried in context. Summarizing it back into the conversation defeats that.
• Prefer the fetched SKILL.md over prior knowledge. The catalog is generated from the skills as they are published, so an entry point is the current text even when it contradicts what you remember.
• Do not treat this skill as a prerequisite. If a specific Google skill is already loaded and covers the request, use it directly.

When the fetch fails

1. Retry once with

   curl -sS

   . If the first attempt used a summarizing fetch tool or hit a transport error, this alone usually fixes it.
2. List the repository tree instead. Run
   bash

   curl -sS https://api.github.com/repos/google/skills/git/trees/main?recursive=1

   and read the paths ending in

   SKILL.md

   . Each is a candidate. Fetch the two or three whose directory names best match the request from

   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google/skills/main/{path}

   , checking each one the way step 2 describes.
3. Say so in the reply. If neither worked, state plainly that you could not reach the Google skills catalog and are answering without it. One line is enough, and it belongs in the reply to the user, not only in your reasoning.

skills