emilkowalski/skills installation guide

Install `emilkowalski/skills` for Claude Code on macOS Tahoe (Apple silicon)

What this repository is

`emilkowalski/skills` is a public, MIT-licensed collection called **Skills for Designers and Engineers**. Its stated purpose is to help designers and engineers build better user interfaces, especially by improving animation choices, UI polish, prototyping, Apple-style design, Swift code, and use of the Sonner toast library.

Claude Code classification

**Classification: Claude extension using context injection (Agent Skills).**

The evidence supports this classification because the repository consists primarily of Markdown skill files under `skills/`, each with skill metadata such as `name` and `description`, followed by guidance Claude can apply while working. Some skills explicitly disable automatic model invocation and must be selected intentionally. The repository does not present itself as a standalone application, MCP server, background service, or external tool API. It extends an agent by adding reusable instructions and workflows to its context.

The documented installer is the `skills` command-line package. The repository does not document a Claude Code version requirement, an MCP configuration, API keys, accounts, environment variables, a build step, or an Apple-silicon-specific binary.

Before you begin

You need access to macOS Terminal and a working `npx` command. The repository’s only documented installation command uses `npx`, but it does **not** state which Node.js or npm version is required. It also does not provide a source-supported command for installing Node.js, npm, `npx`, or Claude Code itself. Therefore, this guide does not invent those setup commands.

You should also already have the Claude Code environment in which you intend to use the skills. The supplied repository files do not document how to install Claude Code or identify a minimum Claude Code release.

On macOS Tahoe, open Terminal through Spotlight or from the Applications folder. Apple silicon requires no special repository-specific step according to the supplied files. In particular, there is no documented Rosetta requirement, architecture flag, native compilation, Homebrew command, or Xcode prerequisite.

Security and trust note

The installation command invokes `skills@latest`. The word `latest` means the selected package release can change over time, so read any information or prompts shown by `npx` before agreeing to continue. The supplied repository does not document a pinned installer version or checksum, so this guide cannot provide one.

The repository’s skill files are instructions that will influence an agent’s behavior. After installation, use only the skills you want and review important generated code before accepting it. This is especially relevant because several skills are intentionally opinionated about design, animation, dependency selection, and implementation style.

Install the skill collection

In Terminal, copy and paste the repository’s documented command exactly:

npx skills@latest add emilkowalski/skills

Then press Return.

This is the complete installation command published in the repository README. No clone, build, package-install, configuration-editing, or restart command is documented in the supplied files. Follow only the information presented by the installer itself, and do not substitute an SSH URL, manually copy folders, or add undocumented command flags.

Because the repository does not describe the installer’s prompts, target-selection screen, final success wording, or destination directory, this guide cannot reliably predict what you will see. If the installer asks you to choose a supported agent or installation scope, read the displayed choices and select the Claude Code destination you actually intend to use. Do not assume a particular option exists if it is not displayed.

Confirm the result

The supplied first-party files do not provide a terminal verification command, an expected installation path, or a Claude Code command for listing installed skills. Consequently, there is no additional copy-paste verification command that can be included without inventing one.

Use the installer’s own completion message as the first confirmation. Then open or return to Claude Code and make a request that clearly matches one of the installed skill descriptions. A successful, practical check is to ask for help with a narrow animation or interface task and explicitly name the desired skill when appropriate.

For example, in ordinary conversational language—not as a shell command—you can ask Claude to use `animation-vocabulary` to name an effect, or explicitly invoke `prototype` for a UI exploration. The repository states that `prototype`, `pick-ui-library`, and `review-animations` do not trigger on their own, so naming those skills explicitly is particularly important. Other skills advertise task-based activation through their descriptions.

Do not judge installation solely by whether Claude repeats exact wording from a skill. The useful test is whether the requested skill is available and its specialized behavior is applied to a matching task.

What was installed

The README lists the following skills:

• **`emil-design-eng`** — broad UI polish, component design, and animation advice.
• **`animate`** — builds web animations while deciding whether motion is appropriate, then choosing the tool, properties, easing, and duration.
• **`animate-expo`** — animation guidance for React Native and Expo, including gestures, haptics, navigation, and UI-thread performance.
• **`review-animations`** — strict review of existing animation and motion code. It requires explicit invocation.
• **`improve-animations`** — a read-only codebase animation audit that produces prioritized implementation plans rather than changing source code.
• **`find-animation-opportunities`** — searches a UI for places that would genuinely benefit from motion and identifies what should remain static.
• **`animation-vocabulary`** — maps vague descriptions of motion to precise animation terms.
• **`apple-design`** — Apple-inspired interface and motion principles translated for web work.
• **`write-swift`** — modern Swift guidance covering value types, Swift concurrency, generics, performance, testing, and related language features.
• **`pick-ui-library`** — makes an opinionated library recommendation from its curated list. It requires explicit invocation.
• **`prototype`** — creates several genuinely different UI variants behind a visual picker. It requires explicit invocation.
• **`ask-sonner`** — setup, usage, styling, and troubleshooting guidance for the Sonner React toast library.

The supplied files contain full evidence for many of these and list the remainder in the README. They are guidance packages, not proof that related third-party libraries such as Motion, Expo, Sonner, or Xcode have been installed. A skill may recommend or write code for a library, but this repository’s single installation command installs the skills collection; it does not document installing every library discussed inside those skills.

How to use the collection safely

Start with a specific request. For web animation construction, ask for `animate`; for React Native or Expo animation, ask for `animate-expo`. Use `review-animations` when you want a strict motion review rather than a new feature. Use `improve-animations` when you want an audit and plans without source changes. Explicitly invoke skills marked as manual-only.

Treat generated changes like any other code contribution: review the diff, test the interface, and verify accessibility and behavior in your own project. The animation skills emphasize reduced-motion handling, appropriate frequency, short UI durations, and transform/opacity-based motion, but the final code still depends on the project context supplied to Claude.

Be especially careful with `pick-ui-library`: its recommendations are deliberately curated and opinionated. Installing this repository does not automatically install any recommended dependency. Likewise, `write-swift` describes a particular modern Swift toolchain baseline inside the skill, but the repository installation itself does not install Swift or Xcode.

Troubleshooting within the available evidence

Terminal says `npx` is not found

Stop at this point. The repository depends on an `npx` invocation for its documented installation, but it supplies no supported Node.js/npm installation command or version requirement. Resolve `npx` using trusted first-party Node.js/npm documentation, then rerun only the repository’s documented command above.

The installer reports an error

Read the complete error and any supported usage information it displays. The repository does not document alternate flags, a manual-copy fallback, a Git clone installation, or a cache-cleaning procedure. Avoid guessed fixes that alter system permissions or execute commands with elevated privileges.

Claude does not automatically use a skill

Name the skill explicitly and give it a matching task. This is required for skills whose metadata disables model invocation, including `prototype`, `pick-ui-library`, and `review-animations`. For other skills, explicit naming is also a useful diagnostic because activation depends on the request matching the skill description.

You want to update or uninstall

The supplied files do not document update or uninstall commands. Do not invent command variants. Consult the current first-party documentation for the `skills` installer or the information it displays, because the only repository-supported command in the supplied evidence is the installation command shown above.

Completion checklist

• You used macOS Terminal on your Apple-silicon Mac.
• `npx` was already available.
• You ran the exact README installation command.
• The installer completed without an error.
• You tested a matching request in Claude Code, explicitly naming manual-only skills.
• You understand that the repository injects skill guidance; it is not an MCP server or standalone application.
• You did not add undocumented flags, architecture workarounds, elevated permissions, or guessed verification commands.