How to Scope the i-have-adhd Skill to Specific Projects Instead of Global Behavior

The i-have-adhd skill supports both global and project-specific installation across Zed, Hermes, and Pi agents, with the scope determined at install time via platform-specific configuration options.

The ayghri/i-have-adhd repository provides an agent skill designed to optimize workflows for users with ADHD, but you may not want these behaviors active in every codebase. According to the source code in INSTALL.md, you can restrict this skill to specific projects rather than applying it globally across your entire development environment.

Scoping Options by Platform

The installation scope depends on which agent host you use. Each platform offers distinct mechanisms for choosing between global (User) and local (Project) availability.

Zed: User vs Project Scope

In Zed’s Skills manager, the "Create skill from URL" dialog explicitly presents a scope selector. As documented in INSTALL.md at lines 27-28, you can choose User scope to make the skill available in every project, or Project scope to restrict it to the current workspace only.

# Open the Skills manager → Create skill from URL

# Paste the URL:

https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md

# Choose Project scope and confirm

Hermes: Global Installation vs Local Tap

By default, Hermes installs skills to ~/.hermes/skills/ (global). To achieve a project-specific installation, you must add the repository as a tap before installing. This method, shown in INSTALL.md lines 78-90, respects your current working directory and places the skill under the local project path.

# Add the repository as a tap (project-aware)

hermes skills tap add ayghri/i-have-adhd

# Search for the skill (optional)

hermes skills search adhd

# Install the skill; it will be placed under the current work-dir

hermes skills install ayghri/i-have-adhd/skills/i-have-adhd

Pi: Filesystem-Based Scoping

Pi searches for skills in both global directories (~/.pi/agent/skills/) and project-relative directories (.pi/agent/skills/). As shown in INSTALL.md lines 48-55, copying the skill folder into your project’s .pi/agent/skills/ directory restricts execution to that repository.

git clone https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd
mkdir -p .pi/agent/skills
cp -R i-have-adhd/skills/i-have-adhd .pi/agent/skills/

# Ensure skill commands are enabled in your project settings

Changing Scope After Installation

The scoping decision is immutable once the skill is loaded. To switch from global to project-specific behavior (or vice versa), you must uninstall the current instance and reinstall using your desired method.

# Uninstall the global copy first

# Zed: Remove from User-scoped skills manager

# Hermes: hermes skills uninstall i-have-adhd

# Pi: rm -rf ~/.pi/agent/skills/i-have-adhd

# Re-install using the project-scoped method for your platform

Summary

• Zed offers a graphical scope selector (User vs Project) during skill creation.
• Hermes uses the tap system to enable local installation under the current working directory.
• Pi relies on filesystem location: .pi/agent/skills/ for project scope versus ~/.pi/agent/skills/ for global.
• Scope is determined at install time and requires reinstallation to change.
• Key configuration resides in INSTALL.md at the repository root.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use the i-have-adhd skill in only one repository without affecting others?

Yes. In Zed, select Project scope during installation. In Hermes, use hermes skills tap add from within your target directory. In Pi, copy the skill to .pi/agent/skills/ inside your project folder. This ensures the skill only loads when working in that specific codebase.

Does switching from global to project scope require editing configuration files?

No. You do not edit configuration files directly. Instead, uninstall the skill from its current global location and reinstall it using the project-specific method appropriate for your agent. The scope is determined by the installation path, not runtime settings.

Where is the project scope setting documented in the source code?

The installation instructions specifying User versus Project scope appear in INSTALL.md at lines 27-28 for Zed, lines 48-55 for Pi, and lines 78-90 for Hermes. These sections explicitly describe how to save the skill for "every project" or for "one" project only.

Will the skill behavior differ between global and project installations?

No. The behavior defined in skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md remains identical regardless of scope. The only difference is visibility: global installations load for all projects, while project-scoped installations only activate when the agent detects the skill in the local .pi/agent/skills/, local Hermes tap, or Zed project configuration.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}