How to Install the Watch Skill on Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Other AI Coding Hosts

The watch skill installs as a self-contained folder (skills/watch/) that any host—whether Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or claude.ai—copies verbatim into its skills directory, ensuring scripts always remain relative to the SKILL.md contract.

The bradautomates/claude-video repository distributes the /watch skill as a portable, host-agnostic package. Because the skill maintains a consistent internal structure with SKILL.md and its scripts/ directory as siblings, installation commands vary by host but always result in the same functional layout. This design eliminates path fragmentation across different AI coding environments.

Self-Contained Folder Architecture

The installation reliability stems from the skill's self-contained folder design. According to AGENTS.md lines 7-12, the skills/watch/ directory encapsulates everything required for execution:

• SKILL.md — The canonical skill contract and entry point
• scripts/ — Directory containing watch.py, download.py, frames.py, transcribe.py, and helper modules

Because the entire folder is copied as a unit, the runtime can resolve SKILL_DIR to the directory containing SKILL.md and reliably execute ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/... regardless of where the host places the skill (as noted in AGENTS.md lines 22-23). No host-specific variables like ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR} or ${CURSOR_SKILL_DIR} are required.

Installation Methods by Host

Claude Code (Plugin Marketplace)

Claude Code installs the watch skill through its native plugin system. The host reads the manifest from .claude-plugin/plugin.json and copies the entire skills/watch/ directory into the user's Claude Code skill cache.

# Add the repository to the marketplace

/plugin marketplace add bradautomates/claude-video

# Install the specific skill

/plugin install watch@claude-video

The plugin manager handles the transfer automatically, placing SKILL.md and scripts/ in the correct relative positions.

Codex, Cursor, and Agent-Skills CLI Hosts

For hosts supporting the Agent-Skills specification (Codex, Cursor, Copilot, and others), installation uses the global CLI tool referenced in .codex-plugin/plugin.json (which points to "skills": "./skills/").

Global installation (available across all projects):

npx skills add bradautomates/claude-video -g

Project-local installation (restricted to current workspace):

npx skills add bradautomates/claude-video

The CLI reads skills/watch/SKILL.md to discover the skill, then copies the whole folder into host-specific directories like ~/.codex/skills/ or ~/.cursor/skills/. You can target specific agents using flags: -a codex -a cursor.

claude.ai Web Interface

The web host requires a pre-built archive rather than direct folder access. The repository includes skills/watch/scripts/build-skill.sh to create this bundle.

# Build the uploadable bundle

bash skills/watch/scripts/build-skill.sh

# Creates dist/watch.skill

Upload the resulting dist/watch.skill file via Settings → Capabilities → Skills. The archive contains the identical skills/watch/ directory structure, allowing Claude AI to execute watch.py and its helpers in the cloud environment.

Manual Development Installation

For development or unsupported hosts, manual installation works for any environment expecting a self-contained skill folder.

# Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/bradautomates/claude-video.git

# Symlink or copy into the host's skill directory

ln -s "$(pwd)/claude-video/skills/watch" ~/.cursor/skills/watch

This approach preserves the critical requirement that SKILL.md and scripts/ remain siblings.

Runtime Path Resolution

After installation, the skill uses harness-agnostic path resolution to locate its dependencies. At runtime, SKILL.md resolves ${SKILL_DIR} to the directory containing the contract file itself, then references ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/watch.py for execution.

This mechanism ensures that whether the host stores skills in ~/.claude/skills/, ~/.codex/skills/, or a custom project directory, the relative paths between SKILL.md and scripts/download.py, scripts/whisper.py, and other modules remain valid.

Summary

• The watch skill ships as a self-contained folder (skills/watch/) containing SKILL.md and its scripts/ directory as siblings.
• Claude Code uses /plugin install commands to copy the folder into its skill cache.
• Codex, Cursor, and Agent-Skills hosts use npx skills add with optional -g (global) or -a (agent-specific) flags.
• claude.ai requires the dist/watch.skill archive built via skills/watch/scripts/build-skill.sh.
• Path resolution uses ${SKILL_DIR} relative to SKILL.md, eliminating host-specific environment variables.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes the watch skill compatible with multiple AI coding hosts?

The compatibility stems from the Agent-Skills specification implemented in AGENTS.md. By keeping SKILL.md and the scripts/ directory in a fixed relative structure, the skill treats its installation directory as a portable unit. Any host that copies the entire skills/watch/ folder maintains the integrity of internal paths, allowing ${SKILL_DIR} resolution to work identically across Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and claude.ai.

Can I use the same installation command for both Codex and Cursor?

While the base command is identical (npx skills add bradautomates/claude-video), you can specify target hosts using the -a flag. For example, npx skills add bradautomates/claude-video -a codex installs only for Codex, while npx skills add bradautomates/claude-video -g installs globally for all Agent-Skills-compatible hosts including Cursor. Both hosts ultimately copy the same skills/watch/ folder structure to their respective directories (~/.codex/skills/ or ~/.cursor/skills/).

How do I install the watch skill for local development without using the marketplace?

Clone the repository and manually link the skill folder into your host's specific skills directory. For example, run ln -s "$(pwd)/claude-video/skills/watch" ~/.cursor/skills/watch for Cursor or copy the folder to ~/.claude/skills/watch for Claude Code. This method bypasses version managers and allows you to modify skills/watch/scripts/watch.py and helper modules while testing changes immediately.

Why does the claude.ai web interface require a different installation file format?

The web interface lacks direct filesystem access to clone repositories, so it requires a pre-built .skill archive created by skills/watch/scripts/build-skill.sh. This bundle contains the same skills/watch/ directory structure compressed into a single file that can be uploaded through the browser-based Settings → Capabilities → Skills interface, ensuring the cloud environment receives the complete self-contained folder.

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