How to Test Custom Skills in the PM Skills Marketplace: 4 Methods Explained

You can test custom skills by force-loading them with slash syntax, executing wrapped plugin commands, using the Claude CLI, or sandboxing them in a local directory.

The PM Skills Marketplace repository (phuryn/pm-skills) treats every *.md file under a plugin's skills/ folder as a self-contained skill. When you need to verify behavior before deployment, you can test custom skills in isolation using several mechanisms built into the Claude ecosystem.

Force-Load Skills with Slash Syntax

The fastest way to test a specific skill is to force-load it using the /plugin-name:skill-name prefix. This overrides the model's generic knowledge and ensures the exact skill markdown is loaded.

According to the repository's README.md (lines 38-41), you prepend the plugin name and skill name with a slash when prompting Claude. For example, /pm-toolkit:review-resume loads the review-resume skill specifically from the pm-toolkit plugin, while /review-resume works if the skill name is unique.

# Force-load a specific skill to test its behavior

claude ask "/pm-toolkit:review-resume Show me the top three improvements for my résumé."

Execute Plugin Commands That Wrap Skills

Most plugins expose slash commands that chain one or more skills into a complete workflow. Running these commands exercises the skill end-to-end, revealing the prompt-to-output mapping, fallback logic, and final response formatting.

In pm-toolkit/commands/review-resume.md, the /review-resume command invokes the review-resume skill defined in pm-toolkit/skills/review-resume/SKILL.md. For multi-skill testing, pm-product-discovery/commands/discover.md demonstrates how commands chain several skills together.

# Run the built-in command that wraps the skill

claude ask "/review-resume"

Iterate Locally Using the Claude CLI

You can test custom skills without leaving the terminal by installing the plugin locally and invoking skills directly. This method surfaces the exact markdown-based skill response, making it easy to verify correctness during development.

Installation and testing workflow:

# Install the toolkit plugin

claude plugin install pm-toolkit@pm-skills

# Force-load the skill and ask a question

claude ask "/review-resume What are the gaps in my PM resume?"

Sandbox Testing in a Local Directory

For experimental skills that aren't ready for the main marketplace, copy the skill markdown into a local "sandbox" plugin. The repository documentation in README.md (lines 24-30) describes how to copy skills into .opencode/skills/ for OpenCode testing.

This approach lets you modify skill content and test iterations without affecting the published marketplace version.

# Copy a skill to a local OpenCode sandbox and test it

mkdir -p .opencode/skills/
cp pm-toolkit/skills/review-resume/* .opencode/skills/
claude ask "/review-resume"

Summary

• Force-load syntax: Use /plugin-name:skill-name to override model knowledge and load specific skills from phuryn/pm-skills.
• Command execution: Run slash commands like /review-resume defined in files such as pm-toolkit/commands/review-resume.md to test end-to-end workflows.
• Claude CLI testing: Install plugins locally with claude plugin install and test skills using claude ask commands.
• Local sandboxing: Copy skill files to .opencode/skills/ to iterate on custom skills without marketplace deployment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What file format are custom skills in the PM Skills Marketplace?

Custom skills are self-contained Markdown (*.md) files stored under each plugin's skills/ directory. The actual skill definition resides in files like pm-toolkit/skills/review-resume/SKILL.md, which Claude loads and interprets based on the conversation context or force-load commands.

Can I test a skill without installing the entire plugin?

Yes. You can copy individual skill files into a local sandbox directory (.opencode/skills/) and invoke them with slash syntax. This sandbox approach, documented in the repository's README.md, allows isolated testing of single skills without requiring full marketplace installation.

How do I test multiple related skills together?

Use plugin commands that chain skills, such as those defined in pm-product-discovery/commands/discover.md. These command files orchestrate multiple skills into workflows, allowing you to verify how skills interact and handle handoffs between different stages of a process.

Why would I use force-load syntax instead of letting Claude auto-detect skills?

Force-loading with /plugin-name:skill-name ensures you are testing the exact skill markdown from the repository rather than the model's generic knowledge. This is critical when verifying custom instructions, formatting rules, or specialized logic defined in the skill files that might differ from Claude's baseline training.

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