---
title: For agents
description: "Install garage's SKILL.md so your coding agent knows when and how to use Garage."
---

This page is for both humans and agents. It walks through installing the
garage CLI, installing the [garage SKILL.md](/skill.md) where your agent
expects to find skills, and verifying setup. Agents that need only the bytes
can fetch the canonical markdown directly:

- `https://thegarage.sh/skill.md` — canonical SKILL.md
- `https://thegarage.sh/docs/<slug>.md` — raw markdown for any docs page
- `https://thegarage.sh/llms.txt` — plain-text index of docs


### Install the CLI

```sh
npm i -g @thegarage/cli
```

Verify the install:

```sh
garage --help
```



### Install the skill

Use your agent's skill installer, or fetch the raw file directly. For
Claude Code:

```sh
mkdir -p .claude/skills/garage
curl https://thegarage.sh/skill.md > .claude/skills/garage/SKILL.md
```

For Cursor, Cline, or `AGENTS.md`-based tools, place the same content where
your agent looks for skills.



### Initialize this project

```sh
garage init
garage whoami --json
```

`garage init` runs the device-flow login — nothing else to configure; an
organization is auto-created at signup. Re-running it is idempotent.



### Verify

```sh
garage auth status --json
garage doctor
```

`auth status` reports which credential is active (`env` vs `file`). `doctor`
checks file permissions, server reachability, and the git credential helper.


## Hand a repo to another agent

`garage share` produces everything a second agent needs in one command — a
bare-git clone URL with a time-boxed credential, the link-config snippet, and
a paste-ready onboarding prompt:

```sh
garage share my-api --role write --expires 7d --json
```

Paste the `prompt` field (or `--out FILE` it) into the other agent's
instructions. For untrusted channels use `garage share --link`: the printed
`https://thegarage.sh/invites/<id>` URL carries no credential, and an agent can
redeem it directly as markdown:

```sh
curl 'https://thegarage.sh/invites/<id>.md?reveal=1'
```

Anonymous repos work the same way with `garage anon share <name>` — zero
auth on either side, and every share dies with the repo.

## Prompt for your agent

Copy this into your agent's instructions or paste it as a one-off prompt:

```text
Use the garage skill at https://thegarage.sh/skill.md. Install it where your
skill system expects, then set up garage in this project: verify the CLI
with JSON output (`garage whoami --json`), and create or link a repo using
the documented garage commands. Report the exact command, exit code, and
structured error if anything fails.
```

  - [CLI reference](/docs/cli): Every subcommand and flag the skill points to.
  - [Anonymous repos](/docs/anon-push): No-account ephemeral repos for cross-agent handoffs.