Environment Variables

All environment variables recognized by the Skills CLI

The Skills CLI recognizes several environment variables that control its behavior.

Telemetry Control

Both DISABLE_TELEMETRY and DO_NOT_TRACK have the same effect. Use whichever you prefer.

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Skill Discovery

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GitHub Authentication

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CI Detection

The CLI automatically detects CI environments and adjusts behavior (e.g., disables telemetry). These variables are read-only (set by CI platforms, not by users).

CI

Generic CI environment indicator

Set by: Most CI platforms
Example: CI=true

GITHUB_ACTIONS

GitHub Actions environment

Set by: GitHub Actions
Example: GITHUB_ACTIONS=true

GITLAB_CI

GitLab CI environment

Set by: GitLab CI/CD
Example: GITLAB_CI=true

CIRCLECI

CircleCI environment

Set by: CircleCI
Example: CIRCLECI=true

TRAVIS

Travis CI environment

Set by: Travis CI
Example: TRAVIS=true

BUILDKITE

Buildkite environment

Set by: Buildkite
Example: BUILDKITE=true

JENKINS_URL

Jenkins environment

Set by: Jenkins
Example: JENKINS_URL=https://jenkins.example.com

TEAMCITY_VERSION

TeamCity environment

Set by: TeamCity
Example: TEAMCITY_VERSION=2023.11

When any CI variable is detected, the CLI automatically:

• Disables telemetry (unless explicitly re-enabled)
• Adds ci=1 flag to any telemetry that is sent
• May adjust interactive prompts (some CI platforms)

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Examples

Development Workflow

Local Development with Telemetry Disabled

DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills

INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS=1 npx skills add ./my-skills --list

GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxx npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills

CI/CD Pipelines

GitHub Actions

name: Install Skills

on: [push]

jobs:
  install:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Install skills
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          DISABLE_TELEMETRY: 1
        run: |
          npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills \
            --skill frontend-design \
            --agent cursor \
            --yes

install-skills:
  script:
    - export DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1
    - npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill frontend-design -a cursor -y
  variables:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: $GITHUB_TOKEN

pipeline {
  agent any
  environment {
    DISABLE_TELEMETRY = '1'
    GITHUB_TOKEN = credentials('github-token')
  }
  stages {
    stage('Install Skills') {
      steps {
        sh 'npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill frontend-design -a cursor -y'
      }
    }
  }
}

Shell Configuration

Bash/Zsh (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)

# Disable telemetry for all skills commands
export DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1

# GitHub token for authenticated requests
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxx

# Enable internal skills by default
export INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS=1

# Disable telemetry
set -Ux DISABLE_TELEMETRY 1

# GitHub token
set -Ux GITHUB_TOKEN ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxx

# Enable internal skills
set -Ux INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS 1

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Complete Reference

Environment Variables · table

Variable	Type	Purpose	Default
DISABLE_TELEMETRY	boolean	Disable usage telemetry	false
DO_NOT_TRACK	boolean	Disable usage telemetry (DNT standard)	false
INSTALL_INTERNAL_SKILLS	boolean	Show internal skills	false
GITHUB_TOKEN	string	GitHub API token	null
GH_TOKEN	string	Alternative GitHub token	null
CI	boolean	Generic CI indicator	false
GITHUB_ACTIONS	boolean	GitHub Actions CI	false
GITLAB_CI	boolean	GitLab CI	false
CIRCLECI	boolean	CircleCI	false
TRAVIS	boolean	Travis CI	false
BUILDKITE	boolean	Buildkite CI	false
JENKINS_URL	string	Jenkins CI	null
TEAMCITY_VERSION	string	TeamCity CI	null

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Related Documentation

Telemetry

Learn more about what telemetry data is collected

Lock Files

See how GitHub tokens are used to fetch skill hashes