How SkillPouch works

SkillPouch keeps your AI coding setup the same on every computer and in every assistant: instructions, skills, agents, commands, MCP servers, hooks, plugins and assistant settings. You write an item once, and each assistant gets it in its own format and folder. Everything is end-to-end encrypted, and the project is open source under the AGPL-3.0.

The problem

Each AI coding assistant keeps its setup in its own place and format: Claude Code reads ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, Codex reads ~/.codex/AGENTS.md, Gemini CLI reads ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md, and each one stores MCP servers in a different config file. With two assistants or two computers, the same instructions, skills and MCP servers are copied by hand, drift apart, and are missing on the next new machine.

The parts

• A pouch is one encrypted set of items. You can have several (for example work and personal); each computer syncs one at a time. See Choosing a pouch and assistants.
• The CLI (skillpouch) runs on each computer. It finds the supported assistants in your home folder, links their folders to the pouch’s files under ~/.skillpouch/, and runs a background sync that starts with the computer. Running skillpouch on its own opens a terminal dashboard.
• The web app at app.skillpouch.net shows every item in your browser, lets you edit items, share one by link, add items from marketplaces, and settle conflicts.
• The server stores and relays ciphertext. It can’t read your items or recover them for you. See Security.

One item, every assistant

Items are stored once and translated for each assistant:

• Instructions become CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, GEMINI.md, copilot-instructions.md and so on.
• Agents and commands get each assistant’s front matter, tool names and argument placeholder; Gemini CLI and Qwen Code get TOML commands.
• MCP servers, hooks and plugins are written into each assistant’s config file, changing only the entries SkillPouch added.
• Assistant settings (models, providers, permissions, display preferences) sync as one Settings item per assistant. Credential files are never synced.

The full map is in Supported assistants.

A typical setup

npm i -g skillpouch     # or pnpm / bun
skillpouch login        # approve this computer in the browser

On the first computer you pick a pouch and start it from one assistant’s setup. On the next computer you pick the same pouch and choose Use the pouch or Merge both; files that would be replaced are backed up to ~/.skillpouch/backups/ first. From then on a change on one computer reaches the others within moments while they are online. See A second computer.

Encryption in one paragraph

Files, file names and pouch names are encrypted on your computer or in your browser before upload. Unlock secrets (master password, Recovery Key, passkeys) derive keys on your device, and each computer has its own key pair that never leaves it. Clients verify signatures and refuse a server that tampers with data. If you lose every unlock secret and every trusted device, nobody can recover the data. Details are in Security.

Cost and source

There is a free plan, and every plan has every feature; paid plans add pouches and storage. The server, web app and these docs are at github.com/skillpouch/skillpouch, and the CLI is at github.com/skillpouch/skillpouch-cli. You can also run your own server.