`quay add`

Install a skill from a configured remote.

Usage

quay add [OPTIONS] [SKILL]

SKILL is the skill name as stored in the hub's registry.json (typically the directory name under skills/). Omit it with -i to pick interactively.

Examples

quay add hello                      # install one
quay add -i                         # pick several from a checkbox list
quay add hello --remote work        # explicit remote
quay add hello --force              # overwrite local edits

Inside a TTY, omitting SKILL and not passing -i triggers the picker automatically (default-interactive). Pipe < /dev/null to keep the prompt suppressed in scripts.

Flags

Flag	Effect
`--remote <NAME>`	Use a specific remote instead of the profile default.
`--force`	Overwrite the skill even if it already exists locally.
`-i, --interactive`	Open the checkbox picker. Mutually exclusive with `SKILL`.
`--keep-extra`	With `--force`, keep local files the new version does not contain, without prompting or printing the note.
`--delete-extra`	With `--force`, delete local files the new version does not contain, without prompting.
`--profile`, `--user-config`, `--project`, `--json`	Standard globals.

When to use this vs …

quay update — refresh an already installed skill to the latest hub version. add errors with "already installed" unless --force.
quay info — preview metadata without writing files.

Caveats

A skill that fails quay validate on the hub side will still install, but you'll see warnings.
Mirror dirs (.claude/skills/, .cursor/rules/, …) are populated automatically based on your profile's [install].mirrors.
--force overwrites every file the fetched version contains, without confirmation — local edits to SKILL.md are lost. Files it doesn't contain are a separate question; see below. Use quay outdated first to see drift status.

--force overwrites an existing install. Files it finds that the fetched version does not contain are handled exactly as on quay update — you are asked, and nothing is deleted unattended. --keep-extra and --delete-extra work here too. See update.

`--help`

Install a skill from a configured remote

Usage: quay add [OPTIONS] [SKILL]

Arguments:
  [SKILL]  Skill name(s) to install. Omit when using --interactive (-i)

Options:
      --project <PROJECT>          Project root (defaults to current directory)
      --remote <REMOTE>            
      --force                      Overwrite the skill if it already exists locally
      --user-config <USER_CONFIG>  Override user config path (defaults to ~/.config/quay/config.toml)
  -i, --interactive                Open an interactive checkbox list to pick skills to install. Mutually exclusive with the positional skill argument
      --profile <PROFILE>          Override the active profile for this invocation
      --json                       Output JSON instead of human-readable text
      --no-diff                    Suppress the diff body on a collision (still prints the verdict line)
      --keep-extra                 Keep local files the new version does not contain (the default when there is no terminal). Only meaningful with --force
      --delete-extra               Delete local files the new version does not contain. Only meaningful with --force
  -h, --help                       Print help