---
source_url: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/ai-development/install-skills
title: Install PubNub skills
updated_at: 2026-09-30T07:20:08.000Z
---

# Install PubNub skills

## Documentation index

To discover more PubNub resources:

1. Fetch [PubNub's llms.txt](https://www.pubnub.com/llms-full.txt) for a list of available pages in Markdown format.
2. Identify relevant URLs from that index.
3. Fetch the target pages.

Do not assume a path exists, always check the index first.

This guide shows you how to install PubNub skills into a supported AI coding assistant. Installing skills doesn't require a PubNub account. You need one of the following: [Claude Code](https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code), [Cursor IDE](https://www.cursor.com/), [VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) with GitHub Copilot, [Codex](https://developers.openai.com/codex), or another assistant that supports the `SKILL.md` format.

## Install all skills with the Vercel Skills CLI

The Skills CLI requires no separate installation step and runs through `npx`.

1. In your project directory, run:

   ```bash
   npx skills add pubnub/skills --all
   ```

   This installs all skills in the [PubNub Skills Collection](https://github.com/pubnub/skills) without further prompts.

2. To choose specific skills or target a specific assistant interactively instead, omit `--all`:

   ```bash
   npx skills add pubnub/skills
   ```

For the full set of flags this CLI accepts, refer to the [Skills CLI reference](https://skills.sh/docs/cli).

## Install a single skill with the Tessl CLI

Use the Tessl CLI if you want one skill at a time instead of the whole collection.

1. Search the Tessl registry for the skill you need:

   ```bash
   npx tessl search --type skills pubnub
   ```

2. Install a specific skill by name:

   ```bash
   npx tessl install pubnub/<skill-name>
   ```

   Replace `<skill-name>` with an entry from [Available skills](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/ai-development/available-skills.md), for example `pubnub-presence`.

:::note One skill at a time
The Tessl CLI installs one skill per command. To install the entire collection in a single command, use the Vercel Skills CLI instead.
:::

## Confirm a skill is active

Skills load automatically once installed. You don't invoke one by name.

1. Open the project where you ran the install command, in the assistant you installed skills for.
2. Ask a question that matches an installed skill's capability, for example *add PubNub presence to my app so users can see who else is online*.
3. Check that the assistant's response follows the pattern documented for that skill, such as the specific method names or channel structure described in that skill's entry in [Available skills](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/ai-development/available-skills.md).

If the response doesn't reflect the skill's guidance, confirm the assistant you're using is one of the ones listed above and that the install command completed without errors.

## Related tasks

* [AI development](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/ai-development/overview.md#skills). What a skill contains and how it relates to the MCP server.
* [Available skills](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/ai-development/available-skills.md). Every skill in the collection, by category.
* [Set up the MCP server](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/ai-development/set-up-mcp-server.md). Add live account access alongside skills, for the fastest path from a prompt to running code.

Last updated at: 2026-09-30T07:20:08.000Z