Install for Claude Chat & Cowork (Desktop App)

This page covers installing the Open Knowledge skill for use inside the Claude Desktop App — specifically in Claude Chat and Claude Cowork modes.

What this does

• Adds an open-knowledge skill to the Claude Desktop App's Skills list
• Makes the skill available in Claude Chat (the default conversational tab)
• Makes the skill available in Claude Cowork (the agentic VM mode)
• Does not affect Claude Code (already set up separately)

Install — one command

Run this in your terminal:

npx @inkeep/open-knowledge install-skill

Or if you have @inkeep/open-knowledge installed:

ok install-skill

What the command does:

1. Builds openknowledge.skill from the CLI's bundled source.
2. Saves it to ~/Downloads/openknowledge.skill.
3. Opens the Claude Desktop App for you.

Then upload it manually (5 clicks inside the Claude Desktop App — the .skill file association opens the app, but doesn't auto-install):

1. In the Claude Desktop App sidebar: Customize → Skills.
2. Click the + button.
3. Click Create skill.
4. Click Upload skill.
5. Pick openknowledge.skill from your Downloads folder.

The skill appears in your Skills list toggled on. Use it in any Chat or Cowork session.

Flags

• --out <path> — write openknowledge.skill to a custom path instead of ~/Downloads/
• --no-open — build the file but skip the OS file-association handoff. Useful for Team / Enterprise admins who want the file to upload via Organization settings → Skills → + Add, or for scripted workflows.

Verify it's working

In a new Claude Chat or Cowork session, ask:

Use the open-knowledge skill to summarize what's in this workspace.

Claude should recognize the skill, list its available commands, and use Open Knowledge's conventions for reading/writing markdown.

If the skill "appears installed but doesn't fire"

Claude Cowork has an open bug class where custom skills register in the UI but don't mount in the session VM at runtime. Symptom: open-knowledge shows enabled in Customize → Skills, but trying to use it produces "it looks like there isn't a [skill] skill available in your current setup" — or silently does nothing.

Workaround:

1. In the Claude Desktop App: Customize → Skills → find open-knowledge → delete it.
2. Run ok install-skill again — this rebuilds the file + reopens the Desktop App.
3. Repeat the 5-click upload sequence (Customize → Skills → + → Create skill → Upload skill → pick the file).
4. Start a fresh Claude Cowork session.

There's a related "Save and Replace" bug (#46836) where same-name re-installs silently no-op. Same workaround: delete first, then re-upload.

For Team / Enterprise admins

If your organization is on a Team or Enterprise plan, you can provision Open Knowledge org-wide instead of asking each user to install individually. Build the file first, then upload via the org console:

ok install-skill --no-open --out ./openknowledge.skill

Then as an Org Owner:

1. Open Organization settings → Skills → + Add.
2. Upload openknowledge.skill.
3. Every org member gets it in their Skills list by default — visible immediately in both Chat and Cowork.

GitHub-sync path (not recommended yet): Anthropic's Team+ plugin marketplace pulls from a GitHub repo on push, but it's for plugins (bundles of MCP + skills), not standalone Skills, and the Claude Desktop App has two open bugs that affect GitHub-sourced marketplaces (#39400, #38429). Direct upload is more reliable today.

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