Welcome to SkillMeat Beta!¶

Thank you for participating in the SkillMeat beta program. Your feedback will directly shape the final product and help us deliver an excellent tool for the Claude developer community.

This guide will get you set up and ready to test SkillMeat over the next 2-4 weeks.

What is SkillMeat?¶

SkillMeat is a personal collection manager for Claude Code artifacts (Skills, Commands, Agents, MCP servers, Hooks). It enables developers to maintain, version, and deploy Claude artifacts across multiple projects with version control and marketplace integration.

Current Beta Scope: Skills, team collections, web interface, and MCP server management (Phases 0-4 complete).

Getting Started¶

Step 1: Installation¶

Choose one installation method:

Option A: From PyPI (Beta Release)

pip install skillmeat==0.3.0-beta.1

Option B: From Source (Latest Development)

git clone https://github.com/skillmeat/skillmeat.git
cd skillmeat
git checkout beta/v0.3.0

# Install with development dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Or using uv (recommended for faster installs)
uv tool install --editable .

Verify installation:

skillmeat --version
# Should output: skillmeat 0.3.0-beta.1

Step 2: Initial Configuration¶

# Initialize your collection
skillmeat init

# You'll be prompted to choose:
# - Default scope: user (global) or local (./.claude/)
# - GitHub token: Optional, required for private repos

Configuration file: ~/.skillmeat/config.toml

[skillmeat]
default-scope = "user"
github-token = "ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"  # Optional

Step 3: First Skills¶

Add your first public skill:

skillmeat add anthropics/skills/canvas-design
skillmeat list

Add from your own repository:

skillmeat add your-github-username/your-repo/path/to/skill

Browse installed skills:

skillmeat show canvas-design

Step 4: Web Interface (Optional but Recommended)¶

SkillMeat includes a web interface for visual management:

# Start development server (http://localhost:3000)
skillmeat web dev

# Or production mode
skillmeat web start

Key Features to Explore: - Browse and search your collection - Deploy skills to scopes (user/local) - Export/import bundles - Team collaboration features - MCP server management

Step 5: Enable Usage Telemetry (Optional)¶

Help us improve SkillMeat by sharing anonymous usage metrics:

skillmeat config set telemetry-enabled true

What we track: - Command usage frequency (which features you use) - Error counts and types (to prioritize bug fixes) - Installation/deployment times (for performance optimization) - System info (OS, Python version, platform)

What we DON'T track: - Skill names or content - Personal information - Passwords or API keys - Private repository names

Key Features to Test¶

Test these core features during beta and provide feedback:

Collection Management¶

[ ] Add Skills: skillmeat add username/repo/path
[ ] Remove Skills: skillmeat remove skill-name
[ ] Update Skills: skillmeat update and verify version resolution
[ ] List Skills: skillmeat list with filtering by scope/tag
[ ] Show Details: skillmeat show skill-name with full metadata

Web Interface¶

[ ] Browse Collection: View all installed skills with details
[ ] Search: Find skills by name, tag, or description
[ ] Deploy: Deploy skills to user or local scope
[ ] Import/Export: Bundle skills for sharing with team

[ ] Export Bundle: Export skills with skillmeat export --format bundle
[ ] Import Bundle: Import team skills with skillmeat import bundle.tar.gz
[ ] Share Configuration: Version control .claude/skills.toml in git repos

MCP Server Management¶

[ ] List MCP Servers: skillmeat mcp list
[ ] Deploy Server: skillmeat mcp deploy server-name
[ ] Health Check: skillmeat mcp health to verify server status
[ ] View Logs: skillmeat mcp logs server-name

Marketplace (Web UI)¶

[ ] Search: Find skills by category or keyword
[ ] Install: One-click installation to collection
[ ] View Ratings: See community ratings and reviews
[ ] Publish (optional): Share your own skills

Providing Feedback¶

We value all feedback and have multiple channels depending on your preference:

Report a Bug¶

Use GitHub Issues with these details:

Steps to reproduce: Exact commands you ran
Expected behavior: What should have happened
Actual behavior: What actually happened
Environment: OS, Python version, SkillMeat version
Screenshots/logs: Any error messages or unusual output

Example:

Title: "skillmeat add fails with permission error on Windows"

Steps to reproduce:
1. Run: skillmeat add anthropics/skills/canvas-design
2. Select scope: local
3. Observe error message

Expected: Skill installed successfully
Actual: Permission denied error on .claude/skills/

Environment:
- OS: Windows 11
- Python: 3.11.2
- SkillMeat: 0.3.0-beta.1

Send General Feedback¶

Use any of these channels:

1. GitHub Discussions (Best for conversations) - https://github.com/skillmeat/skillmeat/discussions - Tag: beta-feedback - Share ideas, ask questions, discuss features - Public searchable archive

2. In-App Feedback (Quick notes)

skillmeat feedback "The web UI is confusing, needs better onboarding"

- Automatically includes system context - Higher priority in support queue - Sent directly to product team

3. Weekly Office Hours (Real-time discussion) - When: Thursdays 2-3pm PT - Where: Zoom link sent in welcome email - Agenda: Q&A, demos, live troubleshooting - Recording: Available after session

4. Beta Feedback Form (Structured feedback) - Link: https://forms.skillmeat.dev/beta - Detailed questions about specific features - Usage metrics and satisfaction ratings - Final survey at program end

What We're Looking For¶

Critical Issues (Report immediately) - Crashes or freezes - Data loss or corruption - Security vulnerabilities - Platform-specific failures

Bugs (Report when discovered) - Commands producing wrong output - UI errors or broken interactions - Performance problems - Confusing error messages

UX Issues (Share observations) - Confusing workflows or terminology - Missing features that block your work - Documentation gaps or errors - Unexpected behavior

Feature Requests (Discuss and prioritize) - Workflows not supported today - Integrations with external tools - Performance or scalability improvements

Daily Tips for Beta Testing¶

Try Different Workflows: Don't just test happy paths
Try adding non-existent skills
Test with large collections (100+ skills)
Use both CLI and web interface
Test on different networks/VPNs
Check Error Messages: Are they clear and actionable?
Can you understand what went wrong?
Can you fix it with the error message alone?
Is the message in appropriate language?
Verify Documentation: Does docs match actual behavior?
Follow quickstart guide exactly
Try examples from docs
Check API documentation accuracy
Look for missing docs
Monitor Performance: Watch for slowness or resource usage
Time command execution
Check disk space usage
Monitor memory usage
Report unexpectedly slow operations
Test Cross-Platform: If you have access to multiple OS
Try Windows, macOS, and Linux
Report platform-specific issues
Check file path handling
Test shell integration

Troubleshooting¶

Installation Issues¶

Issue: pip install skillmeat fails

# Try updating pip first
pip install --upgrade pip

# Then install with verbose output
pip install -v skillmeat==0.3.0-beta.1

Issue: Command not found after install

# Check installation location
pip show skillmeat

# Add to PATH if needed
export PATH=$PATH:~/.local/bin

# Or reinstall with --user flag
pip install --user skillmeat

Connection Issues¶

Issue: GitHub API rate limit exceeded

# Add GitHub token for higher limits
skillmeat config set github-token YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN

# Or create token: https://github.com/settings/tokens/new
# Scopes needed: repo (all), read:user

Issue: Cannot clone private repositories

# Ensure GitHub token is configured
skillmeat config get github-token

# Token must have 'repo' scope

Web Interface Issues¶

Issue: Web UI fails to start

# Check if port 3000 is in use
lsof -i :3000

# Use different port
skillmeat web dev --web-port 3001

Staying in Touch¶

Slack Channel: #skillmeat-beta (get link in welcome email)
Status Page: updates.skillmeat.dev
Email Updates: Weekly beta program updates to your inbox
Twitter: @skillmeat_dev for announcements

Reward and Recognition¶

As a beta participant, you'll receive:

Early Access: v1.0 release 2 weeks before general availability
Contributor Badge: Special badge on marketplace profile
Release Notes Credit: Your name/organization in v1.0 release notes
Optional Swag: SkillMeat t-shirt, stickers, and laptop case
Priority Support: 24-hour response time for your issues

Code of Conduct¶

Beta participants agree to:

Respect other participants and the development team
Keep unreleased features confidential
Provide constructive feedback (even if critical)
Report security issues privately to security@skillmeat.dev
Use beta features for testing only, not production

Still Have Questions?¶

FAQ: https://docs.skillmeat.dev/beta-faq
Docs: https://docs.skillmeat.dev
Discussions: https://github.com/skillmeat/skillmeat/discussions
Email: beta-support@skillmeat.dev

Thank you for being part of SkillMeat's journey to GA!

Your feedback makes SkillMeat better for everyone. Happy testing!

Next Step: Follow Steps 1-5 above to get set up, then join us at Thursday office hours to ask any questions.