Agent Skills

Teach your coding agent to run fallow with the right commands and flags and to read the output correctly. Install the skills in Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, and other agents that support the Agent Skills specification.

With the fallow skills installed, your coding agent runs the right fallow command for a request and reads the output correctly. It does not guess from general knowledge. The skills tell the agent:

when to run each command
which flags to use
how to read the output
how to avoid common pitfalls

They cover codebase health, cleanup analysis, circular dependencies, duplication, and complexity hotspots.

Skills work together with the CLI and MCP integrations. Skills tell the agent how to use fallow. The CLI and MCP give the agent the tools.

What's included

The fallow-skills package includes:

Component	Description
Analysis skill	Workflows for unused code, duplication, complexity, boundary analysis, auto-fix, and CI setup
Setup skill	`fallow-setup` sets up code-quality tooling for a JavaScript or TypeScript project. It detects the existing tools, runs `fallow recommend`, installs fallow, runs `fallow agent install`, and adds a CI gate with a baseline
CLI reference	Commands, flags, output formats, and configuration
Gotchas	Common pitfalls with correct and incorrect examples, for example `fix --yes` in non-TTY
Workflow patterns	Recipes for CI pipelines, monorepo analysis, migrating from knip/jscpd, and incremental adoption
Commit gate	Claude Code plugin only. A `PreToolUse` hook runs `fallow audit` before `git commit` and `git push`, and blocks the command on a `fail` verdict

The commit gate of the plugin runs only in a project that uses fallow: a project with a fallow config file, or with a fallow dependency in package.json. It does nothing when fallow agent install already registered a gate for Claude Code or Codex. To turn it off, set FALLOW_PLUGIN_GATE=off in the environment of Claude Code.

Installation

If your project already has fallow installed from npm, you can skip the manual steps. fallow agent install writes the fallow and fallow-setup skills where Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor look for them. It also writes the MCP registration, an AGENTS.md task map, and the commit and push gate. Add --dry-run to see the plan first.

/plugin marketplace add fallow-rs/fallow-skills
/plugin install fallow@fallow-skills

git clone https://github.com/fallow-rs/fallow-skills.git ~/.cursor/skills/fallow-skills

codex plugin marketplace add fallow-rs/fallow-skills
codex plugin add fallow@fallow-skills

In the Codex desktop app, this plugin also adds the Fallow app: a code health dashboard, a thread tab, composer attachments, and a config editor.

git clone https://github.com/fallow-rs/fallow-skills.git ~/.codeium/windsurf/skills/fallow-skills

git clone https://github.com/fallow-rs/fallow-skills.git .github/skills/fallow-skills

gemini skills install https://github.com/fallow-rs/fallow-skills.git

git clone https://github.com/fallow-rs/fallow-skills.git ~/.config/agents/skills/fallow-skills

Inside a Claude Code session, fallow can write one <claude-code-hint /> line that asks Claude Code to offer the fallow plugin. Fallow writes the line to stderr, and only for human output without --quiet, outside CI, and when the project and the user have no fallow plugin or skill for Claude Code. The hint has no effect until the official Claude Code marketplace lists the plugin. Set FALLOW_CLAUDE_CODE_HINT=off to turn it off.

The skills follow the open Agent Skills specification, so any compatible agent can use them.

What agents can do after installation

After you install the skills, your agent can handle requests like these:

Find cleanup opportunities

"Find all unused exports in this project". The agent runs fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --unused-exports and summarizes the findings.

Clean up dependencies

"Are there any unused dependencies?" The agent runs a targeted analysis and suggests removals.

Detect duplication

"Find code duplication in the codebase". The agent runs fallow dupes with the right mode and explains the clone families.

Auto-fix

"Remove unused exports". The agent does a dry run first and shows the proposed changes. Then it applies them with --yes.

CI setup

"Set up a code quality gate in CI". The agent writes a GitHub Actions workflow with baselines.

Debug false positives

"Why is this export flagged?" The agent uses --trace to find the cause and suggests a suppression if needed.

Skills vs MCP vs CLI

	Skills	MCP	CLI
What it provides	Knowledge about how to use fallow	Structured tool interface	Direct command execution
Setup	One-time install per agent	MCP server configuration	Fallow binary in PATH
Agent support	Any agent with skill support	Agents with MCP support	Any agent that runs shell commands
Best for	Teaching agents how to use fallow	Typed tool calling in agent frameworks	Any environment with a shell

Use all three together. Install the skill so the agent knows how to use fallow. Configure MCP for typed tool calls. Keep fallow in PATH as a CLI fallback.