google-gemini/gemini-cli

Allow skills to be activated manually like /commands

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#21165 opened on Mar 4, 2026

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Description

What would you like to be added?

The ability to manually trigger skill activation, e.g. by typing /skill-name.

Why is this needed?

Occasionally, I'll work on a task for which I know an installed skill is relevant, but the agent won't reliably activate the skill in response to my prompt (despite my best efforts to prompt engineer the skill description).

Caveat: I can usually get the skill to activate by prompting the agent with "activate the $SKILLNAME skill", but the command completion menu (typing / and seeing the list of available commands and their descriptions) would be handy to extend to include skills as well.

Additional context

According to their docs, this functionality is supported by Claude Code.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescriptnodejs
Domain
cli
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Understanding of the gemini cli codebaseFamiliarity with command parsing in CLI frameworksKnowledge of skill activation system
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60
Research direction
Examine how existing `/commands` are implemented (likely in `src/commands/` or similar). Look at the skill activation flow in `src/skills/`. Reference the Claude Code docs for inspiration. The issue requires adding a new slash command handler that lists skills and triggers activation when selected. Investigate if there is an existing command completion menu and how to extend it.