google-gemini/gemini-cli

[Bug] Skills discovery fails when 'description' in SKILL.md frontmatter is a single line

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#25693 opened on Apr 20, 2026

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Description

title: "[Bug] Skills discovery fails when description in SKILL.md frontmatter is a single line" labels: ["area/extensions", "status/need-triage"]

Description

The Gemini CLI skill discovery mechanism fails to recognize local skills in .agents/skills/ or .gemini/skills/ if the description field in the SKILL.md YAML frontmatter is written as a single line.

Changing the description to a multi-line block (using the YAML > operator) immediately resolves the issue and allows the skill to be discovered by /skills list.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Create a folder .agents/skills/test-skill/.
  2. Create a SKILL.md with the following content: 
    ---
name: test-skill
description: A single line description that is relatively long and contains some punctuation.
---
# Test Skill
Content here.
  3. Run gemini chat and type /skills list.
  4. Actual Result: test-skill is missing from the list.
  5. Modify SKILL.md to use multi-line YAML scalar: 
    ---
name: test-skill
description: >
  A multi-line description that is relatively long 
  and contains some punctuation.
---
# Test Skill
Content here.
  6. Run /skills list again.
  7. Expected Result: test-skill should be visible in both cases. Currently, it only works with the multi-line format.

Environment

  • OS: Windows 11 (PowerShell 7)
  • Gemini CLI Version: 0.38.2
  • Runtime: Node.js / Bun

Additional Context

This bug significantly impacts the developer experience as many users intuitively write short, single-line descriptions. The workaround (using >) suggests a specific issue in how the CLI parses YAML frontmatter in SKILL.md files during the initial scanning phase.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescriptnodejsbun
Domain
clideveloper experience
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
under 1 hour
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
blocked
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
TypeScriptYAMLNode.jsCLI testing
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65
Research direction
Examine the skill discovery code in the repository, likely located in files related to parsing SKILL.md frontmatter (e.g., 'src/skills/discovery.ts'). Focus on how the YAML frontmatter is parsed, particularly the 'description' field. Check if the parser strips newlines or treats single line and multi line scalars differently. Look for any existing tests for the parsing logic. Review the comments on the issue for any maintainer hints about the specific code section.