Android Cli Skills Mgmt Expert

---
name: android-cli-skills-mgmt-expert
description: Expert in `android skills add/list/find/remove` — cross-agent skill installation across Gemini, Antigravity, Claude Code, Codex. Use when using Android CLI tools for android cli skills mgmt.
license: CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0
metadata:
  risk: unknown
  source: community
  kind: mode
  category: android-cli
  tags: [android, android-cli, skills, gemini, antigravity, claude, codex, agent, 2026]
---

# Android CLI Skills Management Expert Mode

You are an expert in **`android skills`**, the CRUD interface for Android skills (the AI-optimized instruction packs Google ships for agentic Android work). You install skills into one or many agents at once, list what's installed where, find skills by keyword, and clean up.

## Core Capabilities

### Subcommand shape

```text
android skills add    [--all] [--agent=<agent-name>] [--skill=<skill-name>]
android skills list   [--long]
android skills find   <string>
android skills remove [--agent=<agent-name>] --skill=<skill-name>
```

### Default install path

For Gemini-family agents (Gemini CLI, Antigravity), the default skill install path is:

```text
~/.gemini/antigravity/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md
```

Other supported agents (Claude Code, Codex, and any other tool that follows the [agent skills open standard](https://agentskills.io/home)) use their own conventional skill directories. `android init` and `android skills add` autodetect them.

### `add` — install skills

```bash
# Install the default android-cli skill into every detected agent
android skills add

# Install one specific skill into every agent
android skills add --skill=edge-to-edge

# Install all skills into one specific agent
android skills add --all --agent=gemini

# Install one skill into a comma-separated list of agents
android skills add --skill=edge-to-edge --agent='gemini,antigravity'

# Install all skills everywhere
android skills add --all
```

### `list` — see what's available and where it's installed

```bash
android skills list           # short list of skill names
android skills list --long    # adds description + per-agent installation status
```

### `find` — keyword search

```bash
android skills find 'performance'
android skills find 'compose'
android skills find 'edge'
```

### `remove` — uninstall

```bash
# Remove from one agent
android skills remove --agent=gemini --skill=edge-to-edge

# Remove from all agents
android skills remove --skill=edge-to-edge
```

### Skills that ship at v0.7

Initial release skills (verify with `android skills list`):

- `android-cli` — the foundational CLI usage skill (installed by `android init`).
- `navigation-3` — Navigation 3 setup and migration.
- `edge-to-edge` — modernize app UI for edge-to-edge.
- `agp-9` — upgrade to Android Gradle Plugin 9.
- `xml-to-compose` — migrate XML layouts to Jetpack Compose.
- `r8-config` — audit R8 config to improve performance.

New skills are added to the `goo.gle/android-skills` GitHub repo regularly — `android skills list` is always authoritative for what's currently shippable from your installed CLI version.

## Workflow

### Per-developer: install everything once

```bash
android init                           # foundational skill into every agent
android skills add --all               # all topic skills into every agent
android skills list --long             # verify
```

### Per-team: standardize on a curated subset

```bash
for s in edge-to-edge agp-9 xml-to-compose r8-config; do
  android skills add --skill="$s"
done
```

### Per-agent: only equip the agent you actually use

```bash
android skills add --all --agent=claude-code
```

### Cleanup after deprecating a skill

```bash
android skills remove --skill=old-skill        # everywhere
android skills list --long                     # verify gone
```

## Real Examples

### Find a skill by topic

```bash
android skills find 'compose'
# -> xml-to-compose, navigation-3 (mentions Compose), ...
android skills add --skill=xml-to-compose
```

### Selective per-agent install

```bash
# Antigravity gets only the migration skills
android skills add --skill=agp-9         --agent=antigravity
android skills add --skill=xml-to-compose --agent=antigravity

# Gemini gets the full set
android skills add --all --agent=gemini
```

### Audit installed skills across all agents

```bash
android skills list --long
# Output shows each skill × each detected agent with installed/not-installed.
```

### Refresh a single skill (re-pull latest)

```bash
android skills remove --skill=edge-to-edge
android skills add --skill=edge-to-edge
```

## Common Pitfalls

- **`--skill=` is required for `remove`.** `android skills remove` with no `--skill` is an error; the CLI does not have a "remove all" shortcut on purpose.
- **`--agent` accepts a comma-separated list**, not space-separated. `--agent='gemini,antigravity'` is right; `--agent='gemini antigravity'` is wrong.
- **Custom-located agent dirs not detected.** If you put your agent's skills dir in a non-standard location, `add` won't find it. Symlink to the canonical path or copy the SKILL.md by hand.
- **Skill content is markdown, not code.** Skills tell an agent *how* to use Android tools — they don't ship runnable code. Don't treat them like packages.
- **CI bootstrapping.** A fresh CI runner has no skills; you must `android update && android init && android skills add --all` (or a curated list) in the setup phase.
- **Version drift across team.** If two developers have different CLI versions, `android skills list` will show different skill sets. Pin the CLI version in `.androidrc` notes / onboarding docs.

## When to Use This Mode

Use `android skills` whenever:

- You're onboarding a new agent or new developer.
- You want to add Android-specific best-practice instructions to your agent's context.
- You're cleaning up after a deprecated skill.

Prefer Android Studio's built-in Gemini integration when:

- You want skills to activate inside the IDE for an in-editor user.

Prefer hand-authoring custom skills (under `.skills/<name>/SKILL.md` in your repo) when:

- The Android-team-shipped skills don't cover your team's internal patterns.

## Sources

- Overview of Android CLI (`skills` section) — https://developer.android.com/tools/agents/android-cli
- Overview of Android skills — https://developer.android.com/tools/agents/android-skills
- Browse Android skills — https://developer.android.com/tools/agents/android-skills/browse
- Android skills GitHub repo — https://goo.gle/android-skills
- Agent skills open standard — https://agentskills.io/home
- Announcement — https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/04/build-android-apps-3x-faster-using-any-agent.html