Skales DevKit

Developer tools, documentation, and examples for building with Skales, the local-first AI desktop agent.

DevKit v0.3.0 · requires Skales Desktop v12.5.2 or later · Node.js 18+ · MIT License

What's New in v0.3.0

• DevKit works on a normal installed app. The installer does not ship a devkit/ folder and its install directory is read-only, so the old "put devkit.json in the installation folder" instruction never worked on a shipped app. Desktop v12.5.2 and this CLI both read it from ~/.skales-data/devkit/ instead.
• The local API is actually authenticated. A gate on the internal /api/cli/* route accepted any non-empty token. Desktop v12.5.2 closes it — update the app so the CLI authenticates for real.
• SKALES_DEVKIT_TOKEN supplies the token with no config file, for scripts and CI. SKALES_DEVKIT_CONFIG points at a specific devkit.json.
• A missing config prints where it looked and how to fix it, instead of a bare error.
• Scheduled-task control works. PATCH /api/cli/cron/{id} (pause / resume) and POST /api/cli/cron/{id}/run (fire now) have been in the API reference since v0.2.0 and answered 404 on every Desktop version, because neither had been built. They exist as of Desktop v12.5.7.

What's Inside

• API Reference — Full REST API for chat, tools, memory, sessions, and scheduling
• Agent Skills — Create and share SKILL.md files compatible with Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, and Cursor
• MCP Servers — Model Context Protocol setup and templates
• Provider Guides — Setup for 11+ AI providers (Ollama, LM Studio, OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more)
• Integration Docs — Notion, Todoist, Spotify, GitHub, Google Drive, Home Assistant, Telegram, Discord, and more
• Migration Guide — Import from ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Hermes, OpenClaw
• Example Skills — Ready-to-use SKILL.md templates
• Architecture Overview — How Skales works under the hood

Quick Start

1. Download Skales — v12.5.2 or later is required
2. Put a devkit/devkit.json in your Skales data directory (see below)
3. Restart Skales. The Developer section appears in the sidebar.

See the Getting Started Guide for detailed setup.

Enable DevKit

Create a devkit/ folder in your Skales data directory and add a devkit.json. The data directory is writable, which the app's install folder is not, so this is the one location that works on a normal install.

Platform	Path
macOS / Linux	~/.skales-data/devkit/devkit.json
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\.skales-data\devkit\devkit.json

{
  "enabled": true,
  "version": "0.3.0",
  "api": {
    "enabled": true,
    "token": "your-secret-token"
  },
  "cli": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

Pick your own value for token and keep it private (it authenticates the CLI). Restart Skales; the Developer section appears in the sidebar.

The CLI reads the same file, so the token matches automatically. You can also pass it as SKALES_DEVKIT_TOKEN instead of a file.

CLI

The DevKit includes a standalone CLI for interacting with Skales from your terminal. Requires Node.js 18+ and zero npm dependencies.

cd cli/
node skales.js chat            # Interactive chat
node skales.js chat "Hello"    # One-shot message
node skales.js tools           # List available tools
node skales.js model           # Show current model
node skales.js status          # System status
node skales.js memory          # Browse memories
node skales.js sessions        # List chat sessions
node skales.js migrate --from hermes   # Import from Hermes
node skales.js mcp                     # List configured MCP servers
node skales.js mcp test filesystem     # Test an MCP server connection
node skales.js cron                    # List scheduled tasks
node skales.js cron add daily "0 9 * * *" "Summarize yesterday's activity"

Agent Skills (SKILL.md)

Skales supports the open SKILL.md format. Skills are portable text files that teach the AI agent how to perform specific tasks.

my-skill/
└── SKILL.md

---
name: My Custom Skill
description: What this skill does
version: 1.0.0
---

# Instructions

Your skill instructions here. The AI agent follows
these when the skill is active.

Import in Skales: Settings → Agent Skills → Import → paste a GitHub URL or local folder path.

Skill Sources

• Anthropic Official Skills
• Community Skills (1000+)
• Skills Catalog (58K+)

Documentation

Guide	Description
Getting Started	Enable DevKit and first steps
API Reference	REST API with curl examples
Agent Skills	Create, import, and share skills
MCP Servers	External tool integration
Providers	AI provider setup
Integrations	Third-party service setup
Migration	Import from other tools
Architecture	How Skales works internally

Links

• Skales App
• Skales GitHub
• Discover Feed

License

MIT. See LICENSE for the full text.

Skales Desktop itself is BSL-1.1 (converts to Apache 2.0 in 2030). The DevKit is MIT so integrations, forks, and commercial work built on top have maximum freedom.

Built by Mario Simic, Vienna.