melon

A dependency manager for agentic markdown — skills, agents, and prompts for your AI tools.

Installation · Quick Start · Why melon? · How it works · Manifest Reference · Commands

What is melon?

Melon manages markdown-based packages that AI coding assistants read as context. It resolves dependencies from GitHub, fetches them into a local cache, and places them into your agent's expected directory (e.g. .claude/skills/) so they are available immediately.

See it in action

Installation

📦 Global install

npm install -g @playsthisgame/melon

🐹 Go

go install github.com/playsthisgame/melon/cmd/melon@latest

Requires Git to be available on your PATH.

Quick Start

1. Initialize a project

melon init

This creates a melon.yaml manifest and the .melon/ cache directory. You'll be prompted for a package name, type, and which AI tools you use.

2. Add a dependency

Edit melon.yaml directly:

dependencies:
  github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif: "^1.0.2"
  github.com/anthropics/skills/skills/skill-creator: "main"

Dependency names are GitHub paths. You can use:

• A full repo: github.com/owner/repo
• A monorepo subdirectory: github.com/owner/repo/path/to/skill
• A GitHub web URL: github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/path/to/skill (the tree/<branch>/ is stripped automatically)

Versions can be a semver constraint (^1.2.0, ~2.0.0, 1.0.0) or a branch name ("main").

3. Install

melon install

Melon resolves each dependency, fetches it via sparse git checkout, writes melon.lock, and places skills into your tool directories.

  resolving github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif (^1.0.2)...
  fetching github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif@1.0.2...
  + github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif@1.0.2
  linked github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif -> .claude/playsthisgame/video-to-gif

How it works

melon.yaml          — declares your dependencies and target AI tools    ← commit
melon.lock         — pins exact versions, git tags, and content hashes ← commit
.melon/            — local cache; one directory per dep@version
.claude/skills/    — symlinks into .melon/ created by melon install

Skills are fetched once into .melon/ and symlinked into the configured tools directories.

Vendoring vs. gitignore management

By default (vendor: true, the implicit setting), .melon/ and the generated symlinks are committed to your repo — anyone who clones gets the skills without running melon install. If you prefer to keep deps out of git, set vendor: false in melon.yaml (or opt out during melon init). Melon will automatically maintain a .gitignore block for .melon/ and all managed symlink paths, keeping it in sync as you add or remove dependencies.

Manifest Reference

# melon.yaml

name: my-agent
version: 0.1.0

description: "My coding agent"

dependencies:
  github.com/anthropics/skills/skills/skill-creator: "main"
  github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif: "^1.0.2"

# tool_compat drives where melon install places skills.
# Melon knows the conventions for each agent automatically:
#   claude-code    -> .claude/skills/
#   cursor         -> .agents/skills/
#   windsurf       -> .windsurf/skills/
#   roo            -> .roo/skills/
#   ... (and more)
tool_compat:
  - claude-code

# outputs is optional. Use it to override the automatic placement paths.
# outputs:
#   .claude/skills/: "*"

# vendor controls whether melon manages .gitignore for its cache and symlinks.
# true (default): .melon/ and skill symlinks are committed to your repo.
# false: melon auto-manages .gitignore — add/remove keeps it in sync.
# vendor: false

# index is optional. Use it to point melon search/info at private registries.
# Melon supports GitHub paths and web URLs:
#   - github.com/owner/repo/path/to/index.yaml
#   - github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/path/to/index.yaml
#   - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/owner/repo/main/path/to/index.yaml
# index:
#   urls:
#     - github.com/my-company/skill-registry/index.yaml
#     - https://example.com/index.yaml
#   public_index: true  # false = suppress the default public melon index, default is true

# policy is optional. Use it to restrict which sources can be installed.
# Patterns use glob syntax — a trailing * matches any suffix.
# policy:
#   allowed_sources:
#     - github.com/my-company/*       # any repo under this org
#     - github.com/trusted-partner/*  # another approved org

tags: []

Supported AI tools

Commands

melon init

Scaffold a new melon.yaml and create the .melon/ store directory.

melon init
melon init --yes        # accept all defaults (for scripting)
melon init --dir ./app  # initialize in a different directory

melon install

Resolve dependencies, fetch them into .melon/, write melon.lock, and symlink skills into tool directories.

melon install
melon install --frozen    # fail if melon.lock would change (useful in CI)
melon install --no-place  # fetch and lock only — skip placement into agent dirs

If a policy.allowed_sources block is configured in melon.yaml, melon install validates all dependencies against the allowlist before fetching anything. Any blocked dependency causes a non-zero exit listing all violations.

melon add

Add a dependency to melon.yaml and run install. If no version is specified, the latest semver tag is resolved automatically.

melon add github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif          # resolves latest tag → ^1.2.0
melon add github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif@^1.0.0   # explicit constraint
melon add github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif@main     # branch pin

If a policy.allowed_sources block is configured, melon add checks the dependency source before writing to melon.yaml and exits with an error if the source is not permitted.

melon remove

Remove a dependency from melon.yaml, unlink its agent symlinks, and delete its .melon/ cache entry.

melon remove github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif

melon update

Update dependencies to the latest version satisfying their existing constraints. Without arguments, shows an interactive multi-select list (TTY only) — the first option updates all deps. With a dep name, targets that dep directly.

melon update                                                    # interactive: pick which deps to update
melon update github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif  # update a specific dep

If a newer major version exists outside your constraint, a hint is printed showing how to upgrade with melon add.

melon outdated

Show which dependencies have newer versions available, without modifying anything. Exits with code 1 if any dep is outdated — useful in CI.

melon outdated

Output includes current locked version, latest compatible version, and absolute latest (when a newer major exists outside your constraint). Branch-pinned deps are skipped.

melon list

Show installed skills and audit installation state.

melon list                # list all installed skills
melon list --pending      # show skills in melon.yaml not yet installed
melon list --check        # verify skill symlinks exist in all tool directories
melon list --pending --check  # combine both checks

Default output:

  github.com/anthropics/skills/skills/skill-creator  main
  github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif   1.2.0

With --check:

  OK       github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif@1.2.0   .claude/skills/video-to-gif
  MISSING  github.com/anthropics/skills/skills/skill-creator@main    .claude/skills/skill-creator

With --pending:

Pending (not installed):
  github.com/owner/repo/some-new-skill

Use --json for machine-readable output. Combines with --pending and --check:

melon list --json
melon list --json --pending --check

{
  "installed": [
    {
      "name": "github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif",
      "version": "1.2.0",
      "git_tag": "v1.2.0",
      "repo_url": "https://github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index",
      "subdir": "skills/video-to-gif",
      "entrypoint": "SKILL.md",
      "tree_hash": "abc123..."
    }
  ],
  "pending": ["github.com/owner/repo/some-new-skill"],
  "check": [
    { "name": "github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif", "path": ".claude/skills/video-to-gif", "status": "ok" }
  ]
}

melon search

Search for skills by keyword against the melon-index curated list. In a terminal, results are shown in an interactive list — navigate with ↑↓, press Enter to select, and melon will offer to run melon add for you.

melon search spec          # find spec-related skills
melon search git workflow  # find git workflow skills

Featured skills appear at the top of results. If nothing matches, melon will tell you and suggest submitting to the index.

If your project has an index block in melon.yaml, search queries your custom registry instead of (or in addition to) the public melon index. Set public_index: true to see only your private skills.

melon info

Show metadata for a specific skill — description, author, and available versions — before installing it.

melon info github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif
melon info github.com/owner/repo/path/to/skill
melon info github.com/owner/repo --json   # machine-readable output

With --json:

{
  "name": "github.com/owner/repo",
  "description": "Does something useful",
  "author": "owner",
  "latest_version": "v1.2.0",
  "versions": ["v1.2.0", "v1.1.0", "v1.0.0"],
  "branches": []
}

If the repo has no semver tags, versions is [] and branches lists available branches instead.

melon clean

Remove cached entries in .melon/ that are no longer referenced by melon.lock. Any corresponding symlinks in agent skill directories are removed as well. This reclaims disk space left behind after removing or upgrading dependencies.

melon clean

If melon.lock does not exist, the command prints a reminder to run melon install first and exits without modifying anything.

Lock file

melon.lock is generated by melon install and should be committed to version control. It pins the exact version, git tag, repo URL, subdirectory, and a SHA-256 tree hash for each dependency.

generated_at: "2025-03-31T12:00:00Z"
dependencies:
  - name: github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index/skills/video-to-gif
    version: "1.2.0"
    git_tag: v1.2.0
    repo_url: https://github.com/playsthisgame/melon-index
    subdir: "skills/video-to-gif"
    entrypoint: SKILL.md
    tree_hash: "sha256:abc123..."
    files:
      - SKILL.md

Use --frozen in CI to ensure the lock file is always up to date:

melon install --frozen

Why melon?

As AI coding assistants become more capable, teams are building and sharing libraries of skills. Without a proper dependency manager, keeping these skills consistent across developers, environments, and CI becomes a manual, error-prone process.

Melon gives you a single source of truth. Define all the skills your project needs in one melon.yaml file, commit it alongside your code, and every developer (and your CI pipeline) gets exactly the same set of skills with a single melon install.

Skills are versioned, not just copied. Melon pins exact versions, git tags, and SHA-256 content hashes in melon.lock. If a skill author publishes a breaking change, your team won't silently pick it up, you'll see the diff in the lock file and upgrade intentionally. This means you can trust that the skill running in CI today is the same one that ran last week.

It works naturally with CI. Run melon install --frozen in your pipeline to fail fast if the lock file is out of sync with the manifest. No surprises, no drift. With the default vendor: true setting, .melon/ and the generated symlinks are committed to the repo so CI doesn't even need network access — everything is already there. If you prefer to keep deps out of git, set vendor: false and CI will fetch them fresh on each run using the pinned versions in melon.lock.

Works across your whole team and all your tools. List the AI tools your project uses under tool_compat and melon places each skill into every agent's expected directory at once. One manifest, one install command, every agent ready to go.

Why melon instead of npx skill installers?

Many agent skill collections ship a one-liner like npx install-skill <name> that copies files into your project. Melon takes a different approach:

License

MIT