The Orbitron skill
Install
The skill is inside the orbitron command-line binary, so if you have the CLI you have the skill:
orbitron skills installThat writes an orbitron/ folder where your agents look for skills:
| Agent | Folder |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | ~/.claude/skills/orbitron/ |
| Codex | ~/.agents/skills/orbitron/ |
| OpenCode | reads both of the above |
Without --agent, it writes to each family whose folder already exists in your home directory (~/.claude for Claude Code; ~/.agents or ~/.codex for Codex). If neither exists it says so; name one with --agent claude, --agent agents or --agent all. Start a new agent session afterwards: agents read their skills when a session starts.
To give one project the skill instead of your whole account, run this in the project’s directory:
orbitron skills install --projectKeep it current
The skill records the version that wrote it. After upgrading Orbitron, install again; status says whether a copy is out of date:
orbitron skills statusorbitron skills install replaces only a folder it wrote itself (it leaves a .orbitron-skill marker inside). A folder named orbitron/ that you made by hand is never overwritten; the command stops and says so.
To remove every copy it installed:
orbitron skills uninstallWithout installing
orbitron skills export <directory> writes the folder wherever you like, to commit into a repository or to copy to a machine without the CLI:
orbitron skills export ./skillsWhat it contains
| File | What the agent learns |
|---|---|
SKILL.md |
which front end fits which task, how to start (info, inspect, plot list), the rules that bite: 1-based atoms, multi-task outputs, tiers, --json |
references/commands.md and references/commands/ |
every command and flag, generated from the binary’s own argument parser when the skill is written |
references/figures.md |
which orbitron plot figure answers which request |
references/formats.md |
what each format gives, its tier, and its companion files |
references/json-output.md |
the schema / producer / warnings envelope |
references/python.md |
the Python API |
references/web.md |
orbitron web, bundles and the <orbitron-viewer> element |
references/hpc-bundles.md |
running the CLI on a cluster and bringing a bundle home |
The command reference is generated from the binary, so it cannot fall behind it. The hand-written files are checked when Orbitron is built: every orbitron command they show must parse with that version’s CLI.