Getting started

claudekit is a content-only npm package of reusable Claude Code skills and CLAUDE.md rule snippets. It ships no runtime code and makes no API calls: the published package is just the skills/ and rules/ trees, which your project references in place.

By the end of this page you will have one skill linked, one rule imported, and an audit running.

Prerequisites: a project with a package.json, npm, and Claude Code installed. The symlink step assumes macOS or Linux.

1. Install the package

Install it as a dev-dependency, from your project root:

npm install --save-dev @daanvandenbergh/claudekit

That is the whole install. There is no build step and no postinstall hook; the content now sits in node_modules/@daanvandenbergh/claudekit/.

2. Link a skill into .claude/skills

Claude Code discovers skills at .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md. Symlink the skill directory out of node_modules instead of copying it, so the skill updates with the package. Run this from your project root:

mkdir -p .claude/skills

ln -s ../../node_modules/@daanvandenbergh/claudekit/skills/ts/audit \
      .claude/skills/audit

The ../../ is there because the link lives two directories deep, at .claude/skills/audit. A relative symlink is resolved from the directory holding the link, so it has to climb back to the project root before descending into node_modules. Keeping it relative means the link survives moving or cloning the repo.

Check it:

ls -l .claude/skills

audit -> ../../node_modules/@daanvandenbergh/claudekit/skills/ts/audit

Now restart Claude Code. It scans .claude/skills/ at startup, so a session that was already open will not see the new skill.

3. Import a rule into your CLAUDE.md

Claude Code inlines any @path reference in CLAUDE.md when it loads. Point one at a rule file inside node_modules and the rule text stays current with the package:

# CLAUDE.md

@node_modules/@daanvandenbergh/claudekit/rules/core_principles.md

The path is resolved relative to the CLAUDE.md file, so keep CLAUDE.md at your project root, next to node_modules. Each rule file is standalone; add only the ones you want.

4. Run the skill

In Claude Code, invoke the skill by its directory name and give it a module path:

/audit src/api/users

/audit runs a phased audit of that module - security, code quality, call-chain logic, and test coverage - fixes what it finds, verifies the build and tests, and prints a report.

5. Update the package

npm update @daanvandenbergh/claudekit

Both references point into node_modules: the symlinked skill and the @-imported rule pick up the new content on the next Claude Code session. There is nothing to re-link and nothing to re-copy.

Related

• Skills and rules - how the two reference mechanisms work, and what ships in each tree.
• /audit - the full reference for the skill you just ran.