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gh skill ignores CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR #13262
Description
Describe the bug
Claude Code supports a custom location for settings instead of ~/.claude, via the CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR environment variable. When installing a skill, gh skill ignores that variable and hardcodes ~/.claude instead for user-level installation, which results in the installed skills being ignored by Claude Code.
Affected version
gh version 2.91.0 (2026-04-22)
https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/tag/v2.91.0Steps to reproduce the behavior
-
Install a skill
gh skill install anthropics/skills \ algorithmic-art@b9e19e6f44773509fbdd7001d77ff41a49a486c1 \ --agent claude-code --scope user -
Try to use the skill
$ claude -p '/algorithmic-art' Unknown command: /algorithmic-art
Expected vs actual behavior
I expect the skill to be installed in $CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR/skills, which defaults to ~/.claude/skills if $CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR is not set.
Actual behaviour: skills are always installed in ~/.claude/skills.
Logs
$ env | grep CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=/home/benjamin/.config/claude
$ GH_DEBUG=true gh skill install anthropics/skills algorithmic-art@b9e19e6f44773509fbdd7001d77ff41a49a486c1 --agent claude-code --scope user
Resolving version ⣾* Request at 2026-04-22 11:27:09.484835979 -0700 PDT m=+0.025141067
-->8-- snip
✓ Installed algorithmic-art (from anthropics/skills@b9e19e6f44773509fbdd7001d77ff41a49a486c1) in .claude/skills
-->8-- snip
Activity
github-actions commentedon Apr 24, 2026
Thank you for your issue! We have categorized it as an enhancement (feature or improvement) request, and it has been added to our backlog. In doing so, we are not committing to implementing this feature at this time, but, we will consider it for future releases based on community feedback and our own product roadmap.
Unless you see the help wantedContributions welcome
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