fix: install agent skills project-scoped so the PromptScript target lands

The in-app skill install/update commands hardcoded --global. The npx skills
CLI cannot install the PromptScript target (the one Orca consumes) in global
mode: it skips that single target, still prints a success banner, and exits 0,
so the skill silently never installs for Orca.

Drop --global and add -y to the install command (and drop --global from the
update command). The setup terminal runs in the home dir, so a project-scoped
install lands in ~/.agents/skills, which discovery already classifies as a
'home' source the feature-setup surfaces detect — no detection change needed.
Also update the native-Windows update-normalization regex to match the new
project-scoped update form.

Fixes #4642

Co-authored-by: Orca <help@stably.ai>

src/main/skills/discovery.test.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
 import { join } from 'node:path'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { buildSkillDiscoverySources, discoverSkills } from './discovery'
+import {
+  buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand,
+  ORCHESTRATION_SKILL_NAME
+} from '../../shared/agent-feature-install-commands'
 import type { Repo } from '../../shared/types'
 
 function makeRepo(path: string, connectionId: string | null = null): Repo {
@@ -102,6 +106,36 @@ describe('skill discovery', () => {
     ])
   })
 
+  it('classifies a project-scoped install run from home as a home source (regression for #4642)', async () => {
+    // Why: the in-app setup terminal runs in the home dir, so a non-global
+    // `npx skills add ... -y` install lands in ~/.agents/skills. That must be
+    // discovered as a 'home' source so the feature-setup surfaces (which filter
+    // on 'home') flip to "Installed". `--global` skipped this target silently.
+    const installCommand = buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand([ORCHESTRATION_SKILL_NAME])
+    expect(installCommand).not.toContain('--global')
+
+    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-skills-'))
+    const home = join(root, 'home')
+    const skillDir = join(home, '.agents', 'skills', ORCHESTRATION_SKILL_NAME)
+    await mkdir(skillDir, { recursive: true })
+    await writeFile(
+      join(skillDir, 'SKILL.md'),
+      [
+        '---',
+        `name: ${ORCHESTRATION_SKILL_NAME}`,
+        'description: Coordinate agents.',
+        '---',
+        ''
+      ].join('\n')
+    )
+
+    const result = await discoverSkills({ homeDir: home, cwd: home, repos: [] })
+
+    expect(result.skills).toMatchObject([
+      { name: ORCHESTRATION_SKILL_NAME, sourceKind: 'home', directoryPath: skillDir }
+    ])
+  })
+
   it('does not loop through recursive symlinked skill directories', async () => {
     const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-skills-'))
     const home = join(root, 'home')

src/main/telemetry/onboarding-feature-setup-validator.test.ts

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ describe('onboarding feature setup telemetry validation', () => {
         linear_tickets: false,
         orchestration: true,
         selected_count: 2,
-        command: 'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --global'
+        command: 'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orchestration -y'
       } as never).ok
     ).toBe(false)
     expect(

src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-feature-setup.test.ts

@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ describe('onboarding feature setup runner', () => {
 
     expect(text).toBe(ALL_SKILL_INSTALL_COMMAND)
     expect(text).toBe(
-      'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orca-cli computer-use orchestration orca-linear --global'
+      'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orca-cli computer-use orchestration orca-linear -y'
     )
   })
 

src/renderer/src/components/settings/AgentSkillSetupPanel.test.tsx

@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { AgentSkillSetupPanel } from './AgentSkillSetupPanel'
 import { TooltipProvider } from '../ui/tooltip'
 
-const INSTALL_COMMAND = 'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orca-cli --global'
-const UPDATE_COMMAND = 'npx skills update orca-cli --global'
+const INSTALL_COMMAND = 'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orca-cli -y'
+const UPDATE_COMMAND = 'npx skills update orca-cli'
 
 const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   clipboardWrite: vi.fn(),

src/renderer/src/components/settings/BrowserUseSkillStep.test.tsx

@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ vi.mock('./AgentSkillSetupPanel', () => ({
 describe('BrowserUseSkillStep', () => {
   it('forwards a single-skill installed command even when setup installs a bundle', () => {
     const bundleInstallCommand =
-      'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orca-cli orchestration --global'
-    const updateCommand = 'npx skills update orca-cli --global'
+      'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orca-cli orchestration -y'
+    const updateCommand = 'npx skills update orca-cli'
 
     renderToStaticMarkup(
       <BrowserUseSkillStep

src/renderer/src/components/settings/CliSection.test.tsx

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ describe('CliSection project runtime defaults', () => {
     expect(capturedPanel.props?.command).toContain("wsl.exe -d 'Ubuntu' -- sh -c")
     expect(capturedPanel.props?.command).toContain('npx skills add')
     expect(capturedPanel.props?.installedCommand).toContain("wsl.exe -d 'Ubuntu' -- sh -c")
-    expect(capturedPanel.props?.installedCommand).toContain('npx skills update orca-cli --global')
+    expect(capturedPanel.props?.installedCommand).toContain('npx skills update orca-cli')
     expect(getWslInstallStatus).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ distro: 'Ubuntu' })
     expect(getWslInstallStatus).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
   })

src/renderer/src/components/settings/CliSkillRuntimeSetup.test.tsx

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
 
 describe('CliSkillRuntimeSetup runtime helpers', () => {
   it('wraps WSL skill installs in the selected distro login shell', () => {
-    const command = buildSkillInstallCommandForRuntime('npx skills add orchestration --global', {
+    const command = buildSkillInstallCommandForRuntime('npx skills add orchestration -y', {
       runtime: 'wsl',
       wslDistro: 'Ubuntu',
       label: 'WSL Ubuntu'
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ describe('CliSkillRuntimeSetup runtime helpers', () => {
 
     expect(command).toContain("wsl.exe -d 'Ubuntu' -- sh -c")
     expect(command).toContain('getent passwd')
-    expect(command).toContain('npx skills add orchestration --global')
+    expect(command).toContain('npx skills add orchestration -y')
   })
 
   it('wraps WSL skill updates with the same selected distro login shell', () => {
-    const command = buildSkillCommandForRuntime('npx skills update orchestration --global', {
+    const command = buildSkillCommandForRuntime('npx skills update orchestration', {
       runtime: 'wsl',
       wslDistro: 'Fedora Remix',
       label: 'WSL Fedora Remix'
@@ -30,13 +30,13 @@ describe('CliSkillRuntimeSetup runtime helpers', () => {
 
     expect(command).toContain("wsl.exe -d 'Fedora Remix' -- sh -c")
     expect(command).toContain('getent passwd')
-    expect(command).toContain('npx skills update orchestration --global')
+    expect(command).toContain('npx skills update orchestration')
   })
 
   it('reinstalls Windows-host skill updates through the add path', () => {
     expect(
       buildSkillCommandForRuntime(
-        'npx skills update orchestration --global',
+        'npx skills update orchestration',
         {
           runtime: 'host',
           label: 'Windows'
@@ -47,22 +47,22 @@ describe('CliSkillRuntimeSetup runtime helpers', () => {
   })
 
   it('treats missing runtime as a Windows host fallback for skill updates', () => {
-    expect(
-      buildSkillCommandForRuntime('npx skills update orca-cli --global', undefined, 'win32')
-    ).toBe(buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand(['orca-cli']))
+    expect(buildSkillCommandForRuntime('npx skills update orca-cli', undefined, 'win32')).toBe(
+      buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand(['orca-cli'])
+    )
   })
 
   it('keeps non-Windows host skill updates on the update path', () => {
     expect(
       buildSkillCommandForRuntime(
-        'npx skills update orchestration --global',
+        'npx skills update orchestration',
         {
           runtime: 'host',
           label: 'This device'
         },
         'linux'
       )
-    ).toBe('npx skills update orchestration --global')
+    ).toBe('npx skills update orchestration')
   })
 
   it('preserves the selected WSL distro for skill discovery', () => {

src/renderer/src/components/settings/CliSkillRuntimeSetup.tsx

@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ function normalizeWindowsSkillUpdateCommand(
   }
 
   const trimmedCommand = command.trim()
-  const updateMatch = /^npx\s+skills\s+update\s+([A-Za-z0-9_-]+)\s+--global$/i.exec(trimmedCommand)
+  const updateMatch = /^npx\s+skills\s+update\s+([A-Za-z0-9_-]+)$/i.exec(trimmedCommand)
   if (!updateMatch) {
     return command
   }

src/renderer/src/components/settings/OrchestrationPane.test.tsx

@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { getOrchestrationUsageExamples } from '@/lib/orchestration-usage-examples'
 import { OrchestrationPane } from './OrchestrationPane'
 
-const INSTALL_COMMAND =
-  'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orchestration --global'
+const INSTALL_COMMAND = 'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orchestration -y'
+// Why: on the win32 host this pane runs against, the update command is
+// normalized back into the install command, so both match the install form.
 const UPDATE_COMMAND = INSTALL_COMMAND
 
 const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({

src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt.test.tsx

@@ -347,8 +347,7 @@ describe('LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt', () => {
     expect(document.body.textContent).toContain("wsl.exe -d 'Fedora' -- bash -lc 'npx skills add")
     expect(mocks.panelProps.at(-1)).toEqual(
       expect.objectContaining({
-        installedCommand:
-          "wsl.exe -d 'Fedora' -- bash -lc 'npx skills update orca-linear --global'",
+        installedCommand: "wsl.exe -d 'Fedora' -- bash -lc 'npx skills update orca-linear'",
         terminalShellOverride: 'powershell.exe',
         getPrerequisiteStatus: expect.any(Function)
       })

src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt.update-command.test.tsx

@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ describe('LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt update command', () => {
     await renderPrompt()
 
     expect(mocks.panelProps.at(-1)).toEqual(
-      expect.objectContaining({ installedCommand: 'npx skills update orca-linear --global' })
+      expect.objectContaining({ installedCommand: 'npx skills update orca-linear' })
     )
   })
 
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ describe('LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt update command', () => {
     await renderPrompt()
 
     expect(mocks.panelProps.at(-1)).toEqual(
-      expect.objectContaining({ installedCommand: 'npx skills update linear-tickets --global' })
+      expect.objectContaining({ installedCommand: 'npx skills update linear-tickets' })
     )
   })
 
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ describe('LinearAgentSkillSetupPrompt update command', () => {
     await renderPrompt()
 
     expect(mocks.panelProps.at(-1)).toEqual(
-      expect.objectContaining({ installedCommand: 'npx skills update orca-linear --global' })
+      expect.objectContaining({ installedCommand: 'npx skills update orca-linear' })
     )
   })
 })

src/renderer/src/hooks/useInstalledAgentSkills.test.ts

@@ -115,6 +115,28 @@ describe('hasInstalledAgentSkill', () => {
     ).toBe(true)
   })
 
+  it('detects a project-scoped install that lands in the home dir (regression for #4642)', () => {
+    // Why: the setup terminal runs in the home dir, so a non-global install
+    // writes to ~/.agents/skills with sourceKind 'home' — the feature-setup
+    // surfaces' filter must still report it installed.
+    expect(
+      hasInstalledAgentSkill(
+        [
+          skill({
+            name: 'orchestration',
+            sourceKind: 'home',
+            sourceLabel: 'Agent skills home',
+            rootPath: '/Users/test/.agents/skills',
+            directoryPath: '/Users/test/.agents/skills/orchestration',
+            skillFilePath: '/Users/test/.agents/skills/orchestration/SKILL.md'
+          })
+        ],
+        'orchestration',
+        { sourceKinds: GLOBAL_AGENT_SKILL_SOURCE_KINDS }
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+
   it('matches installed skills by any accepted name', () => {
     expect(
       hasInstalledAgentSkillNamed(

src/shared/agent-feature-install-commands.test.ts

@@ -11,25 +11,39 @@ import {
 } from './agent-feature-install-commands'
 
 describe('agent feature skill commands', () => {
+  // Why: `--global` silently skips the PromptScript target Orca consumes while
+  // exiting 0, so the install/update commands must stay project-scoped.
+  it('builds project-scoped single-skill install commands', () => {
+    expect(buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand(['orchestration'])).toBe(
+      'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orchestration -y'
+    )
+    expect(buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand(['orca-cli', 'orchestration'])).toBe(
+      'npx skills add https://github.com/stablyai/orca --skill orca-cli orchestration -y'
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('never emits the --global flag that masks the PromptScript failure', () => {
+    expect(buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand(['orchestration'])).not.toContain('--global')
+    expect(buildAgentFeatureSkillUpdateCommand('orchestration')).not.toContain('--global')
+  })
+
   it('builds single-skill update commands', () => {
     expect(buildAgentFeatureSkillUpdateCommand('orchestration')).toBe(
-      'npx skills update orchestration --global'
+      'npx skills update orchestration'
     )
   })
 
   it('trims and rejects blank update skill names', () => {
-    expect(buildAgentFeatureSkillUpdateCommand('  orca-cli  ')).toBe(
-      'npx skills update orca-cli --global'
-    )
+    expect(buildAgentFeatureSkillUpdateCommand('  orca-cli  ')).toBe('npx skills update orca-cli')
     expect(() => buildAgentFeatureSkillUpdateCommand('   ')).toThrow('A skill name is required.')
   })
 
   it('exports single-skill update constants without changing install bundles', () => {
-    expect(ORCA_CLI_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update orca-cli --global')
-    expect(COMPUTER_USE_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update computer-use --global')
-    expect(ORCHESTRATION_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update orchestration --global')
-    expect(ORCA_LINEAR_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update orca-linear --global')
-    expect(LINEAR_TICKETS_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update linear-tickets --global')
+    expect(ORCA_CLI_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update orca-cli')
+    expect(COMPUTER_USE_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update computer-use')
+    expect(ORCHESTRATION_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update orchestration')
+    expect(ORCA_LINEAR_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update orca-linear')
+    expect(LINEAR_TICKETS_SKILL_UPDATE_COMMAND).toBe('npx skills update linear-tickets')
     expect(ORCA_CLI_ORCHESTRATION_SKILL_INSTALL_COMMAND).toBe(
       buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand(['orca-cli', 'orchestration'])
     )

src/shared/agent-feature-install-commands.ts

@@ -11,7 +11,12 @@ export function buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand(skillNames: readonly string
   if (skillNames.length === 0) {
     throw new Error('At least one skill name is required.')
   }
-  return `npx skills add ${ORCA_SKILLS_REPOSITORY_URL} --skill ${skillNames.join(' ')} --global`
+  // Why: `--global` skips the PromptScript target (the one Orca consumes) yet
+  // still exits 0, so installs silently never land. Project-scoped installs to
+  // <cwd>/.agents/skills succeed for every target; the setup terminal runs in
+  // the home dir, so this writes to ~/.agents/skills (a scanned 'home' source).
+  // `-y` keeps the auto-run terminal non-interactive.
+  return `npx skills add ${ORCA_SKILLS_REPOSITORY_URL} --skill ${skillNames.join(' ')} -y`
 }
 
 export function buildAgentFeatureSkillUpdateCommand(skillName: string): string {
@@ -19,7 +24,9 @@ export function buildAgentFeatureSkillUpdateCommand(skillName: string): string {
   if (!trimmedSkillName) {
     throw new Error('A skill name is required.')
   }
-  return `npx skills update ${trimmedSkillName} --global`
+  // Why: must stay project-scoped to match the install above; a `--global`
+  // update would target an install that never happened.
+  return `npx skills update ${trimmedSkillName}`
 }
 
 export const ORCA_CLI_SKILL_INSTALL_COMMAND = buildAgentFeatureSkillInstallCommand([