Test a draft with agents

In this guide you keep the current changelog-writer linked for every project, test a terser draft of it in one project as an experiment, and then merge the experiment or throw it away. At the end, you try an upstream skill in a project before deciding whether to vendor it.

You need a source repo (here ~/code/my-skills) with changelog-writer committed on main, and a project to test in (~/code/my-app). The examples use Claude Code. See Agents to link for others.

1. Link the current version everywhere

cd ~/code/my-skills
tricks link changelog-writer

linked changelog-writer into user scope from main (working tree, live)
  claude   ~/.claude/skills/changelog-writer (link)
see links with `tricks list --links`; remove with `tricks unlink changelog-writer`

The user scope link points at your main checkout, so every project’s agent loads the main version and sees your edits as soon as you save.

2. Start an experiment

tricks experiment start changelog-writer@terse

$ git worktree add -q -b experiment/changelog-writer/terse .tricks/work/experiment--changelog-writer--terse HEAD
~/code/my-skills/.tricks/work/experiment--changelog-writer--terse/skills/changelog-writer
experiment changelog-writer@terse on branch experiment/changelog-writer/terse (`cd "$(tricks experiment start changelog-writer@terse)"` or `--shell` to work there)
  try it with agents: `tricks link changelog-writer@terse --to <project>`; commit with `tricks experiment commit changelog-writer@terse -m "…"`
  then `tricks experiment merge changelog-writer@terse` (or `--pr`), or `tricks experiment discard changelog-writer@terse`

The experiment is a git worktree of branch experiment/changelog-writer/terse at .tricks/work/experiment--changelog-writer--terse, which git ignores. Open it in your editor, or cd "$(tricks experiment start changelog-writer@terse)". Editing it doesn’t change what your agents load yet.

3. Link the experiment into one project

tricks link changelog-writer@terse --to ~/code/my-app
tricks list --links

linked changelog-writer into ~/code/my-app from experiment/changelog-writer/terse (worktree, live, pinned)
  claude   ~/code/my-app/.claude/skills/changelog-writer (link)
see links with `tricks list --links`; remove with `tricks unlink changelog-writer`
user scope:
  changelog-writer             claude   ~/.claude/skills/changelog-writer (link)  main (working tree, live)
~/code/my-app:
  changelog-writer             claude   ~/code/my-app/.claude/skills/changelog-writer (link)  experiment/changelog-writer/terse (worktree, live, pinned)

The project link is pinned to the experiment, and the user scope link stays on main. The project link is added to my-app’s .git/info/exclude, so git status in my-app stays clean.

Same name in two places

When a skill in user scope and a project skill have the same name, Claude Code uses the one in user scope (your personal one). To make sure the agent in my-app loads the experiment, remove the user scope link while you compare (tricks unlink changelog-writer --global), and compare against main in another project instead (tricks link changelog-writer --to ~/code/other-app). Run tricks link changelog-writer again when you’re done.

4. Try it and iterate

Open the agent in the project and ask for release notes:

cd ~/code/my-app && claude

Then edit the experiment’s SKILL.md. The link points into the worktree, so the agent in my-app gets what you saved. Start a new session if it has already loaded the skill. Other projects keep getting main. Compare the two by running the same prompt in my-app and in another project.

While you’re iterating, you can check where each version comes from with tricks list:

source repo my-skills (~/code/my-skills, branch main)
  changelog-writer       original · experiments: terse · linked: ~/code/my-app (experiment/changelog-writer/terse), user scope (main)
  skill-creator          from anthropics/skills//skills/skill-creator · lint 0E/2W

5. Commit the experiment

tricks experiment commit changelog-writer@terse -m "Terser output"

$ git -C .tricks/work/experiment--changelog-writer--terse add -A
$ git -C .tricks/work/experiment--changelog-writer--terse commit -q -m 'Terser output'
committed 43737f7bc on experiment/changelog-writer/terse

This commits everything you changed in the worktree, on the experiment’s branch. Run it as often as you like, like any commit. The link keeps pointing at the worktree, so nothing changes for the agent. tricks experiment list shows how far the experiment has come:

changelog-writer@terse         1 unmerged commit(s) · 1 link(s)
  ~/code/my-skills/.tricks/work/experiment--changelog-writer--terse/skills/changelog-writer

6. Compare the versions

tricks diff changelog-writer head..terse

--- head/changelog-writer/SKILL.md
+++ terse/changelog-writer/SKILL.md
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@

 1. List the pull requests merged since the last tag.
 2. Group them under Added, Changed, Fixed and Removed.
-3. Write one sentence per change, explaining what it means for users.
+3. One line per change, at most 12 words. No preamble.

terse is the experiment’s name. diff finds its branch for you.

7a. Keep it: merge

tricks experiment merge changelog-writer@terse
tricks list --links

$ git merge --no-ff --no-commit -q experiment/changelog-writer/terse
$ git commit -q -m 'Merge experiment changelog-writer@terse'
$ git worktree remove .tricks/work/experiment--changelog-writer--terse
$ git branch -d -q experiment/changelog-writer/terse
merged changelog-writer@terse into main (ac2ac2d5a)
  → ~/code/my-app/.claude/skills/changelog-writer (link)
  removed branch experiment/changelog-writer/terse and its worktree
user scope:
  changelog-writer             claude   ~/.claude/skills/changelog-writer (link)  main (working tree, live)
~/code/my-app:
  changelog-writer             claude   ~/code/my-app/.claude/skills/changelog-writer (link)  main (working tree, live)

merge merged the experiment branch into main with a regular merge commit, moved the pinned link back to the main checkout, which now has the change, and removed the branch and its worktree. To open a pull request on your source repo’s remote instead, use --pr. Merge it back covers the options and conflicts.

7b. Drop it: discard

If the experiment isn’t better, throw it away. The user scope link never changed.

tricks experiment discard changelog-writer@terse

  1 commit(s) not merged into main
Discard experiment changelog-writer@terse? [y/N]

Confirm, and discard removes the worktree and the branch, and moves the project link back to the main checkout:

$ git worktree remove --force .tricks/work/experiment--changelog-writer--terse
$ git branch -D -q experiment/changelog-writer/terse
discarded changelog-writer@terse (branch experiment/changelog-writer/terse)
  → ~/code/my-app/.claude/skills/changelog-writer (link)

Run tricks unlink changelog-writer --to ~/code/my-app if you don’t want the skill in that project any more.

Test an upstream skill before vendoring it

Before you vendor a skill someone else wrote, try it as is in a project. A trial is an exact revision from the store, and it’s never updated:

cd ~/code/my-app
tricks try anthropics/skills//webapp-testing
tricks list --trials

trying webapp-testing into ~/code/my-app
  claude   ~/code/my-app/.claude/skills/webapp-testing (link)
see trials with `tricks list --trials`; remove with `tricks untry webapp-testing`
~/code/my-app:
  anthropics/skills//skills/webapp-testing claude   ~/code/my-app/.claude/skills/webapp-testing (link)

Use it with the agent in my-app. Then remove the trial and, if you want to keep and customize the skill, vendor it into your source repo:

tricks untry webapp-testing
cd ~/code/my-skills
tricks vendor anthropics/skills//webapp-testing

removed ~/code/my-app/.claude/skills/webapp-testing
added webapp-testing at skills/webapp-testing
  upstream github.com/anthropics/skills//skills/webapp-testing @ 33375500b
  licence  Apache-2.0 [allow]
  risk     4 script(s); 3 URL reference(s)
  not committed yet: review and `git commit` when ready; `tricks link webapp-testing` to try it

From now on it’s a source repo skill: you link it, start experiments as above, and merge upstream changes into it.