> AI agents: this is one page from Mammoth Analytics documentation. The index of all pages as Markdown is https://docs.mammoth.io/llms.txt. Append `.md` to any docs URL, or send `Accept: text/markdown`, to get Markdown.

# The Mammoth agent skill

> mammoth skill install puts a CLI playbook into your coding agent—authentication, discovery, structured input, job handling and confirmations.

`mammoth skill install` copies a packaged skill—authentication, discovery, structured input, job handling and confirmations—into your coding agent's own skills directory, so it reads the playbook once rather than re-deriving CLI conventions from trial and error.

```bash
mammoth skill install
mammoth skill list
```

## What it contains

The skill ships as one `SKILL.md` entry point plus a `references/` directory the entry point routes into by task, rather than one long document read in full every time.

Top-level references:

- `about-mammoth.md`—what Mammoth is, its data model, and which command does a goal stated in business terms ("combine these files"), including each web-app Transform-menu task
- `auth.md`—signing in, profiles, and authorized scope
- `capabilities.md` and `capabilities-misc.md`—which routes are proven, known-blocked or untried on the release endpoint
- `command-index.md`—a lookup for one exact command, not upfront reading
- `handoff.md`—the checklist for pausing or transferring work to another agent
- `input.md`—nested input documents and how to shape a request
- `jobs-drafts.md`—waiting on asynchronous work and draft-mode pipelines
- `machine-output.md`—the envelope shape, in full
- `operations.md`—which id is which, appending rows, and other one-off rules
- `recovery.md`—failure modes by message, and the stop-condition list
- `report-checklist.md`—what to verify before stating a number or calling a step done
- `retention.md`—deliverable retention and cleanup authorization
- `safety.md`—confirmation policies and how to satisfy each one non-interactively
- `task-start.md`—cold start, task planning, and what to do when a route is unsupported

Plus two subdirectories: `commands/` (one file per command family, e.g. `view.md`, `dashboard.md`, `automation.md`) and `recipes/` (worked flows: `end-to-end.md`, `transforms.md`, `exports.md`, `dashboards.md`, `scheduling.md`, `database-import.md`, `cleanup.md`, `auth-scope.md`, `resources.md`, `need-action.md`, `typed-etl-discovery.md`, and an `index.md` routing between them).

## What it gives the agent

- How to authenticate without a terminal, and—just as important—when *not* to: the skill tells an agent to hand `mammoth auth login` to the human operator rather than run it, or ask for a key in chat, itself.
- How to discover a command's request shape with `mammoth schema get`, rather than guessing it from a `--help` string.
- How to pass structured input as one `--input` document instead of many flags.
- How to wait on jobs and navigate draft-mode pipelines.
- How confirmations work, and which commands demand which of them—see [blast radius and safety](https://docs.mammoth.io/agents/safety).

It is the same material as [the agents section](https://docs.mammoth.io/agents/) as a whole, delivered where the agent will actually read it: inside its own skills directory, at the start of a session.

## Choosing targets and scope

The installer knows three agents—Codex, Claude Code and Cursor—and two scopes. The default is user scope, across all three:

| Agent | Default destination (user scope) |
| --- | --- |
| Claude Code | `~/.claude/skills/mammoth-cli/` |
| Codex | `~/.agents/skills/mammoth-cli/` |
| Cursor | `~/.cursor/skills/mammoth-cli/` |

Project scope installs into the same relative paths under the nearest directory containing a `.git` folder instead of the home directory. Review the destinations before a project-scoped install, and target one agent at a time if you do not want all three:

```bash
mammoth skill path --output json --no-input                              # show source + every computed target
mammoth skill install --input '{"agents": ["codex"], "scope": "project"}'
```

`mammoth skill show` prints the bundled `SKILL.md`, or one reference file by path, without installing anything—useful for reading the playbook before deciding to install it:

```bash
mammoth skill show
mammoth skill show --input '{"file": "references/recipes/end-to-end.md"}'
```

There is also `mammoth skill agents-md install`, which writes (or refreshes) a short steering block into a repository's `AGENTS.md` pointing back at this skill, so a later session in the same repository starts here without re-running the installer.

## Keeping it current

Run `mammoth skill update` after a CLI upgrade. It refreshes copies the installer owns and reports modified copies instead of silently overwriting them, so local edits are never clobbered without telling you:

```bash
mammoth skill list      # are installed copies present and intact?
mammoth skill update    # refresh the ones the installer owns
```

`mammoth skill uninstall` removes installer-owned destinations; a copy you modified by hand is left in place rather than deleted.

## Looking for MCP?

The skill is the CLI's own agent interface. For an MCP client that acts on a workspace, use the [Mammoth MCP server](https://docs.mammoth.io/agents/mcp). To look up Mammoth documentation from Claude, connect the documentation MCP server: see [Use Mammoth with Claude](https://docs.mammoth.io/agents/claude).

---

**Next up:** [For coding agents](https://docs.mammoth.io/agents/) for install, credentials and the operation loop · [Blast radius and safety](https://docs.mammoth.io/agents/safety) for what each command demands before it runs.

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Source: https://docs.mammoth.io/agents/skill.md · Updated: 2026-10-13