Managing tools and skills

Tools and skills are the two extension systems that sit beside the core uip host. Tools add commands that talk to UiPath services; skills teach AI coding agents how to drive those commands. Both are installed, updated, and removed through the CLI itself. This page covers the day-to-day workflows — not the conceptual split (see Tools (plugins) and Skills) and not the full command reference (see uip tools and uip skills).

Tools — day-to-day

See what's installed

uip tools list --output table

Returns a table of name, version, commandPrefix. Use this to spot drift between a developer laptop and a build server.

To capture a snapshot you can diff later:

uip tools list --output json --output-filter "Data[*].{name: name, version: version}" > tools.json

Install a tool

Three identifier forms work — pick whichever reads best in context:

uip tools install or                                # alias (shortest)
uip tools install orchestrator-tool                 # short name
uip tools install @uipath/orchestrator-tool         # full npm name

Explicit version (for CI reproducibility):

uip tools install orchestrator-tool@1.0.2

Preview channel:

uip tools install flow-tool@beta

In CI, always install the tools you need as a dedicated step — auto-install pays a one-time download cost on whichever command runs first, and there is no env-var opt-out (details):

uip tools install @uipath/orchestrator-tool \
                  @uipath/solution-tool \
                  @uipath/test-manager-tool

Upgrade tools after a CLI bump

When you upgrade @uipath/cli, installed tools stay at their previous version. Run uip tools update to bring them to the latest version within the CLI's new MAJOR.MINOR line:

npm install -g @uipath/cli@1.1.0
uip tools update

Update a single tool:

uip tools update --name orchestrator-tool

Pin a specific tool to an exact version:

uip tools update --name orchestrator-tool --version 1.0.3

The Data in UpdateResult gives you per-tool from → to diffs — useful for audit logs.

Tipp:

Refresh shell completion after an upgrade

The shell-completion script is a static snapshot of the verbs and flags known when uip completion last ran. After npm install -g @uipath/cli@<new>, uip tools install, or uip tools update, re-run uip completion so newly added commands and flags appear in <TAB>. See uip completion — Static snapshot.

Remove a tool

uip tools uninstall or

After uninstall, the next uip or … invocation will trigger auto-install again unless auto-install is blocked (offline runner, whitelist pinning). To keep a tool gone on a stateless runner, pre-install only the tools you want and don't call the uninstalled ones.

Audit drift between environments

On each environment, capture the installed set:

uip tools list --output json --output-filter "Data[*].{name: name, version: version}" | jq -S . > tools.$(hostname).json

Diff the files across environments. Any delta is a source of "works on my machine" — resolve by pinning in CI.

Skills — day-to-day

See what's installed

ls ~/.uipath/.skills         # the on-disk skill catalog cache
cat ~/.uipath/.skills/manifest.json   # manifest of installed skills per agent

For a local install, the store lives under the project root at ./.uipath/.skills/. Alternatively, ask an agent to list its installed skills — every supported agent exposes this through its own UI / command.

Install skills into a coding agent

By agent:

uip skills install --agent claude        # Claude Code (global only)
uip skills install --agent cursor        # Cursor
uip skills install --agent copilot       # GitHub Copilot
uip skills install --agent gemini        # Gemini CLI
uip skills install --agent codex         # Codex
uip skills install --agent opencode      # OpenCode

Interactively (multi-select via checkbox):

uip skills install

Scope:

• Default is global — installed into the agent's user profile. Available everywhere the agent runs.
• --local installs into the current directory instead. Good for project-pinned skills or when you don't want to clutter the user profile. Claude Code is global-only — passing --local with --agent claude errors out.

Keep skills fresh

uip skills update re-fetches the UiPath skills catalog and reinstalls:

uip skills update --agent claude

Update also removes skills that have disappeared from the remote catalog since the last install — agents stay in step with UiPath's released set.

Remove skills

uip skills uninstall --agent claude

Does not remove the agent itself, and does not affect other agents' skills. Run once per agent you want to remove skills from.

Combining tools and skills in a project

A common pattern for a repository that uses AI coding agents for UiPath work:

1. Pin @uipath/cli in project documentation (not in package.json — the CLI is a dev dependency on the operator's machine, not a project runtime dep).
2. Document the External Application and tenant the project targets in your README. Each contributor sets the corresponding environment variables on their machine and signs in with uip login.
3. Install the project-relevant tools on each contributor's machine:

   uip tools install or solution tm
   

4. Install skills locally for the coding agent used by the project:

   uip skills install --agent cursor --local
   

5. Add the local skills-store directory to .gitignore (the install command prints the path on first run).

Agents running in the repo authenticate with the contributor's session, the skills teach them how to use uip, and the pinned tools keep builds reproducible.

When things go wrong

A tool's commands don't show up in uip --help

Either the tool isn't installed or it failed to load. Check:

uip tools list                  # is it installed?
uip --log-level debug or folders list   # what does the host say during tool load?

A tool that loads with an error is skipped silently by the completion tree and by the command dispatcher.

A tool is installed but commands fail with "unknown option"

Likely a version mismatch — the tool was built against a different CLI minor line. Fix with uip tools update --name <tool>.

Skills don't show up in my coding agent

Each agent handles skill files through its own plugin / rules system. After uip skills install --agent <name>:

• Claude Code — restart Claude Code; skills appear under the plugin picker.
• Cursor — skills auto-load on next conversation; check ~/.cursor/skills/ (global) or ./.cursor/skills/ (local).
• GitHub Copilot — open the Copilot panel; skills live under ~/.github/skills/ (global) or ./.github/skills/ (local).
• Gemini CLI — skills are written to ~/.gemini/skills/ or ./.gemini/skills/.
• Codex — skills are written to ~/.agents/skills/ or ./.agents/skills/ (the open Agent Skills standard directory).
• OpenCode — skills are written to ~/.config/opencode/skills/ (global) or ./.opencode/skills/ (local).

Run uip skills install --agent <name> --print (or the equivalent checkbox in interactive mode) to see the exact destination.

Siehe auch

• Tools (plugins) — the host-plus-plugins model.
• Skills — the AI-agent extension system.
• uip tools reference — full flag list.
• uip skills reference — full flag list.
• Installing UiPath CLI — Controlling tool auto-install — how auto-install behaves in CI.
• Using UiPath CLI with coding agents — per-agent setup walkthroughs.