The Skill Builder companion puts your projects beside your code in VS Code. You can read what you share, fill in a prompt with text from your editor, and import the skills, agents and instructions of the folder you have open into Skill Builder. It is a separate extension from the Connect AI connector that AI tools use, and it never sends anything to an AI model.

Install it

Install Skill Builder Companion from the Visual Studio Marketplace, or search for it in the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X). It needs VS Code on your computer and Skill Builder open in a browser on the same computer. Remote windows and the web version of VS Code are not supported.

While it is not connected, Settings → Connect AI shows a card with the same link.

Connect it

  1. Open the Skill Builder view in the Activity Bar and choose Connect. VS Code shows a short pairing code.
  2. In the Skill Builder tab you have open, turn on Connect AI tools in Settings. A Connect VS Code companion? dialog opens.
  3. Type the code and choose Connect. You decide there whether VS Code may switch this tab for you, and whether it may show items without asking first. Both are off or on as you choose and are remembered.

You type a new code each time VS Code starts. Nothing connects until you do. Only type a code you just started from VS Code.

What you see

The view shows the project for the folder you have open, which AI tool is using which project, and the skills, agents, instructions, rules and prompts you marked Available to AI tools. The text of an item appears only after you allow it in Skill Builder. Anything the security check blocks is never shown.

  • Read an item in a read-only editor, or copy its text.
  • Fill in a prompt. Open a prompt and give each {{variable}} its own box. Paste a value, or select text in any editor and choose Use the editor selection. The finished prompt updates as you type; copy it when it is ready.
  • Open in Skill Builder. The link icon switches the Skill Builder tab you already have open instead of opening another one. You can turn this off.

Import a folder into Skill Builder

Choose Import from this folder… in the view (or from the Command Palette).

  1. Tick what to import. VS Code lists the skills, agents, commands, rules and instructions it finds in the usual places (.claude, .github, .agents, .cursor, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md). Each row shows how many files it brings. Everything is ticked to start with; untick what you do not want. Only the files you tick are read.
  2. Review in Skill Builder. A window opens in the app. Choose A new project (you can rename it) or A project you already have.
  3. Settle any clash. If the project already has a skill, agent or rule with the same name, it is listed under Needs your decision. Choose Keep both (the new one gets a name such as code-review-2), Replace, or Skip. Something that is already there and identical is skipped for you. Project instructions can only be replaced or skipped, because a project has one.
  4. Import. Nothing is added until you press Import. After a replace, Undo puts the project back, as long as you have not changed it since.

Skills kept in other folders are found by their SKILL.md. For anything else, such as agents or rules in a folder of your own, choose Import from a folder…, pick the folder, and say whether it holds Skills, Agents or Rules. The rest of the steps are the same.

Scripts and data files come in as text and are never run. Images and other binary files are not imported, and files that look like they hold secrets (.env and similar) are never read.

What stays private

  • The companion only talks to Skill Builder in your browser, on your computer. It has no telemetry.
  • It reads names, and the text of one item at a time after you allow it, from Skill Builder.
  • It lists file names in the usual places only when you choose Import, reads the content of a file only when you tick it, and only in a folder you have told VS Code to trust. Symbolic links are ignored, so a link can not make it read a file elsewhere on your computer.
  • A project changes only after you review an import in Skill Builder and confirm it.

If you would rather not be asked before each item is shown, you can turn that off in Settings → Connect AI or tick Don’t ask again on the question. Blocked items are still never shown.

Troubleshooting

  • Nothing happens when I connect. Check that Connect AI tools is on in Settings and that the Skill Builder tab is open in Chrome, Edge or Firefox. Safari does not allow it.
  • It says another Skill Builder tab is connected. Only one tab connects at a time. Use Use this tab in Settings.
  • The import says Skill Builder is too old. Reload the Skill Builder tab so it has the latest version.
  • I do not see my agents or rules in the import list. Only the usual AI folders are searched, plus any folder with a SKILL.md. Use Import from a folder… for other layouts, or Library → Upload.

To stop, choose Disconnect in the Skill Builder view, or disconnect it under Companion apps in Settings. To keep one project for a particular AI tool, see pin a project for each AI tool.