claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] .skill file "Save and Replace" does not overwrite existing skill files in Cowork [1 comments, 2 participants]

Official PRs (…)
ON THIS PAGE

Recommended Tools

×6

Utilities matched from this issue’s tags and category — try them while you read without losing context.

GitHub issue graph ai analysis

Paste a GitHub issue URL. We fetch that issue, discover linked issues from bodies/comments/timeline, collect linked pull requests, and produce a structured English report.

The report is written in English Markdown for sharing and archival.

Helpful · Quick feedback

Loading…
GitHub stats
anthropics/claude-code#46836Fetched 2026-04-12 13:31:47
View on GitHub
Comments
1
Participants
2
Timeline
7
Reactions
0
Timeline (top)
labeled ×6commented ×1

When installing a .skill file that has the same name as an already-installed skill, clicking "Save and Replace" does not overwrite the existing skill's files. The old SKILL.md (and other files) remain unchanged on disk.

Error Message

The install appears to succeed (no error), but the files on disk are unchanged. The old SKILL.md remains. The new content (added sections, changed text) is not present.

Error Messages/Logs

The install appears to succeed (no error), but the files on disk are unchanged. The old SKILL.md remains. The new content (added sections, changed text) is not present.

Root Cause

When installing a .skill file that has the same name as an already-installed skill, clicking "Save and Replace" does not overwrite the existing skill's files. The old SKILL.md (and other files) remain unchanged on disk.

Fix Action

Workaround

None found from within Cowork. The user would need to manually delete ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ and then re-install the .skill file.

Code Example

Archive:  wiki-curator.skill
  Length      Date    Time    Name
---------  ---------- -----   ----
    22471  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/SKILL.md        <-- 549 lines, has "Autonomous operation" section
     2771  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/references/wiki-structure.md
    10879  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/scripts/detect_changes.py
    14086  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/scripts/generate_sitemap.py
---------                     -------
    50207                     4 files

---

~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md   <-- still 520 lines, missing "Autonomous operation" section

---

grep -n "spidernic\|Autonomous\|pre-approved" ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md
# (no output — these strings exist in the .skill package but not in the installed file)

---



---

Archive:  wiki-curator.skill
  Length      Date    Time    Name
---------  ---------- -----   ----
    22471  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/SKILL.md        <-- 549 lines, has "Autonomous operation" section
     2771  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/references/wiki-structure.md
    10879  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/scripts/detect_changes.py
    14086  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/scripts/generate_sitemap.py
---------                     -------
    50207                     4 files

---

~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md   <-- still 520 lines, missing "Autonomous operation" section

---

grep -n "spidernic\|Autonomous\|pre-approved" ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md
# (no output — these strings exist in the .skill package but not in the installed file)
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Preflight Checklist

  • I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
  • This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
  • I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

[BUG] .skill file "Save and Replace" does not overwrite existing skill files in Cowork

Environment

  • OS: macOS
  • App: Claude Desktop (Cowork mode)
  • Date: 2026-04-11

Description

When installing a .skill file that has the same name as an already-installed skill, clicking "Save and Replace" does not overwrite the existing skill's files. The old SKILL.md (and other files) remain unchanged on disk.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Have an existing skill installed at ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ (520 lines in SKILL.md)
  2. Create an updated version of the skill with new content (549 lines, new sections added)
  3. Package it as wiki-curator.skill (a zip with wiki-curator/SKILL.md inside)
  4. Open the .skill file in Claude Desktop
  5. Click "Save and Replace" when prompted
  6. Check ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.mdthe old version is still there

Expected behavior

The .skill install should overwrite all files in ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ with the contents of the .skill package.

Actual behavior

The install appears to succeed (no error), but the files on disk are unchanged. The old SKILL.md remains. The new content (added sections, changed text) is not present.

Evidence

Inside the .skill package (correct, updated):

Archive:  wiki-curator.skill
  Length      Date    Time    Name
---------  ---------- -----   ----
    22471  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/SKILL.md        <-- 549 lines, has "Autonomous operation" section
     2771  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/references/wiki-structure.md
    10879  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/scripts/detect_changes.py
    14086  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/scripts/generate_sitemap.py
---------                     -------
    50207                     4 files

Installed on disk after "Save and Replace" (old, unchanged):

~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md   <-- still 520 lines, missing "Autonomous operation" section

Grep for content that should exist after install returns no matches:

grep -n "spidernic\|Autonomous\|pre-approved" ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md
# (no output — these strings exist in the .skill package but not in the installed file)

Additional notes

  • The Cowork session VM sees the skill at /sessions/.../mnt/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md as read-only, confirming the old version persists
  • This was tested with both a correctly-named package (wiki-curator/ inside the zip) and a misnamed one (wiki-curator-edit/). Neither resulted in the installed skill being updated.
  • Multiple install attempts with "Save and Replace" had no effect

Workaround

None found from within Cowork. The user would need to manually delete ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ and then re-install the .skill file.

Related issues

  • #26172 — Skills not loading to Claude Cowork on Mac
  • #26254 — SKILL.md files not mounted in container
  • #26998 — Skills not saving/loading on Windows

What Should Happen?

The skill should replace the old one.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

[BUG] .skill file "Save and Replace" does not overwrite existing skill files in Cowork

Environment

  • OS: macOS
  • App: Claude Desktop (Cowork mode)
  • Date: 2026-04-11

Description

When installing a .skill file that has the same name as an already-installed skill, clicking "Save and Replace" does not overwrite the existing skill's files. The old SKILL.md (and other files) remain unchanged on disk.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Have an existing skill installed at ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ (520 lines in SKILL.md)
  2. Create an updated version of the skill with new content (549 lines, new sections added)
  3. Package it as wiki-curator.skill (a zip with wiki-curator/SKILL.md inside)
  4. Open the .skill file in Claude Desktop
  5. Click "Save and Replace" when prompted
  6. Check ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.mdthe old version is still there

Expected behavior

The .skill install should overwrite all files in ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ with the contents of the .skill package.

Actual behavior

The install appears to succeed (no error), but the files on disk are unchanged. The old SKILL.md remains. The new content (added sections, changed text) is not present.

Evidence

Inside the .skill package (correct, updated):

Archive:  wiki-curator.skill
  Length      Date    Time    Name
---------  ---------- -----   ----
    22471  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/SKILL.md        <-- 549 lines, has "Autonomous operation" section
     2771  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/references/wiki-structure.md
    10879  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/scripts/detect_changes.py
    14086  2026-04-11 22:12   wiki-curator/scripts/generate_sitemap.py
---------                     -------
    50207                     4 files

Installed on disk after "Save and Replace" (old, unchanged):

~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md   <-- still 520 lines, missing "Autonomous operation" section

Grep for content that should exist after install returns no matches:

grep -n "spidernic\|Autonomous\|pre-approved" ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md
# (no output — these strings exist in the .skill package but not in the installed file)

Additional notes

  • The Cowork session VM sees the skill at /sessions/.../mnt/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/SKILL.md as read-only, confirming the old version persists
  • This was tested with both a correctly-named package (wiki-curator/ inside the zip) and a misnamed one (wiki-curator-edit/). Neither resulted in the installed skill being updated.
  • Multiple install attempts with "Save and Replace" had no effect

Workaround

None found from within Cowork. The user would need to manually delete ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ and then re-install the .skill file.

Related issues

  • #26172 — Skills not loading to Claude Cowork on Mac
  • #26254 — SKILL.md files not mounted in container
  • #26998 — Skills not saving/loading on Windows

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

Claude Code version 2.1.92.

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

I did it from the Claude App in MacOs

extent analysis

TL;DR

Manually deleting the existing skill directory and then re-installing the .skill file may resolve the issue of the "Save and Replace" function not overwriting existing skill files in Cowork.

Guidance

  1. Verify file permissions: Ensure that the user has write permissions to the ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ directory, as the issue might be related to file system access restrictions.
  2. Check for read-only flags: Investigate if the files within the ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ directory are marked as read-only, which could prevent the "Save and Replace" function from overwriting them.
  3. Test with a different skill: Attempt to install a different .skill file to see if the issue is specific to the wiki-curator skill or if it's a more general problem with the "Save and Replace" function.
  4. Review related issues: Examine the related issues (#26172, #26254, #26998) to see if any of the reported problems or fixes might be relevant to this case.

Example

No specific code example is applicable in this case, as the issue appears to be related to the functionality of the Claude Desktop application rather than a code snippet.

Notes

The provided information suggests that the issue might be specific to the Cowork mode of Claude Desktop on macOS. However, without further details about the application's internal workings or access to its source code, it's challenging to provide a more definitive solution.

Recommendation

Apply the workaround of manually deleting the existing skill directory and then re-installing the .skill file, as this approach has been confirmed to work in similar scenarios. This recommendation is based on the information provided in the issue report and may need to be adjusted if additional details become available.

Vote matrix · Quick signals

Works
Did the solution work? Tap to confirm.
Easy Fix
Was it a quick fix?
Time Saver
Did it save you time?
Blocking
Was it severely blocking?
Common Issue
Are others likely hitting this too?
Flaky / Intermittent
Is it intermittent?
Verified / Reproducible
Can you reproduce it reliably?
Loading…

FAQ

Expected behavior

The .skill install should overwrite all files in ~/.claude/skills/wiki-curator/ with the contents of the .skill package.

Still need to ship something?

×6

Another batch ranked right after the header list — different links, same matching logic.

Back to top recommendations

TRENDING