The Imports page

The Imports page is the page of the web UI where you bring skills, MCP servers and external plugins from outside Athenode into the plugins of your project. A plugin is a named bundle of what your AI coding tools work with: skills, agents, rules, MCP servers and plugin files. An external plugin is a plugin package from outside Athenode, such as an Agent Plugins or Claude Code plugin, that you import into a plugin.

Open the page from the project's sidebar, under Agent plugins, with Imports. It has four tabs.

Tab	What it brings in
External plugins	A whole external plugin, from a GitHub or GitLab repository, a zip file or a folder on your computer, as a new plugin or merged into one you have. Import an external plugin is the home of this tab.
Skills	Skills found on skills.sh, or every skill of a repository by its URL.
MCP catalog	One MCP server from the MCP catalogue, a searchable list of public MCP servers with their install options.
Settings	Your own GitHub and GitLab tokens, used when Athenode downloads from those hosts.

Every import changes a plugin. On the athenode daemon you can import everything. On an Athenode Pro server you need the editor role in the project. A viewer opens every tab and sees its content with the controls turned off, under the note "You can view this project. Every import changes a plugin, so it needs the editor role." Project roles has the full matrix.

Downloads from repositories are made by the server the web UI belongs to: the athenode daemon on your computer, or the Athenode Pro server. A repository must therefore be reachable from that machine. The skills.sh lists and the MCP catalogue are answered by Athenode over the internet.

After an import, run athenode sync in each local project directory that installs the plugin, as Install a plugin describes.

Choose the plugin that receives skills and MCP servers

The Skills and MCP catalog tabs add to the plugin chosen under Into the plugin at the top of the tab, with the hint "Skills and MCP servers are added to this plugin." The project's active plugin is chosen when the page opens and is marked "(active)" in the list. Your choice stays while you switch between the two tabs.

The External plugins tab chooses its target after the preview, because an external plugin can also become a new plugin.

Import skills from skills.sh

Import skills from skills.sh when someone has published the instructions you need, such as a skill for writing end-to-end tests.

1. Open the Skills tab and choose the plugin under Into the plugin.
2. Choose a view of skills.sh:
   • Curated: a selection of skills, shown when the tab opens.
   • Leaderboard: the most installed skills, ranked, each with its number of installs.
   • Search: enter words in Search skills.sh and select Search.
3. Next to a skill, select Preview. The preview opens with every skill of the repository that holds it.
4. Review the skills and choose the ones to import.
5. Select Import the chosen skills.

The tab shows "Imported:" followed by the names of the imported skills. Each imported skill remembers the repository and the folder it came from, so you can check it for updates later, as Skills in a plugin describes.

Import skills from a repository

Import skills from a repository when they are in a repository of your own or one you know, without a listing on skills.sh.

1. Open the Skills tab and choose the plugin under Into the plugin.
2. Enter the address in Repository URL of the skills, under the hint "Or preview every skill of a repository by its URL.", and select Preview.
3. Review the skills and choose the ones to import.
4. Select Import the chosen skills.

The address starts with https:// and takes one of these forms.

Source	Address
A GitHub repository	https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>, optionally followed by /tree/<ref>/<path> for a branch, a tag or a commit and a folder
A GitLab repository, on GitLab.com or another GitLab host	https://<host>/<group>/<project>, optionally followed by /-/tree/<ref>/<path>
A website that publishes an agent-skills index	The website's address, such as https://example.com, or the full address of its /.well-known/agent-skills/index.json

Skills are imported from public repositories. Without a ref, Athenode reads the repository's default branch. Every folder with a SKILL.md is offered as a skill, with the other files of that folder as its bundle files. A file named skill.md is imported as SKILL.md.

Review skills before you import them

The preview, titled Skills of the repository, lists every skill it found with its name and its folder, and counts the chosen ones, such as "3 of 5 chosen". Every skill that can be imported and has a name the plugin does not hold is chosen when the preview opens. Select a skill's checkbox to choose it or leave it out.

• A skill marked "cannot be imported" shows why below its name, such as a file over the size limit or a file name with characters a skill file may not have. Fix the source to import it.
• A skill with the name of a skill in the plugin is marked "the plugin already has a skill with this name". To import it, select the checkbox that names the skill, such as Replace the plugin's skill write-e2e-tests.
• A skill that uses an MCP server lists it as "Needs the MCP server" with the server's name, or as "Suggests the MCP server" when the server is only named among the tools the skill may use. A server the plugin already holds is marked "already in the plugin". For any other, a link such as Find github in the MCP catalog opens the MCP catalog tab with a search for it.

Skills whose licence does not allow copying them are not offered. Cancel closes the preview without importing anything.

Add the MCP servers that imported skills need

After an import, the panel MCP servers the imported skills need lists the servers the imported skills name and the plugin does not hold.

1. For a server with exactly one match in the MCP catalogue, select the link that names it, such as Add github from the MCP catalog.
2. Read the confirmation. It names the catalogue entry, its install option and the variables the server reads, each stored as a ${VAR} reference.
3. Select Add to plugin.

The panel marks the server "already in the plugin". The server is added under the name the skills use, so the skills reach it without a change. For a server with no match or several matches, follow its link such as Find github in the MCP catalog and add it as the next section describes, or add it by hand as MCP servers in a plugin describes.

Add an MCP server from the MCP catalogue

The MCP catalogue lists public MCP servers with the ways each can be run, its install options.

1. Open the MCP catalog tab and choose the plugin under Into the plugin.
2. Enter a name or a word in Search the MCP catalog and select Search.
3. Select a server in the results. The form Add an MCP server from the catalog opens with the server's name.
4. Choose an Install option. An option that cannot be added is listed with the reason and cannot be chosen.
5. Optional: change the Name in the plugin, which is the name your AI tools show for the server.
6. Fill in the variables the option needs. Each starts with the option's own value or a ${VAR} reference of the same name.
7. Select Add to plugin.

The form shows "Added the MCP server" with its name. If the plugin has a server of that name, it answers "This plugin already has an MCP server with this name." and you choose another Name in the plugin.

A variable marked "secret" holds a token, a key or a password. Its value must be empty or a ${VAR} reference, such as ${GITHUB_TOKEN}, which your AI tool fills from its environment. The form refuses a literal value with a message that names the variable, and Add to plugin stays unavailable until you change it. MCP servers in a plugin says where to set the variables.

Import an external plugin

The External plugins tab imports a whole external plugin. Choose the source (Repository URL, Local folder or Zip upload), select Preview, then select Import as a new plugin or choose a Plugin and select Preview the merge. Import an external plugin gives the steps, the formats Athenode reads and what becomes of each part of the external plugin.

Save a GitHub or GitLab token

A token of your own lets Athenode make more requests to GitHub or GitLab.com on your behalf. Without a token, GitHub allows 60 API requests an hour from one network address, and a large import or several imports in a row can reach that limit. The tab then shows "The repository host limits the requests. Wait a moment, or save a token in the import settings."

1. Create a personal access token on GitHub or GitLab.com. Read access to public repositories is enough.
2. Open the Settings tab.
3. Paste the token in the field GitHub token or GitLab token.
4. Select Save the token.

The status next to the field changes to "Your token is set." Athenode never shows a saved token again. It sends your GitHub token only to GitHub and your GitLab token only to GitLab.com, and uses yours before the server's.

Status	Meaning
"Your token is set."	Your own token is used for your imports.
"The server's token is used."	You have no token of your own, and the server has one.
"No token: anonymous requests."	Neither you nor the server has a token.

To replace your token, paste a new one in the same field and select Save the token. To remove it, select Remove my token and confirm. The token is deleted, and your imports use the server's token, or no token, until you save a new one.

A token belongs to the account that saved it, so on Athenode Pro every account saves its own. The server's token is set by whoever runs the server, with the environment variables ATHENODE_GITHUB_TOKEN and ATHENODE_GITLAB_TOKEN, and on the daemon also with imports.githubToken and imports.gitlabToken in its config.json, as Configuration describes. A token holds at most 1,000 characters.

Import limits

Limit	Value
Download from a repository	300 MiB
Size of a repository download or a zip file once unpacked	500 MiB
Files read from one source	5,000
Total size of the files kept from one source	50 MiB
Entries in a zip file	10,000
Skills listed by one agent-skills index	200
One skill	500 bundle files and 25 MiB in total, with up to 5 MiB per file
The skills.sh lists and the MCP catalogue	A burst of 30 requests, then 120 a minute from one network address
GitHub without a token	60 API requests an hour from one network address

A source over a size limit is refused with "The source is too large to import." Import a smaller folder of it, with a /tree/<ref>/<path> address. Over the catalogue limit, the tab shows "The Athenode library is busy. Wait a moment and try again." A repository host that does not answer within two minutes ends the import with "The repository host did not answer in time. Try again later."

Import from your AI tool

From your AI tool, ask /atn:manage to import an external plugin from a repository URL or a local folder, or to update one, as Import and update from your AI tool describes. Skills from skills.sh or a repository, MCP servers from the catalogue and your GitHub and GitLab tokens are handled on the Imports page. To add an MCP server by hand, use the plugin's MCP servers tab, as MCP servers in a plugin describes.