Viam Agent Skills

A suite of Claude Code skills for the Viam robotics platform. The SDK skills provide deep, source-verified expertise built from direct analysis of SDK source code and real module repositories — not documentation summaries. The machine-tooling skills bundle ready-to-run scripts that drive live Viam machines through the Viam app API.

This library of skills is a work-in-progress. If you have feedback about how to improve any of the skills or ones to add, please file an issue or submit a PR.

Skills

SDK & pipeline skills

Deep, source-verified reference skills — each pairs a SKILL.md with reference files extracted from real codebases.

Skill	Scope	Lines
viam-go-motion-vision	Arm, camera, vision, motion planning, frame system, spatial math — Go SDK	1,310
viam-go-platform	All other components (17), services (7), and the resource API — Go SDK	3,109
viam-modules-fleet	viam CLI, module lifecycle, fleet management, robot configuration	2,150
viam-python	Python SDK: async patterns, all components/services, module dev, ecosystem integration	2,221
viam-ml	Data capture, training scripts (Keras, Ultralytics), model deployment (TFLite, Triton)	2,004
viam-cpp	C++ SDK: driver patterns from 6 production modules (UR, RealSense, Orbbec, TFLite, Triton, audio)	1,876
viam-typescript	TypeScript SDK: browser robot control, Viam Applications, HMI/dashboard patterns	1,831

Total: ~14,500 lines of reference material across 25 files.

Machine tooling skills

Operational skills — each bundles an executable Python script for working with live Viam machines from the command line, in places the viam CLI itself can't.

Skill	Scope
local-viam-server	Create a Viam cloud machine and bring up a local viam-server connected to it — fetches the machine part secret the viam CLI does not expose, and picks a free port
viam-machine-config	Push or replace a machine's robot config (modules, components, services) via the Viam app API — the CLI can read config history but cannot set it

How Skills Work Together

The skills cross-reference each other rather than duplicating knowledge:

                    viam-modules-fleet
                   (CLI, deploy, config)
                    /    |    |    \
                   /     |    |     \
  viam-go-motion-vision  |    |  viam-typescript
  (manipulation, Go)     |    |  (web/HMI)
                         |    |
  viam-go-platform       |    viam-cpp
  (components, Go)       |    (drivers, C++)
                         |
                     viam-python ──── viam-ml
                     (Python SDK)     (training, deployment)

       local-viam-server ──── viam-machine-config
      (create machine +       (push robot config)
       run viam-server)
      └──── operate live machines (Viam app API) ────┘

• Manipulation concepts (frame system, motion planning, WorldState) live in viam-go-motion-vision — language skills reference it for architecture
• Module lifecycle (scaffold, build, upload, deploy) lives in viam-modules-fleet — all language skills reference it for deployment
• ML pipeline (data capture, training, model deployment) lives in viam-ml — referenced by vision and language skills
• Machine operations (create a machine, run viam-server, push a robot config) live in local-viam-server and viam-machine-config — they drive live machines via the Viam app API, complementing the build/upload workflows in viam-modules-fleet

Installation

This repo is published as a Claude Code plugin marketplace. You can install the full bundle in one go, or pick individual plugins.

1. Add the marketplace

Inside Claude Code, run:

/plugin marketplace add viam-devrel/agent-skills

This registers the marketplace from the GitHub repo. You can also point at a local clone:

/plugin marketplace add /path/to/agent-skills

2. Browse and install

Open the interactive picker:

/plugin

You'll see the viam-agent-skills marketplace with these plugins:

Plugin	What it installs
viam-skills	Bundled — all 9 skills below
viam-go-motion-vision	Arm, camera, vision, motion planning (Go)
viam-go-platform	Non-manipulation Go components, services, resource API
viam-modules-fleet	Viam CLI, module lifecycle, fleet/robot config
viam-python	Python SDK
viam-ml	Data capture, training, model deployment
viam-cpp	C++ SDK driver patterns
viam-typescript	Browser robot control, HMIs, Viam Applications
local-viam-server	Create a cloud machine + run a local viam-server
viam-machine-config	Push a machine's robot config via the app API

3. Install directly (non-interactive)

/plugin install viam-skills@viam-agent-skills
/plugin install viam-python@viam-agent-skills
/plugin install viam-cpp@viam-agent-skills
/plugin install local-viam-server@viam-agent-skills

The @viam-agent-skills suffix selects this marketplace.

Picking skills at runtime

Once installed, skills activate automatically based on triggers in their frontmatter (for example, touching a file that imports @viamrobotics/sdk activates viam-typescript). To invoke a skill manually, use the Skill tool or mention the skill by name.

Updating and removing

/plugin marketplace update viam-agent-skills
/plugin uninstall viam-python@viam-agent-skills

Repository layout

.claude-plugin/
  plugin.json          # bundled "viam-skills" plugin manifest
  marketplace.json     # marketplace listing (bundle + per-skill)
skills/                # canonical skill sources
  <skill>/
plugins/               # per-skill plugin wrappers (symlink into skills/)
  <skill>/
    .claude-plugin/plugin.json
    skills/<skill>  -> ../../../skills/<skill>

The per-skill plugins are thin wrappers that symlink into skills/ — there is only one source of truth for each skill.

Skill Structure

SDK & pipeline skills pair a SKILL.md with reference files:

skills/viam-<name>/
  SKILL.md                          # Main skill definition
  references/
    <topic>-reference.md            # Deep reference (interfaces, architecture)
    cheatsheet.md                   # Quick-reference tables and templates

Machine tooling skills pair a SKILL.md with an executable script:

skills/<skill-name>/
  SKILL.md                          # When to use the skill, usage, options, gotchas
  <script>.py                       # The script the skill drives (run via python3)

An SDK skill's SKILL.md contains:

• Frontmatter — trigger description (when the skill activates)
• Knowledge Sources — which reference files to consult, with version awareness caveats
• Out of Scope — what belongs to other skills, with cross-references
• Detecting Developer Level — adjusts response depth based on user signals
• Domain Guidance — structured advice for the skill's core topics
• Gotcha Library — proactive warnings for common mistakes
• Code Example Patterns — complete, working examples

Reference files contain:

Source-verified interface definitions, method signatures, type systems, architecture diagrams, and patterns extracted from real codebases. These are not documentation summaries — they are built from reading the actual source code.

Source Material

The SDK & pipeline skills were built from analysis of these repositories:

Source	Used by
viamrobotics/rdk	viam-go-motion-vision, viam-go-platform, viam-modules-fleet, viam-ml
viamrobotics/viam-python-sdk	viam-python
viamrobotics/viam-cpp-sdk	viam-cpp
viamrobotics/viam-typescript-sdk	viam-typescript
viam-modules/universal-robots	viam-cpp
viam-modules/orbbec	viam-cpp
viam-modules/viam-camera-realsense	viam-cpp
viam-modules/mlmodel-tflite	viam-cpp, viam-ml
viam-modules/viam-mlmodelservice-triton	viam-cpp, viam-ml
viam-modules/system-audio	viam-cpp
viam-modules/classification-tflite	viam-ml
viam-modules/detection-tflite	viam-ml
viam-modules/tabular-data-tensorflow	viam-ml
viam-devrel/yolo-training	viam-ml
viam-devrel/cube-sorter-webapp	viam-typescript

Version Awareness

The SDK & pipeline skills were built from source analysis circa April 2026. The Viam platform evolves rapidly. Each of those skills includes version awareness guidance instructing the LLM to:

• Check the user's go.mod / requirements.txt / package.json for their SDK version
• Prefer grepping local source over trusting the reference blindly
• Acknowledge gaps rather than fabricating API signatures
• Recommend pkg.go.dev or SDK docs for canonical API references