Ask Archivist
Consult a local mirror of Anthropic's official docs for authoritative answers about Claude Code (CLI flags, non-interactive mode, hooks, MCP, subagents, slash commands, skills, plugins, CLAUDE.md, sandboxing, worktrees, checkpointing, statusline, settings.json, agent teams), the Claude Agent SDK (agents, tools, state, streaming, managed agents), and the Claude API (messages, tool use, prompt caching, files, batch, citations, extended thinking, vision, pricing, rate limits, endpoints). Use whenever the user asks how anything in Claude's ecosystem works or behaves — features, flags, parameters, limits, configuration — including casual phrasing, French, typos, and questions that don't explicitly say "check docs". Also triggers on "does X support Y / can I do Z / what's the diff between A and B / how do I configure …" and on complaints about Claude Code behavior the user wants to change. Deterministic Grep + full-file Read over the local mirror — never training data. Cites paths and source URLs.
Security AStatic scan found no risk patternsHow grading works ›
From the source SKILL.md
Answer questions about Claude Code, the Claude Agent SDK, and the Claude API using a local, auto-updated mirror of the official Anthropic documentation. Deterministic Grep + full-file Read, never RAG, never training data.
What this skill does
Ask Archivist is a community-contributed Claude Code skill in the performance sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/ask-archivist/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.
When to invoke it: Use whenever the user asks how anything in Claude's ecosystem works or behaves — features, flags, parameters, limits, configuration — including casual phrasing, French, typos, and questions that don't explicitly say "check docs". Also triggers on "does X support Y / can I do Z / what's the diff between A and B / how do I configure …" and on complaints about Claude Code behavior the user wants to change.
Who uses this skill
The Ask Archivist Claude Code skill is built for software engineers, backend developers, full-stack teams, and technical leads building and maintaining production systems. It's part of ClaudSkills (also referred to as Claude Skills or Claude Code Skills) — the open community-curated registry of 196,000+ SKILL.md files for Anthropic's Claude Code agent and the wider Claude ecosystem (Claude API, Claude Agent SDK).
How to install
Free
Manual install (2 steps)
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/ask-archivist
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/ask-archivist/SKILL.md \
-o ~/.claude/skills/ask-archivist/SKILL.md
Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ask-archivist/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.
Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/ask-archivist/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\ask-archivist\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.
Telegram
📱 Install from your phone or desktop Telegram
Open @claudskills_bot on Telegram, tap Open Desktop App, and the desktop app installs this skill for you. Or share the bot link with a colleague — they get the same one-tap install. Learn more →
Pro
One-click install via the desktop app
The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.
Pro
For the full experience including quality scoring and one-click install features for each skill — upgrade to Pro.
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the Ask Archivist Claude Code skill?
Install via the ClaudSkills desktop app (one click) or copy
SKILL.md from the source repository to
~/.claude/skills/ask-archivist/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code. Both flows are detailed at
claudskills.com/install/.
What does the Ask Archivist skill do?
Consult a local mirror of Anthropic's official docs for authoritative answers about Claude Code (CLI flags, non-interactive mode, hooks, MCP, subagents, slash commands, skills, plugins, CLAUDE.md, sandboxing, worktrees, checkpointing, statusline, settings.json, agent teams), the Claude Agent SDK (agents, tools, state, streaming, managed agents), and the Claude API (messages, tool use, prompt caching, files, batch, citations, extended thinking, vision, pricing, rate limits, endpoints). Use whenever the user asks how anything in Claude's ecosystem works or behaves — features, flags, parameters, limits, configuration — including casual phrasing, French, typos, and questions that don't explicitly say "check docs". Also triggers on "does X support Y / can I do Z / what's the diff between A and B / how do I configure …" and on complaints about Claude Code behavior the user wants to change. Deterministic Grep + full-file Read over the local mirror — never training data. Cites paths and source URLs.
Is this skill free to install?
Yes. ClaudSkills is an open registry — every skill keeps its source repository's license, and manual install via copy is free. ClaudSkills Pro ($9/mo, $79/yr, or $149 one-time) adds one-click install via the desktop app and a multi-signal Quality Score.
When should I use the Ask Archivist skill?
Use Ask Archivist when your Claude Code task falls under the Engineering category — specifically in the performance area. Claude Code auto-discovers installed skills and invokes the right one based on the task description, so you can also ask Claude directly (e.g. "use Ask Archivist" or describe the task and let Claude pick). Browse related skills at
/category/engineering/.
What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Ask Archivist skill fit in?
A Claude Code skill is a
SKILL.md file that lives under
~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Ask Archivist is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Engineering category. Learn more at
/learn/what-is-a-claude-skill/.
Attribution & license
Cite this skill
If you reference this skill in a blog post, paper, or documentation, you can cite it as:
APA
coroboros. (2026). Ask Archivist [Claude Code skill]. ClaudSkills. https://claudskills.com/skills/ask-archivist/
BibTeX
@misc{ask-archivist-2026,
author = {coroboros},
title = {Ask Archivist [Claude Code skill]},
year = {2026},
publisher = {ClaudSkills},
url = {https://claudskills.com/skills/ask-archivist/}
}Embed this skill
Promote, attribute, or link this skill from your own README, blog post, or documentation. All three snippets are free to use — no sign-up, no API key. More distribution surfaces →
Badge
[](https://claudskills.com/skills/ask-archivist/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=skill_badge)
<script>
<script src="https://claudskills.com/embed/ask-archivist.js" async></script>
<iframe>
<iframe src="https://claudskills.com/embed/ask-archivist.html" width="100%" height="160" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" title="ClaudSkills: Ask Archivist"></iframe>
Security scan
Grade A · scanned 2026-09-28 — free static scan against the OWASP Agentic Skills Top 10.
No risk patterns were found in any of the ten OWASP-aligned categories. How grading works ›
- ✓ Prompt injection
- ✓ Data exfiltration
- ✓ Supply chain
- ✓ Reverse shell
- ✓ Credentials
- ✓ Execution
- ✓ Filesystem
- ✓ Persistence
- ✓ Obfuscation
- ✓ Network
Show this grade on your repo (click to copy):
[](https://claudskills.com/skills/ask-archivist/#security)
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