Ignite UI for Angular Agent Skills

    Ignite UI for Angular ships with Agent Skills - structured knowledge files that teach AI coding assistants (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude, Gemini CLI, JetBrains Junie, etc.) how to work with Ignite UI for Angular. These skill files provide context-aware guidance on components, grids, data operations, and theming, enabling your AI assistant to generate accurate, idiomatic code that follows best practices.

    Note

    The AI tooling landscape is evolving rapidly. Skill discovery locations and distribution options may change as tools and IDEs are updated. Always consult the official documentation for your specific tool or agent for the latest information.

    Available Skills

    The skill files live in the skills/ directory of the Ignite UI for Angular repository:

    Skill Path Description
    Components & Layout skills/igniteui-angular-components/SKILL.md Standalone components, form controls, overlays, layout
    Data Grids skills/igniteui-angular-grids/SKILL.md Grid, Tree Grid, Hierarchical Grid, Pivot Grid, sorting, filtering, grouping, paging, remote data
    Theming & Styling skills/igniteui-angular-theming/SKILL.md Palettes, typography, elevations, component themes, MCP server
    Note

    Starting with Ignite UI for Angular 21.1.0, these skills are automatically discovered when placed in your agent's skills path (e.g., .claude/skills, .agents/skills, .cursor/rules/). This release ships with an optional migration to add these skills to your project automatically.

    Skill Locations

    Each AI coding tool discovers skills from specific directories. Place your skill files in the appropriate location so your AI assistant can find and use them automatically. The general .agents/skills/ convention is supported across multiple tools, while each tool also has its own specific directories.

    General (.agents/skills/)

    The .agents/skills/ directory is a cross-agent convention supported by multiple tools, including VS Code with Copilot, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Antigravity, and Windsurf. Copy the skill directories into .agents/skills/ in your project root:

    .agents/
      skills/
        igniteui-angular-components/
          SKILL.md
        igniteui-angular-grids/
          SKILL.md
        igniteui-angular-theming/
          SKILL.md
    

    For user-level (global) skills available across all projects, use ~/.agents/skills/ instead.

    GitHub Copilot

    GitHub Copilot discovers skills from:

    Scope Location
    Project .github/skills/, .claude/skills/
    Personal ~/.copilot/skills/, ~/.claude/skills/ (Copilot coding agent and GitHub Copilot CLI only)

    Tip: In VS Code, these locations also include the general .agents/skills/ and ~/.agents/skills/ and you can configure additional skill locations using the chat.agentSkillsLocations setting.

    Claude

    Claude discovers skills from:

    Scope Location
    Project .claude/skills/
    Personal ~/.claude/skills/

    Cursor

    Cursor discovers skills from:

    Scope Location
    Project .agents/skills/, .cursor/skills/
    User (global) ~/.cursor/skills/

    Gemini CLI and Antigravity

    Gemini CLI and Antigravity discover skills from:

    Scope Location
    Workspace .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
    User ~/.gemini/skills/, ~/.agents/skills/

    Tip: Use the /skills slash command in Gemini CLI to view and manage installed skills.

    Junie (JetBrains IDEs)

    Junie discovers skills from:

    Scope Location
    Project .junie/skills/
    User ~/.junie/skills/

    Windsurf

    Windsurf discovers skills from:

    Scope Location
    Workspace .windsurf/skills/, .agents/skills/
    Global ~/.codeium/windsurf/skills/, ~/.agents/skills/

    Installing Skills

    Use one of the options below to download and place the skill files into the appropriate skill location for your AI assistant.

    Option A - Use the Ignite UI CLI

    The ai-config command copies skill files from your installed Ignite UI for Angular package into .claude/skills/ and writes the Ignite UI MCP server configuration to .vscode/mcp.json. If the files already exist and are up-to-date, the command is a no-op.

    Using Angular Schematics:

    ng generate @igniteui/angular-schematics:ai-config
    

    This also registers the @angular/cli MCP server in .vscode/mcp.json alongside the Ignite UI servers.

    Using the Ignite UI CLI:

    Option A - Use the Ignite UI CLI

    The ai-config command copies skill files from your installed Ignite UI for Angular package into .claude/skills/ and writes the Ignite UI MCP server configuration to .vscode/mcp.json. If the files already exist and are up-to-date, the command is a no-op.

    Using Angular Schematics:

    ng generate @igniteui/angular-schematics:ai-config
    
    If Ignite UI for Angular is already installed in your project, the skill files are available under `node_modules`. To copy them into your project (e.g. into `.agents/skills/`), run:
    
    **macOS / Linux / Windows (PowerShell)**
    
    ```bash
    cp -r node_modules/igniteui-angular/skills/. .agents/skills/
    

    Windows (Command Prompt)

    robocopy node_modules\igniteui-angular\skills .agents\skills /E
    

    Or copy individual skill directories as needed:

    macOS / Linux / Windows (PowerShell)

    cp -r node_modules/igniteui-angular/skills/igniteui-angular-components .agents/skills/
    cp -r node_modules/igniteui-angular/skills/igniteui-angular-grids .agents/skills/
    cp -r node_modules/igniteui-angular/skills/igniteui-angular-theming .agents/skills/
    

    Windows (Command Prompt)

    robocopy node_modules\igniteui-angular\skills\igniteui-angular-components .agents\skills\igniteui-angular-components /E
    robocopy node_modules\igniteui-angular\skills\igniteui-angular-grids .agents\skills\igniteui-angular-grids /E
    robocopy node_modules\igniteui-angular\skills\igniteui-angular-theming .agents\skills\igniteui-angular-theming /E
    

    Option C - Use the gemini skills CLI

    The gemini skills install command installs skills directly from a Git repository. It supports two scopes:

    • User scope (default) - installs skills globally for your user account, making them available across all projects. Skills are placed in ~/.gemini/skills/ or ~/.agents/skills/.
    • Workspace scope - installs skills locally into the current project directory under .agents/skills/, scoping them to that project only.

    Install to user scope (default):

    gemini skills install https://github.com/IgniteUI/igniteui-angular.git --path skills/igniteui-angular-components
    gemini skills install https://github.com/IgniteUI/igniteui-angular.git --path skills/igniteui-angular-grids
    gemini skills install https://github.com/IgniteUI/igniteui-angular.git --path skills/igniteui-angular-theming
    

    Install to workspace scope:

    gemini skills install --scope workspace https://github.com/IgniteUI/igniteui-angular.git --path skills/igniteui-angular-components
    gemini skills install --scope workspace https://github.com/IgniteUI/igniteui-angular.git --path skills/igniteui-angular-grids
    gemini skills install --scope workspace https://github.com/IgniteUI/igniteui-angular.git --path skills/igniteui-angular-theming
    

    Once installed, the skill files are available in the respective location and will be automatically discovered by compatible AI assistants.

    Option D - Use the npx skills CLI

    The skills CLI is an interactive tool that downloads and installs skills directly into your project. Run the following command in your project root:

    npx skills add IgniteUI/igniteui-angular
    

    The CLI will guide you through a series of prompts to:

    1. Select which skills to install (components, theming, etc.).
    2. Choose the target location for the skill files in your project (e.g. .agents/skills/, .github/skills/).
    3. Download and write the selected skill files automatically.

    Once complete, the skills are ready to use - no manual file copying required.

    Note: Requires Node.js and an internet connection. The command fetches the latest skill files from the IgniteUI/igniteui-angular repository.


    Theming MCP Server

    The Theming skill includes setup instructions for the igniteui-theming MCP server, which gives AI assistants access to live theming tools such as palette generation and component theme scaffolding. See the Theming skill file for configuration steps for VS Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, and JetBrains IDEs.

    For more information on the Theming MCP, refer to the Ignite UI Theming MCP documentation.

    Additional Resources

    Our community is active and always welcoming to new ideas.