Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Repo Oracle agent skill: install and examples
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
Repo Oracle is an agent skill for the google/adk-recipes repository. Once installed, your AI agent answers questions about how the repo is governed, such as CI behaviour, policy limits, CODEOWNERS routing and what labels mean, and it cites the exact file and line it used. This guide explains what an agent skill is, how to install this one, how to ask it things, and where it will not help. You will finish able to get quick, sourced answers without the agent changing anything in your repository.
Repo Oraclegoogle/adk-recipes · Apache-2.0 Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Get the repo-oracle ZIP from this page.
- 2Choose an install location. Pick personal (~/.claude/skills/) or a project (.claude/skills/) install, or the Claude apps Skills settings.
- 3Unzip the skill. Unzip the download so the repo-oracle folder with SKILL.md sits in the chosen skills folder.
- 4Ask a repo question. Start with a plain question about the adk-recipes repo's rules, CI or layout, optionally beginning with 'oracle'.
- 5Check the citation. Open the cited file and line to confirm the answer before relying on it.
What is an agent skill and what does Repo Oracle do?
An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file and optional reference files. When the skill is installed, the agent can load its instructions and use them when a request matches the skill's description.
Repo Oracle is a read-only guide to the adk-recipes repository itself. It answers questions about CI and workflow behaviour, the limits and thresholds in .github/policy.yml and the reasoning behind them, CODEOWNERS routing, what the bots do, how the repo is organised (core, contrib and skills verticals), and what a label means. It answers from the repo's committed files and cites the file and line.
- Explains CI workflow behaviour and named CI errors
- Explains policy limits in .github/policy.yml and who owns which path
- Describes what the stale sweep, Dependabot, recipe canary and AI review bots do
- Traces when a rule last changed and which PR changed it (on explicit request)
Install the Repo Oracle skill
Download the repo-oracle ZIP from this page. You can install it in one of two ways.
Option one is a personal install for your own user account. Unzip the download into ~/.claude/skills/ so that the repo-oracle folder sits inside it. Option two is a project install: unzip it into the .claude/skills/ folder of a specific project.
Option three is to upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- Personal: ~/.claude/skills/repo-oracle/
- Project: .claude/skills/repo-oracle/ inside your project
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP
Trigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need a special command. Ask in plain language about the repo's own rules, CI or layout. The skill's description lists the word 'oracle' as a trigger, so starting a question with 'oracle' makes the intent clear.
Questions about how or why something is governed work well, as do questions about who owns a path. Questions about writing a recipe belong to other skills, and the Oracle will point you to them.
- oracle, what's the difference between core/ and contrib/?
- Who reviews core/go?
- What does the stale sweep bot do?
- What does this label mean?
Know what the skill will and will not do
The skill is strictly read-only. It never edits files, commits, branches, pushes, comments, labels, closes or merges. If you ask it to do the work, for example to prepare or fix a recipe, it says it is read-only, names the skill or command that does the work, and gives guidance.
It also does not see your machine. It cannot see your working tree, your branch or your PR checks, so questions about your own failing check need you to look at your own screen. For ADK API questions, the skill says to use the google-agents-cli-* skills.
- Will not edit, commit, comment, label or merge
- Will not run tasks for you; it names the right skill instead
- Cannot see your working tree or PR checks
- Does not answer ADK API usage questions
Safety notes: scripts and network
The skill runs no scripts and uses no network access, according to its listing. It requires nothing beyond the skill itself. Its reference files include shell command templates for read-only git and gh commands such as git log, git show, git blame, gh pr view and gh issue view, which it uses to read the repository.
Because the skill answers from committed files, if documentation disagrees with the filesystem it may report the contradiction rather than give a single answer. Treat that as a signal to check the source yourself.
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: no
- Requires: nothing listed
Tips for getting good answers
Ask one specific question at a time and include the file or key name if you know it, such as a policy key like recipe_size_limits. Check the citation in each answer, because the citation is what makes the answer trustworthy. Answers are kept short, typically under 200 words, so follow up with a new question if you need more depth.
- Name the policy key or file you care about
- Read the cited file:line yourself for anything you will act on
- Ask follow-ups as new questions
What people use it for
- Finding which CODEOWNERS entry routes review for a path such as core/go
- Checking what a limit in .github/policy.yml means and where it is used
- Understanding what a bot such as the stale sweep or Dependabot does in this repo
- Learning the difference between the core, contrib and skills verticals before contributing
- Getting a plain explanation of a named CI error from the contribution docs
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the repo-oracle skill?
Download the repo-oracle ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for a personal install, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. You can also upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Does the repo-oracle skill need anything else installed?
The listing says it requires nothing, runs no scripts and uses no network. It is a set of Markdown instructions and reference files.
Is the repo-oracle skill free?
The source material for this page does not state pricing or licence terms beyond the listing's licence of Apache-2.0. Check the repository licence for the terms that apply.
Can repo-oracle change files or fix my pull request?
No. The skill is strictly read-only. It will not edit, commit, comment, label or merge, and it will not do tasks for you. It names the skill or command that does the work instead.
Why does the skill say it cannot see my working tree?
It answers from the committed state of the repository and cannot see your local files, branch or PR checks. For a failing check on your own pull request, you need to look at that check yourself.
What should I use instead for writing a recipe or using the ADK API?
For writing or preparing a recipe, the skill points to skills such as prepare-python-recipe, generate-manifest and align-recipe-pyproject. For ADK API usage questions it points to the google-agents-cli-* skills.
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Our verdict
Repo Oracle suits contributors and maintainers of google/adk-recipes who want quick, cited answers about repo rules and CI, and anyone who wants an assistant that will not change their repository. It is a poor fit for preparing or validating a recipe on your machine, for ADK API questions, or for treating its answers as authoritative when the docs and the filesystem disagree.
Download the skill