Cloning Project
SkillFiles & storageExports a Claude.ai workspace — its custom instructions and its uploaded knowledge files — into a bundle that can be re-imported elsewhere. Use for "back up my project instructions", "export my project knowledge", "copy this workspace to a new one", "migrate my project to another account", or "recreate this setup somewhere else". Operates on the Claude.ai workspace you are talking in, and reads nothing from disk.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.
Then ask your AI: use the Cloning Project skill
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by oaustegard/claude-skills in cloning-project/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
When users request to clone, copy, export, or backup their current project:
When NOT to use this skill
"Project" here is a Claude.ai workspace, never a code repository. The word collides badly, so route by what is actually being copied:
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Clone or fetch a git repo | accessing-github-repos |
| "I just cloned this, what is it?" | exploring-codebases |
| What a codebase contains or exposes | tree-sitting |
| Back up a repo's files | git, not this |
This skill reads the Claude.ai workspace you are talking in. It touches no checkout and knows nothing about code.
Step 1: Verify Project Context
Check if the user is in a project by looking for project-specific indicators:
- Project instructions in the context window
- Knowledge files mentioned in
<available_skills>or similar sections - User explicitly stating they're in a project
If not in a project, inform the user that this skill requires being inside a Claude project.
Step 2: Gather Project Instructions
Project instructions are typically found in the context window as XML or markdown content describing the project's purpose and configuration. Extract and save these instructions to a file.
Create the instructions file:
cat > /home/claude/project-instructions.md << 'INSTRUCTIONS'
[Extracted project instructions content]
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 3: Locate Knowledge Files
Knowledge files are user-uploaded documents stored in /mnt/user-data/uploads/. List all files:
ls -lh /mnt/user-data/uploads/
If knowledge files exist, copy them to the working directory for bundling:
cp /mnt/user-data/uploads/* /home/claude/project-export/
Step 4: Create Export Bundle
If only project instructions exist (no knowledge files):
- Copy instructions directly to outputs:
cp /home/claude/project-instructions.md /mnt/user-data/outputs/
If project has both instructions and knowledge files:
- Create an organized export directory:
mkdir -p /home/claude/project-export cp /home/claude/project-instructions.md /home/claude/project-export/ cp /mnt/user-data/uploads/* /home/claude/project-export/ 2>/dev/null || true - Create zip bundle:
cd /home/claude zip -r /mnt/user-data/outputs/project-export.zip project-export/ - Show bundle contents:
unzip -l /mnt/user-data/outputs/project-export.zip
Step 5: Provide Files and Instructions to User
Link the exported files:
For single instructions file:
[Download project-instructions.md](computer:///mnt/user-data/outputs/project-instructions.md)
For bundled export:
[Download project-export.zip](computer:///mnt/user-data/outputs/project-export.zip)
Then provide clear setup instructions:
## How to Import Into a New Project
1. **Create a new Claude project** (or open an existing one where you want to clone this configuration)
2. **Add project instructions:**
- Open the new project's settings
- Navigate to the "Instructions" section
- Copy and paste the content from `project-instructions.md`
- Save the instructions
3. **Upload knowledge files** (if applicable):
- In the new project, go to the "Knowledge" section
- Upload all files from the export (except project-instructions.md)
- Files will become available as project knowledge
Your project is now cloned with the same configuration and knowledge base.
Edge Cases
Empty project (no custom instructions or knowledge):
- Inform the user that the project has no custom configuration to export
- Explain that projects by default only have access to Claude's base capabilities
Large knowledge bases:
- If the zip file exceeds reasonable size (~50MB), warn the user and suggest selective export
- Provide individual file links as fallback
Corrupted or inaccessible files:
- Skip files that cannot be read
- Report which files were successfully exported vs. skipped
- Provide export anyway with available content
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 148
- Forks
- 5
- Last commit
- Sep 2026
Advanced
- Catalog kind
- skill
- Gateway key
cloning-project- Source
- github.com/oaustegard/claude-skills