Netlify Context and Tools

Public Netlify skills for AI coding agents. Each skill is a focused, factual reference for a Netlify platform primitive — designed to help agents build correctly on Netlify without needing to search docs.

Skills

Skill	What it covers
netlify-functions	Serverless functions — modern syntax, routing, background/scheduled/streaming
netlify-edge-functions	Edge compute — Deno runtime, middleware, geolocation
netlify-blobs	Object storage — key-value and binary data
netlify-database	Managed Postgres (Neon) with Drizzle ORM and migrations
netlify-image-cdn	Image transformation and optimization via CDN
netlify-forms	HTML form handling, AJAX submissions, spam filtering
netlify-config	netlify.toml — redirects, headers, build settings, deploy contexts, environment variables
netlify-frameworks	Framework adapters for Vite, Astro, TanStack, and Next.js
netlify-caching	CDN cache control, cache tags, purge, stale-while-revalidate
netlify-ai-gateway	AI Gateway proxy for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google SDKs
netlify-identity	User authentication — signups, logins, OAuth, role-based access control
netlify-deploy	CLI install/auth, site linking, Git-based and manual deploys, CI deploys, deploy troubleshooting

References

Some skills include references/ subdirectories with deeper content:

• User-uploaded images pipeline — composing Functions + Blobs + Image CDN
• Vite on Netlify
• Astro on Netlify
• TanStack Start on Netlify
• Next.js on Netlify
• Advanced identity patterns — external providers, role-based access, server-side validation
• CLI commands reference
• Deployment patterns
• netlify.toml guide

Installation

Codex Desktop App

Install the Netlify plugin from the Codex plugin directory in the Codex desktop app.

The plugin lets Codex deploy to Netlify without leaving your coding workflow. You can create projects, generate preview URLs, deploy to production, validate build configuration, and inspect deploy status and logs. For full details, refer to Deploy from Codex with the Netlify Plugin.

Codex CLI

Copy the pre-built codex/ directory into your project root:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/netlify/context-and-tools.git /tmp/netlify-skills && \
  cp -r /tmp/netlify-skills/codex . && \
  rm -rf /tmp/netlify-skills

This gives you codex/AGENTS.md (the skill router) and codex/skills/ with all Netlify skills. Codex discovers AGENTS.md automatically and activates skills by name using $skill-name syntax.

GitHub Copilot CLI

Copy the pre-built codex/ directory into your project root, then point Copilot CLI at it:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/netlify/context-and-tools.git /tmp/netlify-skills && \
  cp -r /tmp/netlify-skills/codex . && \
  rm -rf /tmp/netlify-skills

export COPILOT_CUSTOM_INSTRUCTIONS_DIRS="$PWD/codex"

Copilot CLI reads AGENTS.md from any directory listed in COPILOT_CUSTOM_INSTRUCTIONS_DIRS and uses it as a router into the skill files under codex/skills/. Add the export to your shell profile to persist across sessions.

Claude Code

Add the marketplace and install the plugin:

/plugin marketplace add netlify/context-and-tools
/plugin install netlify-skills@netlify-context-and-tools

This installs all Netlify skills into Claude Code. The included skills/CLAUDE.md acts as a router — it tells the agent which skill to read based on what you're building.

VS Code

VS Code's agent plugins use the same plugin format as Claude Code, so VS Code installs the skills directly from this repository — no separate build step or generated output. VS Code auto-detects the plugin from .claude-plugin/plugin.json and loads the skills/ directory and the bundled Netlify MCP server (.mcp.json).

Add this repository as a plugin marketplace, then install:

1. Add the marketplace source netlify/context-and-tools to the chat.plugins.marketplaces setting.
2. Open the Extensions view, search @agentPlugins, find netlify-skills, and click Install.

Or install directly from source via the command palette: Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P → Chat: Install Plugin From Source → enter https://github.com/netlify/context-and-tools.git.

Cursor

Install from the Cursor plugin marketplace:

1. Open Cursor Settings (Cmd+, / Ctrl+,)
2. Go to Plugins
3. Search for netlify-skills
4. Click Install

Or install via the command palette: Cmd+Shift+P → Plugins: Install Plugin → search netlify-skills.

This installs 21 .mdc rule files covering all Netlify platform primitives. A router rule (netlify-skills-router.mdc) is always active and directs the agent to the right skill for the task.

Manual installation (without the plugin marketplace)

Copy pre-built rule files directly into your project:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/netlify/context-and-tools.git /tmp/netlify-skills && \
  mkdir -p .cursor/rules && \
  cp /tmp/netlify-skills/cursor/rules/*.mdc .cursor/rules/ && \
  rm -rf /tmp/netlify-skills

This copies .mdc rule files into .cursor/rules/, where Cursor automatically discovers them.

Grok Build

Netlify is listed in the official xAI plugin marketplace. In Grok Build, open the extensions modal (/plugins) and use the Marketplace tab to find and install netlify.

Grok Build uses the same plugin format as Claude Code, so it installs all Netlify skills directly from this repository — no separate build step or generated output. Marketplace sources live in ~/.grok/config.toml under [[marketplace.sources]]; if the xAI marketplace isn't already configured, add it there. See the xAI Skills, Plugins & Marketplaces docs for details.

Netlify MCP server

The Claude Code, VS Code, and Grok Build plugins (and the Gemini CLI extension) also register the official Netlify MCP server, giving the agent tools to create and manage Netlify projects, deploys, and environment variables — not just the reference skills.

It connects to Netlify's hosted server over HTTP (https://netlify-mcp.netlify.app/mcp) and authorizes via OAuth on first use — no token or local install required. The rules-based integrations (Cursor, Codex, Copilot) don't bundle the MCP server — add it to those clients manually using the Netlify MCP docs.

Other AI agents

Each SKILL.md file is a self-contained reference with YAML frontmatter (name and description) and markdown body. Feed them into any agent's context as needed.

Design Principles

• Factual, not opinionated — platform behavior and API reference, not workflow preferences
• Composable — skills cover individual primitives; agents combine them as needed
• Concise — each SKILL.md stays under 500 lines; detailed content goes in references/
• Current — covers modern Netlify patterns (v2 functions, Vite plugin, AI Gateway)

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for commit/PR title conventions and how releases are cut.

Keep skills focused on Netlify platform primitives. Each skill should answer "how does this Netlify feature work?" rather than "how should I structure my project?"

Follow the existing format: YAML frontmatter with name and description, markdown body, code examples with TypeScript where applicable. Use references/ subdirectories for content that would push a SKILL.md past 500 lines.

Cursor rules and Codex skills are generated — do not edit them directly

The cursor/rules/ and codex/ directories are auto-generated from skills/ by a GitHub Actions workflow. Always edit the source files in skills/. On same-repo PRs and on every push to main that changes skills/, the workflow rebuilds the mirrors and commits them alongside your change — you don't need to run the build yourself. (Fork PRs can't be committed to automatically; include the regenerated output in your PR, or a maintainer will regenerate it.) To preview locally:

bash scripts/build-cursor-rules.sh
bash scripts/build-codex-skills.sh