Google published an official Agent Skills library for its own products. Once installed, Claude opens Google's own instructions the moment a task touches Firebase, Cloud Run, Gemini or BigQuery, and works from them instead of guessing from old training data. Below: three ways to install it, which skills to start with, and three things most guides floating around get wrong.
The repo lives on Google's official GitHub account, Apache 2.0 licensed and free. It currently holds 150 skills: Cloud Run, Firebase, Gemini, BigQuery, GKE, security, ads and Analytics.
What's extra below: how to install only the skill you want with one command, which three are enough if you're starting out, and two important corrections. The repo's Firebase Basics skill doesn't set up Firestore or sign-in, and its Gemini API skill isn't meant for people using a plain API key. The right place for both is below.
A skill is a small folder with a SKILL.md file inside. It carries condensed official instructions, code samples and gotchas for one technology. You don't run it; Claude opens it on its own when it sees your request matches.
Session starts
Claude reads only each skill's name and one-line description
Request matches
You say "deploy this app" and Cloud Run Basics kicks in
Instructions load
The full SKILL.md and its side files are read only at that point
That's why it's lighter than an MCP server or pasting docs into your prompt: until a task matches, it takes up a single line of context.
Where it goes
| Scope | Folder | When |
|---|---|---|
| Project | .claude/skills/ | Skills tied to that project's stack (Firebase, Cloud Run) |
| Global | ~/.claude/skills/ | Things you need in every project (gcloud) |
The easiest route is the skills CLI. One command, nothing needed beyond Node. Run it without arguments and it opens a picker and installs what you select; don't select everything, see the traps below.
# Pick from the list
npx skills add google/skills
# Just see the list without installing
npx skills add google/skills --list
# Install specific skills straight into Claude Code
npx skills add google/skills --skill cloud-run-basics --skill google-cloud-recipe-auth -a claude-code
# Make it available in every project (global folder)
npx skills add google/skills --skill gcloud -g -a claude-codeThe second route is a Claude Code plugin. These plugins install an MCP server alongside the skill, so Claude can connect straight to the database. Right now most of them are on the database side: bigquery, cloud-sql-postgresql, cloud-sql-mysql, firestore-native, spanner, alloydb, looker and google-cloud-developer, for example.
claude plugin marketplace add google/skills
claude plugin install bigquery@google-pluginsThe third route is copying by hand: find the skill's folder in the repo and copy it under .claude/skills/ in your project. Copy the whole folder, not just SKILL.md. Whichever route you pick, close and reopen Claude Code afterwards; skills are scanned when a session starts.
Most guides going around for this library guess what a skill does from its name, not its description. We checked every one of these against the SKILL.md files in the repo.
Firebase Basics will build my client portal: Firestore, sign-in, security rules
Firebase Basics only covers CLI setup, login and project selection. Firestore, Auth and rules live in Firebase's own skills repo: firebase/skills
I'll install the gemini-api skill for my AI Studio Gemini key
That gemini-api is the enterprise version tied to a Google Cloud account (formerly Vertex AI). For a plain API key use gemini-api-dev: google-gemini/gemini-skills
Copying only the SKILL.md file from the repo
Copy the whole folder. Skills like Firebase Basics refuse to continue without reading the files in references/
Installing all 150 skills at once
Install the 2-3 you actually use. Every skill's description enters context each session, and too many also makes Claude pick the wrong one
Starting straight with the Cloud Run or BigQuery skill
Start with google-cloud-recipe-auth. Most failures on the Google Cloud side are permission and credential problems
If you don't know which to install
The repo has a skill called finding-google-skills. Installed on its own, it notices when a task touches a Google product and pulls the matching skill from Google's catalog on the spot. If you don't know yet which skills you'll need, start with this one instead of installing all 150.
The easiest way to see a skill working after install is to ask for something it covers. Claude shows it on screen when it opens the skill.
Using the Firebase skills, build me a client portal with email sign-in, a Firestore database for projects, and security rules so each client only sees their own data.
Using the Cloud Run skill, containerize this app and deploy it to Cloud Run with sensible scaling defaults. Walk me through every gcloud command before running it.
Using the Gemini API skill, add a summarization feature to this app with the latest Gemini SDK. Don't use any deprecated endpoints.For the app that stalled once it came time to deploy. It has Claude containerize the app and ship it to Cloud Run as a service, a scheduled job or a background worker, following Google's own rules.
npx skills add google/skills --skill cloud-run-basics -a claude-codeIt needs a Google Cloud account and a project with billing enabled. If you've never set up authentication, add google-cloud-recipe-auth next to it.
This is what you actually need for a client portal, a dashboard, anything with users and a database. It's the Firebase team's own repo: Firestore data modelling and queries, email and Google sign-in, writing and auditing security rules, Hosting and App Hosting.
npx skills add firebase/skills
# ya da Claude Code eklentisi olarak
claude plugin marketplace add firebase/skills
claude plugin install firebase@firebaseFirebase Basics in Google's repo is not a substitute; it only installs the CLI and logs in. When the video says "the Firebase skill for a client portal", this is the repo that means.
For building your own AI tool instead of just chatting with AI. It makes Claude use the current Gemini SDK correctly instead of old or retired model names and SDK calls.
# If you use an API key from AI Studio (most people)
npx skills add google-gemini/gemini-skills --skill gemini-api-dev -a claude-code
# If you use a Google Cloud account and Agent Platform (formerly Vertex AI)
npx skills add google/skills --skill gemini-api -a claude-codeThe gemini-api in Google's repo requires active Google Cloud credentials and the Agent Platform API enabled. If you're working with a plain API key it's the wrong skill; install gemini-api-dev.
The one to install before any other Cloud skill. It gives Claude the right picture of user accounts, service accounts and Application Default Credentials (ADC), and when to use which.
npx skills add google/skills --skill google-cloud-recipe-auth -a claude-codeKicks in whenever Claude writes or runs a gcloud command: it validates flag syntax, puts guardrails on risky operations and trims long output. Since it helps in any project, it makes sense to install it globally.
npx skills add google/skills --skill gcloud -g -a claude-codeThe ones above are enough to start with. Install the rest when a specific job comes up: BigQuery and Cloud SQL for databases, GKE for Kubernetes, the Well-Architected Framework skills for an audit before shipping, and the Google Ads and Analytics APIs for ad and reporting data.
npx skills add google/skills --skill bigquery-basics --skill google-cloud-waf-security -a claude-codeGoogle keeps other repos in the same format too: Android, Flutter, Dart and Google Maps skills. Installation is the same, only the repo name changes. The list is at the bottom of the google/skills README.
Installing these tools on your own is one thing; actually building with them is another. The community has people using these daily and people building systems from scratch.
If you want a system that actually runs in your business, let's talk for 10 minutes; I'll look at what you're trying to build and tell you which path fits. Free, and not a sales pitch.
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