Feature Request: Support @path imports in SKILL.md

Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Feb 2, 2026 by snkrheadz Closed Mar 3, 2026

Problem

Currently, @path/to/import syntax only works in CLAUDE.md files, not in SKILL.md files.

This creates a DRY violation when using subagents:

  • Rules in .claude/rules/ work in main conversation (auto-loaded based on paths field)
  • But subagents don't inherit rules, so we need to duplicate content in skills

Current workaround

Copy the entire content from rules files into SKILL.md, leading to:

  • Duplicated content between .claude/rules/*.md and .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md
  • Manual sync required when rules change
  • Increased maintenance burden

Example scenario

We have coding standards in .claude/rules/go.md:

---
paths:
  - "**/*.go"
---

# Go Coding Standards
- Use `ctx` as context.Context variable name
- Always use named placeholders in SQL
...

For subagents to follow these standards, we must:

  1. Create a skill that duplicates the rules content
  2. Add the skill to subagent's skills: field
  3. Manually keep both files in sync

Proposed solution

Support @path imports in SKILL.md files:

---
name: go-coding
description: Go coding standards
---

@../../rules/go.md

This would allow skills to reference rules without duplication.

Benefits

  • DRY: Single source of truth for coding standards
  • Consistency: Rules and skills always in sync
  • Maintainability: Update once, apply everywhere
  • Flexibility: Teams can organize standards in rules and share them with subagents

Use case

Teams maintaining coding standards in .claude/rules/ who also use subagents for specialized tasks (code review, testing, etc.).

Related documentation

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