Project vs user scope#

Most supported clients can be installed at either of two scopes. The choice is independent of which client you're installing.

	User scope (default)	Project scope (`--project`)
Path	`~/.<client>/...`	`<cwd>/.<client>/...`
Activation	Every session, every project	Only inside this project
Best for	Solo developer, one machine	Team-shared repos (commit the install)
Auto-detect	Triggered by markers under `~/`	Triggered by markers under `cwd`

For the exact install path each client uses at each scope, see the per-client guide linked from the AI clients overview.

Project-scope-only clients#

A few clients have no user-scope file at all, their cross-project "global rules" live in a cloud or UI rather than on disk. Currently this is just Warp: its project file is <cwd>/WARP.md, but Warp's "Global Rules" are managed through the Warp Drive UI, not ~/WARP.md. For such a client:

safelint skill install --client warp (without --project) exits 1 with a clear error rather than writing a file the client never reads. Pass --project.
Auto-detection never falls back to the home directory for it (it has no home markers to match), so a bare safelint skill install only ever installs it project-scoped.

Symlink mode (developer loop)#

--symlink links to the bundled location instead of copying. After pip upgrade safelint, the skill / rule reflects the new content immediately, no safelint skill install --force needed.

safelint skill install --symlink
safelint skill install --client cursor --symlink

Every client installs a single file, so --symlink is one symlink at the install destination pointing at the bundled artefact inside the wheel. pip upgrade safelint reflects content changes immediately through the link.

Caveat: symlink mode requires symlink support, POSIX shells, or Windows with developer mode enabled. If you hit "operation not permitted", drop the --symlink flag and use the default copy mode.