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Troubleshooting#

"could not auto-detect an AI client"#

Means neither cwd nor home had any of the registered markers. Either:

  1. The AI client isn't installed on this machine. Install it first, then run safelint skill install.
  2. You want a specific client regardless of detection. Use --client <name> explicitly; the error message lists the exact commands.

"Warp does not support user-scope install"#

Warp is project-scope only, its cross-project "Global Rules" are managed through the Warp Drive UI, not a home-directory file. So safelint skill install --client warp (without --project) exits 1 with this error rather than writing a ~/WARP.md that Warp never reads. Re-run with --project to install <cwd>/WARP.md:

safelint skill install --client warp --project

"target already exists. Use --force to replace it."#

A previous install is in the way. Pass --force to replace it. SafeLint refuses to silently overwrite by default to protect against losing a customised skill folder.

Cursor doesn't seem to pick up the rule#

Cursor reads .cursor/rules/*.mdc files at window load. After installing, you need to reload the Cursor window (Command Palette → "Developer: Reload Window"), the rule isn't hot-reloaded.

Claude Code doesn't seem to pick up the skill#

Same idea, Claude Code loads skills on session start. Open a new conversation or restart the app.

"I want to inspect the bundled files without installing"#

safelint skill path                  # bundle root directory
safelint skill path --client claude  # <bundle>/claude/SKILL.md (file)
safelint skill path --client cursor  # <bundle>/cursor/safelint.mdc (file)

Without --client, prints the bundle root directory - the shared languages/<lang>.md addendums sit at <that path>/languages/<lang>.md. With --client <name>, prints a specific bundled file you can pass to cat to see what the agent is reading (e.g. cat $(safelint skill path --client cursor)).