Benchmark Results

Run npm run benchmark to reproduce on your machine and regenerate the SVG chart.

Environment: Node.js v24.18.0, macOS (darwin, x64) Fixture (local): SKILL.md + 1 JS file (2 files, 78 bytes) Fixture (GitHub): sametcelikbicak/coverage-guardIterations: 10 per tool per scenario Date: 2026-10-09

What these numbers do and do not measure

The ratio below is not a like-for-like comparison of install logic, and the gap is worth roughly two orders of magnitude:

• npx skills is invoked as npx --yes skills add … on every iteration. That re-resolves and re-downloads the package from the registry each time, so its column includes npm package acquisition, not skill installation. With the package already cached locally it is substantially faster.
• rolecraft is measured in-process. Its column calls installSkill() directly, so it excludes Node startup (~115 ms floor, ~290 ms as shipped) and process spawn.

Two runs on the same machine on the same day produced local ratios of 356x and 266x — a 34% spread from nothing but run-to-run variance and npm cache state. The local scenario is small enough that a few milliseconds of noise dominates the ratio. Read the absolute column values, and re-run before quoting a figure.

The install work itself is the part this project controls: single-digit to ~20 ms for a local skill. What npx skills spends that time on once acquisition is excluded is not measured here — adding that measurement would need a second run with the package pre-cached.

Local path install

Tool	avg	min	max	p50	vs rolecraft
rolecraft	17.56 ms	7.65 ms	38.65 ms	12.56 ms	1.00x
skills (Vercel)	4665.86 ms	4288.63 ms	4914.45 ms	4677.49 ms	265.74x
@agentskill.sh/cli	—	—	—	—	N/A

@agentskill.sh/cli is marketplace-only and does not support local paths.

GitHub install (sametcelikbicak/coverage-guard)

Tool	avg	min	max	p50	vs rolecraft
rolecraft	2553.22 ms	2207.98 ms	3065.89 ms	2587.09 ms	1.00x
skills (Vercel)	8219.69 ms	6981.81 ms	8909.28 ms	8429.06 ms	3.22x
@agentskill.sh/cli	5432.83 ms	4594.18 ms	6822.82 ms	5501.85 ms	2.13x

@agentskill.sh/cli completed this run. Earlier runs of this benchmark recorded it as failing during agent detection, so treat its row as version-dependent rather than settled.

Key takeaways

Scenario	rolecraft	Vercel skills	@agentskill.sh/cli
Local skill install	✅ 17.6 ms	✅ 4666 ms	❌ not supported
GitHub skill install	✅ 2.6 s	✅ 8.2 s	✅ 5.4 s
Zero dependencies	✅ 0	❌ 1 dep	❌ 2 deps