← Browse all 10 skills-check commands
🗝
Analysis & Verification

fingerprint

Discover SKILL.md files, compute SHA-256 content hashes, extract or inject watermarks, and produce a FingerprintRegistry for integrity verification, runtime detection, and deduplication.

Why it matters

When agents load skills into context, you need to know exactly which skills are present and whether they've been tampered with. Fingerprint gives every skill a unique identity — a content hash that changes when the skill changes — enabling runtime detection, integrity verification, and deduplication across environments.

What it does

  • Discovers all SKILL.md files in the target directory
  • Computes SHA-256 hashes for frontmatter, content body, and a combined prefix
  • Extracts existing watermarks or injects new ones into skill files
  • Produces a FingerprintRegistry mapping each skill to its content hashes
  • Outputs results in terminal, JSON, or machine-readable formats

Usage

npx skills-check fingerprint [dir] [options]

Options

FlagDescription
--output <path>Write fingerprint registry to a file
--inject-watermarksInject watermarks into skill files
--jsonOutput results as JSON
--ciCI mode with strict exit codes
--verboseShow detailed processing information
--quietSuppress non-essential output

Examples

Fingerprint all skills

npx skills-check fingerprint

Inject watermarks

npx skills-check fingerprint --inject-watermarks

JSON output to file

npx skills-check fingerprint --json --output fingerprints.json

When to use this

  • Before deploying skills to verify integrity
  • In CI to track skill identity across builds
  • For runtime telemetry integration and deduplication

Related commands

  • auditFingerprint identity, then audit content
  • budgetFingerprint skills, then measure their cost
  • usageFingerprint skills, then track their usage

CI tip

Generate fingerprints in CI and compare against a known-good registry to detect unauthorized skill modifications. Use --inject-watermarks during build to enable runtime telemetry.