🔥 Vinh Phoenix
Core Installer Framework for AI Agent Skills
A lightweight CLI that bootstraps AI coding assistants with core meta-skills, then lets you extend with skills and agents from any configured repository.
💡 What is Vinh Phoenix?
Vinh Phoenix is a core installer framework — not a fixed skills library.
phoenix init installs 5 core meta-skills into your project and drops a nightlife.yaml configuration file. From there, your AI assistant uses those meta-skills to browse and install additional skills and agent commands from any configured repository.
- Meta-skills - Discover and install more skills/agents on demand
- nightlife.yaml - Points to GitHub issues or Azure DevOps files as skill catalogs
- Extensible - Configure your own private repos in
nightlife.yaml
Think of Phoenix as a package manager for AI skills: It installs the tooling to discover and install skills. You decide what goes into your project.
🚀 Getting Started
New to Vinh Phoenix? Follow these guides:
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| 📦 Installation Guide | Set up Phoenix CLI and prerequisites |
| ⚡ Quick Start Guide | Bootstrap your project and add skills |
| 🔄 Upgrade Guide | Update to the latest version |
| 💻 Local Development | Contribute and develop locally |
📦 Core Meta-Skills (Installed by Default)
After phoenix init, your AI assistant automatically discovers these 5 skills:
| Skill | When the AI Uses It |
|---|---|
git-commit |
When you ask to commit changes or generate a commit message |
list-skills |
When you ask what skills are available or want to browse the catalog |
add-skills |
When you ask to install or download skills |
list-agents |
When you ask what agent commands are available |
add-agents |
When you ask to install or download agent commands |
🔧 Extending Your Project
Use the meta-skills to add whatever you need:
"List available skills" → list-skills reads nightlife.yaml, queries repos, shows catalog
"Install requirements-specification and coding" → add-skills downloads & installs
"Show available agent commands" → list-agents shows what's in configured repos
"Add the specify agent command" → add-agents downloads & installs
📄 nightlife.yaml
nightlife.yaml (placed in your project root) tells the meta-skills where to find skill and agent catalogs. It supports both GitHub and Azure DevOps as catalog sources:
urls:
# GitHub issue (issue body contains YAML repo list)
- https://github.com/DauQuangThanh/vinh-phoenix/issues/2
# Azure DevOps file (YAML file in a repo)
# - https://dev.azure.com/myorg/myproject/_git/myrepo?path=/catalog.yaml&version=GBmain
Each URL points to a catalog source whose body/content lists skill repositories. Update these URLs to use your own catalogs.
🧩 Architecture: Agent Skills Standard
Vinh Phoenix uses the Agent Skills format — an open standard for giving AI agents new capabilities:
How It Works:
- Discovery - At startup, agents load the name and description of each skill
- Activation - When your task matches a skill's description, the AI loads full instructions
- Execution - The AI follows instructions, using templates and scripts as needed
What Gets Installed by phoenix init:
- 5 core meta-skills in agent-specific folders (
.github/skills/,.claude/skills/, etc.) nightlife.yamlin project root for catalog configuration- Each skill has SKILL.md (instructions), scripts (bash & PowerShell)
This architecture enables:
- ✅ Progressive disclosure — skills load context only when needed
- ✅ Multi-agent support — 19 AI assistants use the same skills format
- ✅ Easy updates — upgrade with
phoenix init --upgrade - ✅ Custom catalogs — point
nightlife.yamlat your own repos
🎯 Core Philosophy
Phoenix enables extensible, on-demand skill management:
| Principle | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Start Minimal | Only the essentials are installed by default |
| Grow On Demand | Add skills as you need them via add-skills |
| Stay in Control | Configure your own repos in nightlife.yaml |
| Multi-Agent | Same skills work across 19 AI assistants |
🤝 Contributing
Want to help improve Vinh Phoenix? Check our Contributing Guide to get started.
Ways to contribute:
- 🐛 Report bugs or issues
- 💡 Suggest new features
- 📝 Improve documentation
- 🔧 Submit code improvements
💬 Get Help
Need assistance?
- 📖 Support Guide - Common questions and solutions
- 🐛 Open an Issue - Report bugs or request features
- 💭 Discussions - Ask questions and share ideas