tryskills.sh — Product Requirements Document

Version: 0.1.0 (Draft) Author: Yilin Jing Date: 2026-04-19 Status: Pre-MVP

1. Vision

One URL prefix to instantly try any agent skill.

Users discover skills on skills.sh, GitHub, or social media. Today, trying a skill means: clone → install dependencies → configure agent → configure API keys → debug. tryskills.sh collapses this to a single URL change:

skills.sh/anthropics/skills/frontend-design       ← browse
tryskills.sh/anthropics/skills/frontend-design     ← try it now

The user adds try before skills.sh and gets a live agent session with that skill loaded — running in a cloud sandbox, powered by their own API keys.

Analogy: CodeSandbox is to npm packages as tryskills.sh is to agent skills.

2. Problem Statement

The Discovery-to-Trial Gap

The agent skill ecosystem is exploding (1,400+ skills on skills.sh, 91M+ total installs), but trying a skill before installing is impossible. The current workflow:

Find a skill on skills.sh or GitHub
Run npx skills add owner/repo in your local environment
Hope your agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Hermes, etc.) picks it up
Realize you need to restart the agent session
Discover the skill doesn't do what you expected
Uninstall and repeat

Community validation (Reddit, 206 upvotes, 97% approval):

"I kept finding great skills on GitHub, but evaluating them meant download → install → configure MCPs → debug. I also wasn't thrilled about running random deps locally just to see if it works."

Who This Hurts

Persona	Pain
Skill consumers	Can't evaluate skills before installing; waste time on bad skills
Skill authors	No way to offer a "try it" button; installs ≠ actual usage
Non-developers	Completely locked out — can't use terminal to install skills
Teams evaluating tools	No standardized way to demo skills to stakeholders

3. Solution: Zero-Infrastructure Skill Tryout

tryskills.sh is an open-source, static web app that lets anyone try any agent skill in their browser. The key architectural insight: the platform itself has zero compute costs — all LLM inference and sandbox compute is paid for by the user's own API keys.

Core Principles

Zero server cost — Pure client-side app, deployed on Vercel/Cloudflare Pages for free
User brings their own keys — LLM API key + Sandbox API key, never sent to our servers
Open source — MIT license, fully auditable, community-driven
URL-first UX — The URL is the product. No accounts, no sign-ups, no onboarding
Agent-agnostic foundation — Starts with Hermes Agent, designed to support others

4. User Journey

4.1 Happy Path

┌─ User finds skill on skills.sh ────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│  skills.sh/anthropics/skills/frontend-design                │
│  "311K installs · Anthropic's official frontend skill"      │
│                                                             │
│  User changes URL prefix to tryskills.sh                    │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
                       ▼
┌─ tryskills.sh/anthropics/skills/frontend-design ────────────┐
│                                                             │
│  ┌─ Skill Preview ───────────────────────────────────┐      │
│  │ frontend-design                                   │      │
│  │ by anthropics/skills · 311K installs              │      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │ "Guidelines for creating beautiful, modern web    │      │
│  │  interfaces with attention to design principles"  │      │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘      │
│                                                             │
│  ┌─ Configuration ───────────────────────────────────┐      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │  LLM Provider     [ OpenRouter          ▼ ]       │      │
│  │  API Key          [ sk-or-v1-•••••••••    ]       │      │
│  │  Model            [ anthropic/claude-4-s  ▼ ]     │      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │  Sandbox           [ Daytona             ▼ ]      │      │
│  │  API Key          [ daytona-•••••••••     ]       │      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │  [✓] Remember my keys (stored locally)            │      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │           [ ▶ Launch Agent ]                      │      │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘      │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
                       ▼
┌─ Agent Session ─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│  ┌─ Chat ────────────────────────────────────────────┐      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │  🤖 Hermes: I've loaded the frontend-design       │      │
│  │     skill. I can help you create beautiful web    │      │
│  │     interfaces. What would you like to build?     │      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │  You: Build me a landing page for a SaaS product  │      │
│  │       that sells AI-powered code review           │      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │  🤖 Hermes: [executing terminal: mkdir project]   │      │
│  │     [writing file: index.html]                    │      │
│  │     [writing file: styles.css]                    │      │
│  │     ...                                           │      │
│  │                                                   │      │
│  │  ┌──────────────────────────────┐                 │      │
│  │  │ [Send message...]        [↵] │                 │      │
│  │  └──────────────────────────────┘                 │      │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘      │
│                                                             │
│  Session: 7m23s │ Tokens: 12.4K │ [ Stop & Cleanup ]       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

4.2 First-Time User (No Keys)

If a user arrives without any stored keys, the configuration panel shows:

Brief explanation of what each key is for
Direct links to get keys:
- OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai/keys (free tier available)
- Daytona: https://app.daytona.io (free tier: 100 sandbox-hours/month)
Estimated cost per session (~$0.02–0.10 depending on model)

4.3 Returning User

localStorage remembers their keys and preferred model. They see the skill preview and can launch immediately with one click.

5. Architecture

5.1 System Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        BROWSER (all logic)                      │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌────────────┐  ┌──────────┐  │
│  │ URL      │  │ Config       │  │ Sandbox    │  │ Chat     │  │
│  │ Router   │→ │ Panel        │→ │ Launcher   │→ │ UI       │  │
│  │          │  │              │  │            │  │          │  │
│  │ parse    │  │ keys,model   │  │ Daytona TS │  │ OpenAI   │  │
│  │ skillPath│  │ localStorage │  │ SDK        │  │ compat   │  │
│  └────┬─────┘  └──────────────┘  └─────┬──────┘  └────┬─────┘  │
│       │                                │              │         │
└───────┼────────────────────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────┘
        │                                │              │
        ▼                                ▼              ▼
  ┌───────────┐                  ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐
  │ GitHub    │                  │ Daytona API  │ │ Daytona  │
  │ Raw API   │                  │ (user's key) │ │ Sandbox  │
  │           │                  └──────┬───────┘ │          │
  │ SKILL.md  │                         │         │ hermes   │
  └───────────┘                         │         │ agent    │──→ LLM API
                                        │         │ :8642    │   (user's key)
                                        └────────→│ SKILL.md │
                                                  └──────────┘

5.2 Key Design Decisions

Why pure client-side?

Zero hosting cost beyond static file serving
User keys never touch our servers — no security liability
No rate limits, no quotas, no scaling concerns
Open source contributors can run locally with npm run dev

Why Hermes Agent?

Open source (MIT), 64K+ GitHub stars
Native skill system (SKILL.md format, compatible with agentskills.io spec)
OpenAI-compatible API server built-in (:8642)
Docker-friendly, works in Daytona sandboxes
Skill progressive disclosure (load only when needed)

Why Daytona?

TypeScript SDK works in the browser (with node polyfills)
Ephemeral sandboxes with auto-cleanup
Free tier: 100 sandbox-hours/month
90ms sandbox creation (with snapshots)
Open source, active community

Why not E2B / Modal / Fly?

Daytona is the only one with a browser-compatible TS SDK
E2B is a strong future option (add in P4)
Modal requires server-side Python
Fly requires server-side orchestration

5.3 Data Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant App as tryskills.sh
    participant GH as GitHub
    participant Day as Daytona
    participant SB as Sandbox
    participant LLM as LLM API

    U->>App: visit /anthropics/skills/frontend-design
    App->>GH: GET raw SKILL.md
    GH-->>App: SKILL.md content
    App->>App: parse frontmatter, render preview
    U->>App: enter keys, click Launch
    App->>Day: create ephemeral sandbox (user's key)
    Day-->>App: sandbox ID + access token
    App->>SB: upload SKILL.md to ~/.hermes/skills/
    App->>SB: write .env with LLM key
    App->>SB: exec "hermes gateway run"
    SB-->>App: API server ready on :8642
    U->>App: type message in chat
    App->>SB: POST /v1/chat/completions (stream)
    SB->>LLM: forward to LLM (user's key)
    LLM-->>SB: streaming response
    SB-->>App: SSE chunks + tool progress
    App-->>U: render response + tool activity
    U->>App: click "Stop & Cleanup"
    App->>Day: delete sandbox

5.4 Sandbox Lifecycle

State Machine:
                                    
  [idle] ──Launch──→ [creating] ──ready──→ [running] ──stop──→ [cleaning]──→ [idle]
                        │                     │                    │
                        │                     │ (10min timeout)    │
                        └──error──→ [error]   └────auto-stop──────→┘

State	Duration	User sees
`creating`	2-5 min (cold) / 10-30s (snapshot)	Progress bar: "Installing hermes-agent..."
`running`	Up to 30 min	Chat interface
`cleaning`	~5s	"Session ended. Sandbox deleted."
`error`	—	Error message + retry button

6. Technical Specification

6.1 Project Structure

tryskills.sh/
├── src/
│   ├── app/
│   │   ├── page.tsx                      # Homepage: URL input + popular skills
│   │   ├── layout.tsx                    # Root layout with theme, fonts
│   │   ├── [...skillPath]/
│   │   │   └── page.tsx                  # Dynamic route: config + launch + chat
│   │   └── api/                          # (empty — no server routes needed)
│   │
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── ui/                           # shadcn/ui primitives
│   │   ├── skill-preview.tsx             # SKILL.md frontmatter display
│   │   ├── config-panel.tsx              # API keys + model selector
│   │   ├── provider-selector.tsx         # LLM provider dropdown
│   │   ├── model-selector.tsx            # Model list per provider
│   │   ├── sandbox-selector.tsx          # Sandbox provider (Daytona, future: E2B)
│   │   ├── launch-button.tsx             # Launch with progress states
│   │   ├── sandbox-status.tsx            # Sandbox lifecycle indicator
│   │   ├── chat-interface.tsx            # Message list + input
│   │   ├── chat-message.tsx              # Individual message (user/assistant/tool)
│   │   ├── tool-progress.tsx             # Hermes tool execution cards
│   │   ├── session-stats.tsx             # Timer, token count, cost estimate
│   │   └── popular-skills.tsx            # Homepage skill cards
│   │
│   ├── lib/
│   │   ├── skill-resolver.ts             # URL path → GitHub raw → parsed SKILL.md
│   │   ├── skill-parser.ts              # YAML frontmatter + markdown body parser
│   │   ├── sandbox/
│   │   │   ├── manager.ts               # Abstract sandbox interface
│   │   │   ├── daytona.ts               # Daytona SDK implementation
│   │   │   └── types.ts                 # Sandbox state, config types
│   │   ├── hermes/
│   │   │   ├── client.ts                # OpenAI-compatible API client
│   │   │   ├── installer.ts             # Commands to install + configure hermes in sandbox
│   │   │   └── types.ts                 # Hermes-specific types (tool progress, etc.)
│   │   ├── providers/
│   │   │   ├── registry.ts              # Provider definitions (OpenRouter, Anthropic, etc.)
│   │   │   └── models.ts               # Model lists per provider
│   │   ├── key-store.ts                 # localStorage encrypted key management
│   │   └── cost-estimator.ts            # Token → cost calculation per model
│   │
│   └── types/
│       ├── skill.ts                     # SKILL.md frontmatter schema
│       ├── message.ts                   # Chat message types
│       └── config.ts                    # User config types
│
├── public/
│   ├── og-image.png                     # Open Graph image
│   └── favicon.ico
│
├── PRD.md                               # This document
├── package.json
├── next.config.ts
├── tailwind.config.ts
├── tsconfig.json
└── README.md

6.2 URL Routing

URL Pattern	Behavior
`tryskills.sh/`	Homepage with URL input + popular skills
`tryskills.sh/{owner}/{repo}/{skill}`	Skill tryout page (mirrors skills.sh URL structure)
`tryskills.sh/?url=https://github.com/...`	Direct GitHub URL support
`tryskills.sh/?gist=abc123`	GitHub Gist skill support (future)

The [...skillPath] catch-all route handles all skill paths. The resolver maps:

/anthropics/skills/frontend-design
→ owner: "anthropics"
→ repo:  "skills"
→ skill: "frontend-design"
→ raw:   "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/skills/main/frontend-design/SKILL.md"

6.3 Supported LLM Providers

Provider	API Base	Models	Notes
OpenRouter	`https://openrouter.ai/api/v1`	200+ models	Best default: one key, all models
Anthropic	`https://api.anthropic.com/v1`	Claude family	Direct, no markup
OpenAI	`https://api.openai.com/v1`	GPT family	Direct
Google AI	`https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta`	Gemini family	Free tier available

Provider config is passed to hermes agent's .env + config.yaml inside the sandbox.

6.4 Sandbox Setup Script

The sequence of commands executed inside the Daytona sandbox after creation:

# 1. Install hermes-agent (or use snapshot)
pip install hermes-agent[all]

# 2. Create config directory
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/{skills,sessions,logs,memories}

# 3. Write .env with user's LLM key
cat > ~/.hermes/.env << EOF
{PROVIDER}_API_KEY={user_api_key}
API_SERVER_ENABLED=true
API_SERVER_HOST=0.0.0.0
API_SERVER_PORT=8642
API_SERVER_KEY={session_token}
LLM_MODEL={user_selected_model}
EOF

# 4. Write config.yaml
cat > ~/.hermes/config.yaml << EOF
model: {user_selected_model}
terminal:
  backend: local
agent:
  max_iterations: 50
approvals:
  mode: yolo
EOF

# 5. Inject the skill
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skills/{skill_name}
# (SKILL.md content uploaded via Daytona SDK)

# 6. Start gateway with API server
hermes gateway run &

# 7. Wait for API server ready
until curl -sf http://localhost:8642/health; do sleep 1; done

6.5 Chat Protocol

The frontend connects to hermes agent's OpenAI-compatible API running inside the sandbox.

Request:

{
  "model": "hermes-agent",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "system", "content": "You have the /{skill-name} skill loaded. Use it proactively."},
    {"role": "user", "content": "Build me a landing page"}
  ],
  "stream": true
}

Streaming response includes:

Standard chat.completion.chunk events (text tokens)
hermes.tool.progress events (tool start/end, command output)

The chat interface renders both text and tool activity inline.

6.6 Security Model

Concern	Mitigation
API keys on our server	Keys never leave the browser. All API calls are client-side.
API keys in localStorage	Optional. User must check "Remember keys". Keys can be encrypted with a passphrase (future).
Malicious skills	Skills run inside an isolated Daytona sandbox, not on user's machine. Sandbox is ephemeral and auto-deleted.
Sandbox escape	Daytona provides namespace isolation. User's own Daytona account — their risk boundary.
Code injection via SKILL.md	SKILL.md is rendered as preview only. Execution happens in sandbox, not browser.
Open source auditability	MIT license. Every line of code is visible.

7. Metrics

7.1 Success Metrics

Metric	Target (3 months)	How Measured
Skills tried	1,000 unique skills	Client-side analytics (Plausible, no cookies)
Sessions launched	5,000 total	Client-side counter
Avg session duration	> 3 minutes	Client-side timer
GitHub stars	500+	GitHub API
Return rate	> 30% use "Remember keys"	localStorage presence

7.2 Non-Goals for MVP

User accounts / authentication
Server-side anything
Skill ratings or reviews
Skill editing or creation
Multi-agent support (only Hermes for now)
Mobile optimization (desktop-first)

8. Implementation Phases

Phase 0: Foundation (Day 1)

Initialize repo, PRD
Next.js 15 + Tailwind + shadcn/ui scaffold
URL routing: [...skillPath] catch-all
Skill resolver: path → GitHub raw URL → fetch SKILL.md
SKILL.md parser: YAML frontmatter + markdown body
Skill preview component

Phase 1: Configuration (Day 2)

Provider registry (OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google)
Model selector per provider
Sandbox provider selector (Daytona)
API key input with show/hide toggle
localStorage key persistence
"Remember keys" checkbox

Phase 2: Sandbox Launch (Day 3-4)

Daytona TS SDK integration (with Vite/Next.js node polyfills)
Sandbox lifecycle manager (create → configure → start hermes → ready)
Progress UI during sandbox creation
SKILL.md upload to sandbox
Hermes .env + config.yaml generation
Gateway startup + health check polling
Error handling + retry

Phase 3: Chat Interface (Day 5)

OpenAI-compatible streaming chat client
Message list (user, assistant, tool roles)
Tool progress rendering (hermes.tool.progress SSE events)
Session stats (timer, token count)
Stop & cleanup button
Sandbox auto-stop on browser close (beforeunload)

Phase 4: Optimization (Day 6-7)

Daytona snapshot: tryskills-hermes-base (pre-installed hermes)
Snapshot-based sandbox creation (10-30s instead of 2-5min)
Homepage: popular skills grid (scraped from skills.sh)
URL input field on homepage
Open Graph / SEO meta tags per skill
README with demo GIF

Phase 5: Polish & Launch (Day 8+)

Dark theme (terminal aesthetic)
Keyboard shortcuts (Cmd+Enter to send, Esc to stop)
Cost estimation display per message
Error states for all failure modes
Product Hunt listing preparation
r/ClaudeAI, r/LocalLLaMA launch posts

9. Open Questions

#	Question	Options	Decision
1	Daytona TS SDK browser support maturity?	Test in P2; fallback to thin API proxy on Vercel Edge	TBD
2	Hermes install time in cold sandbox?	May be 2-5 min; snapshot critical for UX	Snapshot in P4
3	How to handle skills with `scripts/` and `references/`?	Upload entire skill directory, not just SKILL.md	Implement in P2
4	Should we support non-skills.sh GitHub repos?	Yes, any repo with SKILL.md in a directory	P0
5	Rate limiting without a backend?	Rely on Daytona's per-key limits	Acceptable for MVP
6	What if Daytona free tier changes?	E2B as backup; document self-hosted Daytona option	Monitor

10. Competitive Landscape

Product	What It Does	Why tryskills.sh Is Different
skills.sh	Browse + install skills	No tryout; install-only
GPT Store	Try custom GPTs	Walled garden; no code execution
MCP Playground	Test MCP servers	MCP only; no agent skills
Claude Skills Directory	Search skills + sandbox	Community project; not URL-based
CodeSandbox	Try npm packages	For code, not agent skills

tryskills.sh occupies an empty niche: URL-based, agent-agnostic, zero-cost skill tryout.

11. Risk Register

Risk	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation
Daytona TS SDK doesn't work in browser	Medium	High	P2 spike; fallback to Vercel Edge Function as thin proxy
Hermes too slow to install in sandbox	High	Medium	Daytona snapshot (P4); show estimated wait time
Users won't enter API keys	Medium	High	Free-tier guidance; cost estimates; "it costs ~$0.05" messaging
Skills.sh changes URL structure	Low	Medium	Resolver is a thin abstraction; easy to update
Security concern about running unknown skills	Medium	Medium	Skills run in isolated sandbox, not user's machine; clear messaging
Daytona free tier removed	Low	High	Support E2B as alternative; document self-hosted option

12. References

Agent Skills Specification
skills.sh — The Agent Skills Directory by Vercel
Hermes Agent — Open-source agent by Nous Research
Hermes Agent API Server
Hermes WebUI — Web frontend for Hermes Agent
Daytona SDK (TypeScript)
Daytona Getting Started
tryskills.sh Market Research

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

tryskills.sh — Product Requirements Document

1. Vision

2. Problem Statement

The Discovery-to-Trial Gap

Who This Hurts

3. Solution: Zero-Infrastructure Skill Tryout

Core Principles

4. User Journey

4.1 Happy Path

4.2 First-Time User (No Keys)

4.3 Returning User

5. Architecture

5.1 System Overview

5.2 Key Design Decisions

5.3 Data Flow

5.4 Sandbox Lifecycle

6. Technical Specification

6.1 Project Structure

6.2 URL Routing

6.3 Supported LLM Providers

6.4 Sandbox Setup Script

6.5 Chat Protocol

6.6 Security Model

7. Metrics

7.1 Success Metrics

7.2 Non-Goals for MVP

8. Implementation Phases

Phase 0: Foundation (Day 1)

Phase 1: Configuration (Day 2)

Phase 2: Sandbox Launch (Day 3-4)

Phase 3: Chat Interface (Day 5)

Phase 4: Optimization (Day 6-7)

Phase 5: Polish & Launch (Day 8+)

9. Open Questions

10. Competitive Landscape

11. Risk Register

12. References

FilesExpand file tree

PRD.md

Latest commit

History

PRD.md

File metadata and controls

tryskills.sh — Product Requirements Document

1. Vision

2. Problem Statement

The Discovery-to-Trial Gap

Who This Hurts

3. Solution: Zero-Infrastructure Skill Tryout

Core Principles

4. User Journey

4.1 Happy Path

4.2 First-Time User (No Keys)

4.3 Returning User

5. Architecture

5.1 System Overview

5.2 Key Design Decisions

5.3 Data Flow

5.4 Sandbox Lifecycle

6. Technical Specification

6.1 Project Structure

6.2 URL Routing

6.3 Supported LLM Providers

6.4 Sandbox Setup Script

6.5 Chat Protocol

6.6 Security Model

7. Metrics

7.1 Success Metrics

7.2 Non-Goals for MVP

8. Implementation Phases

Phase 0: Foundation (Day 1)

Phase 1: Configuration (Day 2)

Phase 2: Sandbox Launch (Day 3-4)

Phase 3: Chat Interface (Day 5)

Phase 4: Optimization (Day 6-7)

Phase 5: Polish & Launch (Day 8+)

9. Open Questions

10. Competitive Landscape

11. Risk Register

12. References