`--track` silently fails to persist metadata for repos with root-level SKILL.md

[xarthurx]

Summary

When installing a tracked repo where SKILL.md sits at the repository root (non-spec layout, but common), skillshare install --track reports success but does not write an entry to .metadata.json, and the repo never appears in skillshare status --json under tracked_repos. The .gitignore entry is added correctly. Net effect: tracking is effectively broken — skillshare update <name> and re-install on another machine cannot recover the repo.

Version

skillshare v0.19.16 (Linux, Homebrew tap). Also reproduces on v0.19.13.

Reproduction

$ skillshare install op7418/guizang-ppt-skill --track --force
...
├─ Found  0 skill(s)
├─ Tracked  _guizang-ppt-skill
└─ Location  .../skills/_guizang-ppt-skill

$ grep guizang $SKILLS_SOURCE/.metadata.json
(no output)

$ skillshare status --json | jq '.tracked_repos[] | select(.name | contains("guizang"))'
(no output — tracked_repos only lists pre-existing entries)

$ cat $SKILLS_SOURCE/.gitignore
# BEGIN SKILLSHARE MANAGED - DO NOT EDIT
...
_guizang-ppt-skill/         # <-- this WAS added
# END SKILLSHARE MANAGED

Expected

.metadata.json should gain an entry such as:

"_guizang-ppt-skill": {
  "source": "https://github.com/op7418/guizang-ppt-skill.git",
  "tracked": true,
  "branch": "main"
}

matching the format used for other tracked repos in v0.19.x (e.g. _blader-humanizer, _vercel-labs-agent-skills).

Why this matters

Cross-machine sync workflow:

1. Machine A: skillshare install <repo> --track, commit the skills source directory, git push
2. Machine B: git pull, then skillshare install (no args) to re-fetch tracked remotes from metadata

Step 2 silently does nothing for repos that hit this bug — skills end up missing on machine B with no diagnostic. The "Tracked _xxx" line in the install output also misleads users into thinking tracking succeeded.

Possibly related

• Something wrong: install skill from a repo, which have skills both in its root and children directory #124 — same repo-layout class (root SKILL.md mixed with source code), partially fixed in v0.19.1 / v0.19.6 for install/update behavior. This appears to be the same code path missing the metadata write.

Repos that trigger it

• github.com/op7418/guizang-ppt-skill
• github.com/alchaincyf/huashu-design

Both place SKILL.md at the repository root alongside README.md, LICENSE, assets/, etc. (i.e. they don't follow the Agent Skill Specification directory layout). Even so, the CLI should either reject the install or persist tracking metadata — not silently lie.

[runkids]

Shipped in v0.19.18 (commits 210605e + a61a0e3). Root cause was exactly what you described — post-install reconcile was gated on a non-empty InstalledSkills, so root-SKILL.md repos skipped the metadata write while still appearing successful.

Both op7418/guizang-ppt-skill and alchaincyf/huashu-design now install cleanly, and the cross-machine skillshare install (no-args) recovery flow works for this layout. Integration test install_track_root_skill_test.go covers the full lifecycle.

Thanks for the thorough repro and the "silently lie" framing — it was exactly that.