# Maru skills > Bring Maru into your agent's workflow to create instruments, effects, musical tools and sound collections. Canonical: https://maruaudio.com/docs/skills Documentation index: https://maruaudio.com/llms.txt Maru helps you develop musical ideas into instruments, effects, musical tools and sound collections. The skill brings that platform into the coding agent you already use, so you can describe a musical goal and work on the project together. You might start with a sound you want to play, a particular way of shaping an effect, a chord progression or a folder of recordings. The agent helps turn that starting point into an editable project, uses Maru's tools to develop it, and reports what it could check. You guide the musical decisions. ## How it fits into Maru [Studio](https://maruaudio.com/studio-builder) is Maru's project workspace. The [Engine](https://maruaudio.com/engine) supplies the foundation for instruments, effects and their interfaces. [Symbolic](https://maruaudio.com/symbolic) works with musical structures such as notes, chords, scales and rhythm. Sound tools support audio generation, transcription, samples and sampler banks. The skill helps an agent choose among those capabilities. A chord-analysis script can use Symbolic without creating a plugin. An instrument can combine musical logic, sound processing, controls and presets in one project. A sound collection can become material for a sampler instrument. ## What to ask for | Your goal | Example request | | ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Explore Maru | “Help me choose a starting point for a playable percussion instrument.” | | Build instruments and effects | “Make a tape delay with repeats that get darker as they fade.” | | Work with Symbolic | “Create a chord progression tool with voice leading and rhythm variations.” | | Work with sounds | “Organize these percussion recordings into a playable drum kit.” | You can also ask the agent to refine an existing project, add controls or presets, investigate a problem, or prepare a build for the format you need. Supported formats depend on the project and available tools. ## Install ```sh npx maruaudio skill install ``` This adds the Maru skill to the coding agents in the current project. It works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other supported agents, without signing in. Restart your agent or reload its skills after installation, then describe what you want to make. The current installer identifies the skill as `maru-agent`. Where your agent supports explicit skill invocation, use `$maru-agent`; otherwise ask it to use the Maru skill. It chooses the relevant guidance for the task. Add `--global` for a user-wide installation, or select an agent with `--agent codex` or `--agent claude-code`. You can also install from the public skill repository using the Skills CLI: ```sh npx skills add maru-audio/maru-skill --skill maru-agent ``` ## Your projects and your Maru account The skill provides guidance. The CLI and MCP connections give the agent tools to act on a local project or your Maru account. You can work through the CLI alone, or add the MCP connector: ```sh npx maruaudio mcp install ``` The hosted connector asks you to sign in when first used. Add `--both` to also register the local server for projects on your computer. [Maru in your AI assistant](https://maruaudio.com/docs/mcp.md) explains what the connector can do, and [Use Maru from your agent](https://maruaudio.com/docs/agent-setup.md) covers the connections, supported agents and configuration options. Your work remains editable source and assets. Local project files and hosted Studio projects have different storage and build paths; connecting your account does not automatically synchronize a local folder with Studio. ## Work on a project Describe the result you want, along with any existing project, recordings or references. For example: > Make the delay repeats darker as they fade. Keep the existing controls and > add two contrasting presets. Help me test it, then prepare a VST3 build. For a new instrument or effect, the agent can scaffold a project, use the [development workbench](https://maruaudio.com/docs/dev.md), and run the checks for the requested format. [Quickstart](https://maruaudio.com/docs/quickstart.md) explains the local project setup. For musical-data code, follow the [Symbolic library guide](https://maruaudio.com/docs/symbolic-library.md). For sounds and samples, tell the agent whether you want new audio, changes to existing recordings, a playable kit or a sampler bank. Generation and transcription are hosted services and need sign-in. Audio-to-MIDI transcription follows a single melodic line; it does not separate chords. The agent should distinguish what it changed, what it built and what it verified. Your listening and playing feedback guide musical choices. A successful build alone does not establish that an instrument sounds or feels right. ## Keep it up to date ```sh npx maruaudio skill status npx maruaudio skill update npx maruaudio skill remove ``` If setup is incomplete, ask the agent to run `maru doctor` and explain the specific next step. The installed CLI provides current commands, schemas and workflow guides; the skill directs the agent to those rather than keeping a separate API manual. The skill does not grant permission to sign in, spend generation credits, publish work or perform destructive actions. The agent should stay within the actions you have authorized. For command and MCP details, read [Agents and MCP](https://maruaudio.com/docs/agents-and-mcp.md).