fix: use npx skilld in prepare hook when not a dependency

src/cli-helpers.ts

@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ export async function suggestPrepareHook(cwd: string = process.cwd()): Promise<b
   if (existing?.includes('skilld'))
     return true
 
-  const prepareCmd = buildPrepareScript(existing)
+  const prepareCmd = buildPrepareScript(existing, cwd)
 
   if (!isInteractive()) {
     p.log.info(
@@ -505,8 +505,9 @@ export async function suggestPrepareHook(cwd: string = process.cwd()): Promise<b
 /**
  * Build the full prepare script value, safely appending to any existing command.
  */
-export function buildPrepareScript(existing: string | undefined): string {
-  const cmd = 'skilld prepare || true'
+export function buildPrepareScript(existing: string | undefined, cwd: string = process.cwd()): string {
+  const bin = isNpxExecution() && !isSkilldDep(cwd) ? 'npx skilld' : 'skilld'
+  const cmd = `${bin} prepare || true`
   if (!existing || !existing.trim())
     return cmd
 
@@ -520,6 +521,29 @@ export function buildPrepareScript(existing: string | undefined): string {
   return `${cleaned} && (${cmd})`
 }
 
+/**
+ * Detect if the current process was launched via npx, pnpm dlx, or similar one-shot runners.
+ */
+function isNpxExecution(): boolean {
+  // npm/pnpm set npm_command=exec when running via npx/dlx
+  if (process.env.npm_command === 'exec')
+    return true
+  // Fallback: check if the resolved binary path contains npx or dlx cache dirs
+  const execPath = process.env._ || ''
+  return /npx|\.store|dlx/.test(execPath)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check if skilld is listed as a dependency (dev or regular) in the project's package.json.
+ */
+function isSkilldDep(cwd: string): boolean {
+  const pkg = readPackageJsonSafe(join(cwd, 'package.json'))
+  if (!pkg)
+    return false
+  const deps = pkg.parsed as Record<string, any>
+  return !!(deps.dependencies?.skilld || deps.devDependencies?.skilld)
+}
+
 export function getRepoHint(name: string, cwd: string): string | undefined {
   const result = readPackageJsonSafe(join(cwd, 'node_modules', name, 'package.json'))
   if (!result)

test/unit/prepare-hook.test.ts

@@ -1,44 +1,84 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { buildPrepareScript } from '../../src/cli-helpers.ts'
 import { editJsonProperty } from '../../src/core/package-json.ts'
 
+function makeTempCwd(hasSkilld: boolean): string {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'prepare-hook-'))
+  const pkg: Record<string, any> = { name: 'test-pkg' }
+  if (hasSkilld)
+    pkg.devDependencies = { skilld: '^1.0.0' }
+  writeFileSync(join(dir, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify(pkg))
+  return dir
+}
+
+function simulateNpx() {
+  process.env.npm_command = 'exec'
+}
+
+function clearNpxEnv() {
+  delete process.env.npm_command
+}
+
 describe('prepare hook script building', () => {
-  const buildPrepare = buildPrepareScript
+  const cwdWithSkilld = makeTempCwd(true)
+  const cwdWithout = makeTempCwd(false)
   const standalone = 'skilld prepare || true'
+  const npxStandalone = 'npx skilld prepare || true'
+
+  afterEach(() => clearNpxEnv())
 
-  it('returns standalone when no existing script', () => {
-    expect(buildPrepare(undefined)).toBe(standalone)
+  it('uses skilld when installed as dependency (even via npx)', () => {
+    simulateNpx()
+    expect(buildPrepareScript(undefined, cwdWithSkilld)).toBe(standalone)
+  })
+
+  it('uses npx skilld when run via npx and not a dependency', () => {
+    simulateNpx()
+    expect(buildPrepareScript(undefined, cwdWithout)).toBe(npxStandalone)
+  })
+
+  it('uses skilld when installed globally (not npx, not a dep)', () => {
+    clearNpxEnv()
+    expect(buildPrepareScript(undefined, cwdWithout)).toBe(standalone)
   })
 
   it('returns standalone when existing script is empty', () => {
-    expect(buildPrepare('')).toBe(standalone)
-    expect(buildPrepare('   ')).toBe(standalone)
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe(standalone)
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('   ', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe(standalone)
   })
 
   it('appends with && and parens to existing script', () => {
-    expect(buildPrepare('husky')).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('husky', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
   })
 
   it('handles existing script with multiple commands', () => {
-    expect(buildPrepare('husky && lint-staged')).toBe('husky && lint-staged && (skilld prepare || true)')
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('husky && lint-staged', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe('husky && lint-staged && (skilld prepare || true)')
   })
 
   it('strips trailing && from existing script', () => {
-    expect(buildPrepare('husky &&')).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
-    expect(buildPrepare('husky && ')).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('husky &&', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('husky && ', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
   })
 
   it('strips trailing ; from existing script', () => {
-    expect(buildPrepare('husky;')).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('husky;', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
   })
 
   it('strips trailing || from existing script', () => {
-    expect(buildPrepare('husky ||')).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('husky ||', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe('husky && (skilld prepare || true)')
   })
 
   it('handles only operators as existing script', () => {
-    expect(buildPrepare('&&')).toBe(standalone)
-    expect(buildPrepare(';')).toBe(standalone)
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('&&', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe(standalone)
+    expect(buildPrepareScript(';', cwdWithSkilld)).toBe(standalone)
+  })
+
+  it('appends npx variant to existing script when npx + not a dep', () => {
+    simulateNpx()
+    expect(buildPrepareScript('husky', cwdWithout)).toBe('husky && (npx skilld prepare || true)')
   })
 
   describe('surgical package.json editing', () => {