> Reverse Contact API documentation. This is the Markdown copy of https://docs.reversecontact.com/guides/agent-skills
> Every page is listed at https://docs.reversecontact.com/llms.txt, every endpoint with its credit cost and status at https://docs.reversecontact.com/catalog.json

# Agent skills

> Install the Reverse Contact skill so coding agents such as Claude Code can enrich, fetch, check and search with the rc CLI, at the lowest credit cost.

- Last verified: 2026-10-15

## Introduction

An agent skill is a folder of instructions (`SKILL.md` and its references) that a coding agent loads when a task calls for it. The `reversecontact-cli` skill teaches an agent to drive the [Reverse Contact CLI](https://docs.reversecontact.com/guides/cli): enrich people and companies, fetch by LinkedIn URL or id, search, check freshness for free, find contact emails and phone numbers, follow live jobs and inspect credits.

It is published in the public repository [visum-run/skills](https://github.com/visum-run/skills) and works with any agent that reads Agent Skills, such as Claude Code. Each CLI release publishes its skill there.

## What the agent learns

- **The cheapest command for the input it has.** With a profile URL or a Reverse Contact id, it fetches (1 credit) rather than enriches (2 credits), and runs the free `rc check` first when freshness matters. It enriches only from an email, a name or a domain.
- **To check the budget before a batch.** It reads the credit balance and the rate limits with `rc usage`, which is free, before a long run.
- **To read results like a program.** It relies on the JSON output and the exit codes of `rc`: a not-found result exits `0` and costs nothing, `3` means no valid API key, `4` a network problem.
- **Not to block on live jobs.** It starts a live fetch, an email lookup or a phone lookup, keeps the job id, and reads the result later with `rc task`, instead of waiting in a loop.
- **Not to invent search filters.** It lists the filters the API accepts with `rc search fields people` and `rc search fields companies`, which are free.

## Install

The skill needs the `rc` binary and an API key: see [Install](https://docs.reversecontact.com/guides/cli#install) and [Sign in](https://docs.reversecontact.com/guides/cli#sign-in) on the CLI page. An agent is best given the key through the `RC_API_KEY` environment variable, which writes nothing to disk.

Then add the skill to your agent with the skills CLI:

**Install the skill**

```bash [Terminal]
npx skills add visum-run/skills
```

To install it by hand, copy the `reversecontact-cli` folder of the [repository](https://github.com/visum-run/skills) into the skills folder of your agent. For Claude Code, that is `.claude/skills/` in a project, or `~/.claude/skills/` for every project.

## A worked session

You ask the agent: "Who is jane.doe@acme.com, and what is her current role?" With the skill loaded, the agent runs:

**Agent session**

```bash [Terminal]
# 1. Is a valid API key available? Exit code 3 means no.
rc auth status --json

# 2. An email, no profile URL: enrich, keeping only the fields needed.
rc enrich person --email jane.doe@acme.com \
  --fields firstName,lastName,currentPositionTitle,currentCompanyName,linkedinUrl
```

With `--fields`, `rc` prints only those fields, flat, without the response envelope, and the agent answers from them. Had no one matched, `rc` would have exited `0` and charged nothing, and the agent would say so rather than guess.

## Skill or MCP server

Both reach the same API, with the same credits.

| Prefer | When |
| ------ | ---- |
| The [MCP server](https://docs.reversecontact.com/guides/mcp) | A conversational agent (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) works with Reverse Contact data in a chat |
| The skill and the CLI | A coding agent writes or runs scripts: batches, pipes, exit codes, keeping only some fields |

## FAQ

### How do I install the Reverse Contact agent skill?

Install the `rc` CLI and give it an API key, then run `npx skills add visum-run/skills`. To install it by hand, copy the `reversecontact-cli` folder of the visum-run/skills repository into your agent's skills folder, such as `.claude/skills/` for Claude Code.

### Does the Reverse Contact agent skill cost credits?

The skill itself is free. The commands it runs are billed like the Reverse Contact API endpoints they call, and the skill steers the agent to the cheapest one: a free `rc check` before a 1-credit `rc fetch`, and `rc fetch` rather than a 2-credit `rc enrich` when a profile URL is known.

### Should I use the Reverse Contact agent skill or the MCP server?

Use the MCP server for a conversational agent working in a chat, and the skill with the `rc` CLI for a coding agent that writes or runs scripts. Both call the same Reverse Contact API with the same credits.