cannot inspect installed lark-suite: skill is not installed

Error message

cannot inspect installed lark-suite: skill is not installed

What it means

localOfficialSkills expects the 'lark-suite' skill to be installed whenever the previous skills state records suite layout and is readable. This error is thrown after scanning the entire installed-skills list without finding a skill named 'lark-suite' — the cached state says the suite layout should be present, but the actual global skills listing contains no such entry.

Source

Thrown at internal/skillscheck/sync.go:404

func localOfficialSkills(installed []installedSkill, previous *SkillsState, readable bool) ([]string, error) {
	if !readable || previous == nil || EffectiveLayout(previous) == LayoutSeparate {
		names := make([]string, 0, len(installed))
		for _, skill := range installed {
			names = append(names, skill.Name)
		}
		return names, nil
	}

	for _, skill := range installed {
		if skill.Name != "lark-suite" {
			continue
		}
		if skill.Path == "" {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot inspect installed lark-suite: global skills JSON did not include its path")
		}
		return listDirectSubdirs(filepath.Join(skill.Path, "references"))
	}
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot inspect installed lark-suite: skill is not installed")
}

func listDirectSubdirs(root string) ([]string, error) {
	entries, err := vfs.ReadDir(root)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	names := []string{}
	for _, entry := range entries {
		if entry.IsDir() {
			names = append(names, entry.Name())
		}
	}
	sort.Strings(names)
	return names, nil
}

func syncLayout(runner SkillsRunner, source string, layout Layout, plan SyncPlan, installed []installedSkill) error {

View on GitHub (pinned to 7fd6ef3c07)

Solutions

Reinstall lark-suite globally so it appears in the global skills listing, then re-run sync.
Delete the stale cached skills state so sync treats the layout as unknown and rebuilds it instead of requiring lark-suite.
Ensure the same Node/npm global prefix is used for install and listing (check nvm/volta setup, `npm prefix -g`).
Run the sync with force if supported so the state and installed set are reconciled from scratch.

Example fix

// before: stale suite-layout state with lark-suite uninstalled
//   previous.Layout = "suite"; installed = [{Name: "foo", Path: "/x"}]
//   localOfficialSkills(installed, previous, true) // -> "skill is not installed"
// after: reconcile state before inspecting
if !hasInstalledSkill(installed, "lark-suite") {
    // treat as separate/unknown layout and rebuild from scratch
    return namesFromInstalled(installed), nil
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

installed, err := listInstalledSkills(runner)
if err != nil { return err }
if readable && previous != nil && EffectiveLayout(previous) == LayoutSuite && !hasInstalledSkill(installed, "lark-suite") {
    // state and reality disagree: clear state or reinstall the suite before sync
    return fmt.Errorf("stale suite-layout state detected; lark-suite not installed")
}

Type guard

func hasInstalledSkill(installed []installedSkill, name string) bool {
    for _, s := range installed {
        if s.Name == name { return true }
    }
    return false
}

Try / catch

names, err := localOfficialSkills(installed, previous, readable)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "skill is not installed") {
    // reconcile: drop the stale suite state and proceed name-only
    previous = nil
    names, err = localOfficialSkills(installed, nil, false)
}

Prevention

Clear the skills state when uninstalling lark-suite manually, or reinstall it before syncing.
Use one Node version manager so install and listing share the same global prefix.
Run sync with force after major CLI upgrades to rebuild state/layout.
Check `npm ls -g` for the suite package when suite-layout state exists.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling SyncSkills when the cached SkillsState indicates suite layout (readable, not separate), but ListGlobalSkillsJSON()/ListGlobalSkills() return a list that does not include 'lark-suite' — e.g. the suite was uninstalled, removed by another process, or the listing targets a different global prefix.

Common situations: The user ran `npm uninstall -g` on the suite package or pruned global packages; multiple Node version managers (nvm/volta) give different global prefixes so the listing checks the wrong location; a stale state file left behind after a failed uninstall; or a CLI version that renamed or dropped the suite skill.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of larksuite/cli@7fd6ef3c07 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4b2cae7d83a281cf. Report an issue: GitHub.