diff --git a/.changeset/skip-skill-tip-when-installed.md b/.changeset/skip-skill-tip-when-installed.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..44b83658
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/skip-skill-tip-when-installed.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"clerk": patch
+---
+
+Hide the "install the Clerk skills" tip in `clerk --help` and bare `clerk` output when the Clerk agent skill is already installed for one of the common local agents (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, Cline, VS Code, GitHub Copilot).
diff --git a/packages/cli-core/src/cli-program.test.ts b/packages/cli-core/src/cli-program.test.ts
index b79d4258..e1ee982d 100644
--- a/packages/cli-core/src/cli-program.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli-core/src/cli-program.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
-import { test, expect, describe } from "bun:test";
-import { formatApiBody } from "./cli-program.ts";
+import { test, expect, describe, beforeEach, afterEach } from "bun:test";
+import { mkdtempSync, mkdirSync, writeFileSync, rmSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
+import { createProgram, formatApiBody } from "./cli-program.ts";
+import { STANDARD_AGENT_DIRS, EXTRA_REL_PATHS } from "./lib/skill-detection.ts";
 
 describe("formatApiBody", () => {
   // --- Single error with meta ---
@@ -200,3 +204,80 @@ describe("formatApiBody", () => {
     expect(result).toBe("Plan limitation");
   });
 });
+
+describe("help: clerk skill install tip", () => {
+  const TIP_SUBSTR = "Give AI agents better Clerk context";
+
+  // Capture help output including `addHelpText("after", ...)`. The custom
+  // formatter in lib/help.ts rebuilds help from scratch, so the "after"
+  // listener only fires during outputHelp (which writes via stdout).
+  function renderHelp(): string {
+    const program = createProgram();
+    let captured = "";
+    const origWrite = process.stdout.write.bind(process.stdout);
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+    (process.stdout as unknown as { write: (chunk: any) => boolean }).write = (chunk) => {
+      captured += typeof chunk === "string" ? chunk : chunk.toString();
+      return true;
+    };
+    try {
+      program.outputHelp();
+    } finally {
+      (process.stdout as unknown as { write: typeof origWrite }).write = origWrite;
+    }
+    return captured;
+  }
+
+  let tmpHome: string;
+  let tmpCwd: string;
+  let originalHome: string | undefined;
+  let originalCwd: string;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    originalHome = process.env.HOME;
+    originalCwd = process.cwd();
+    tmpHome = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "clerk-help-home-"));
+    tmpCwd = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "clerk-help-cwd-"));
+    process.env.HOME = tmpHome;
+    process.chdir(tmpCwd);
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.chdir(originalCwd);
+    if (originalHome === undefined) delete process.env.HOME;
+    else process.env.HOME = originalHome;
+    rmSync(tmpHome, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    rmSync(tmpCwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  test("shows the tip when no skill is installed anywhere", () => {
+    const help = renderHelp();
+    expect(help).toContain(TIP_SUBSTR);
+    expect(help).toContain("clerk skill install");
+  });
+
+  for (const dir of STANDARD_AGENT_DIRS) {
+    test(`hides the tip when ${dir}/skills/clerk/SKILL.md exists under HOME`, () => {
+      const target = join(tmpHome, dir, "skills/clerk");
+      mkdirSync(target, { recursive: true });
+      writeFileSync(join(target, "SKILL.md"), "ok");
+      expect(renderHelp()).not.toContain(TIP_SUBSTR);
+    });
+
+    test(`hides the tip when ${dir}/skills/clerk/SKILL.md exists under cwd`, () => {
+      const target = join(tmpCwd, dir, "skills/clerk");
+      mkdirSync(target, { recursive: true });
+      writeFileSync(join(target, "SKILL.md"), "ok");
+      expect(renderHelp()).not.toContain(TIP_SUBSTR);
+    });
+  }
+
+  for (const rel of EXTRA_REL_PATHS) {
+    test(`hides the tip when ${rel} exists under cwd`, () => {
+      const full = join(tmpCwd, rel);
+      mkdirSync(dirname(full), { recursive: true });
+      writeFileSync(full, "ok");
+      expect(renderHelp()).not.toContain(TIP_SUBSTR);
+    });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli-core/src/cli-program.ts b/packages/cli-core/src/cli-program.ts
index c480d4b6..1d6b18ef 100644
--- a/packages/cli-core/src/cli-program.ts
+++ b/packages/cli-core/src/cli-program.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import { isAgent } from "./mode.ts";
 import { log } from "./lib/log.ts";
 import { maybeNotifyUpdate, getCurrentVersion } from "./lib/update-check.ts";
 import { update } from "./commands/update/index.ts";
+import { isClerkSkillInstalled } from "./lib/skill-detection.ts";
 
 export function createProgram() {
   const program = new Command()
@@ -56,9 +57,10 @@ export function createProgram() {
       "Force interaction mode (human or agent). Defaults to auto-detect based on TTY.",
     )
     .option("--verbose", "Show detailed output (enables debug messages)")
-    .addHelpText(
-      "after",
-      `
+    .addHelpText("after", () =>
+      isClerkSkillInstalled()
+        ? ""
+        : `
 Give AI agents better Clerk context: install the Clerk skills
   $ clerk skill install`,
     );
diff --git a/packages/cli-core/src/lib/skill-detection.ts b/packages/cli-core/src/lib/skill-detection.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6569c441
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli-core/src/lib/skill-detection.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { homedir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+
+/**
+ * Agents that host skills under the uniform
+ * `<agent-dir>/skills/<name>/SKILL.md` layout. Each is checked under
+ * both `$HOME/<dir>/skills/clerk/SKILL.md` (global) and
+ * `<cwd>/<dir>/skills/clerk/SKILL.md` (project-local).
+ */
+export const STANDARD_AGENT_DIRS = [
+  ".claude", // Claude Code
+  ".agents", // generic / shared
+  ".codex", // OpenAI Codex CLI
+  ".cursor", // Cursor
+  ".windsurf", // Windsurf / Codeium
+  ".zed", // Zed editor
+  ".cline", // Cline VS Code extension
+] as const;
+
+const STANDARD_SKILL_REL = "skills/clerk/SKILL.md";
+
+/**
+ * Paths for agents that don't follow the uniform
+ * `<dir>/skills/<name>/SKILL.md` layout. These are project-local only
+ * and are checked under `<cwd>` (not `$HOME`), because
+ * `clerk skill install` does not install these layouts globally.
+ */
+export const EXTRA_REL_PATHS = [
+  ".vscode/skills/clerk/SKILL.md", // VS Code (project-local)
+  ".github/prompts/clerk.md", // GitHub Copilot (project-local)
+] as const;
+
+/**
+ * Best-effort synchronous check for whether the bundled `clerk` skill
+ * is installed for at least one local agent. Returns `true` on the first
+ * hit. A missed match just means the install tip keeps showing — no
+ * false positives harm the user.
+ */
+export function isClerkSkillInstalled(): boolean {
+  const home = process.env.HOME ?? homedir();
+  const cwd = process.cwd();
+
+  for (const dir of STANDARD_AGENT_DIRS) {
+    if (existsSync(join(home, dir, STANDARD_SKILL_REL))) return true;
+    if (existsSync(join(cwd, dir, STANDARD_SKILL_REL))) return true;
+  }
+  for (const rel of EXTRA_REL_PATHS) {
+    if (existsSync(join(cwd, rel))) return true;
+  }
+  return false;
+}