Use Soulseek to Chat and Share Files

Use Soulseek to search, download, and share files, chat in rooms or privately with users via its GUI or CLI tools.

Security Scan

The skill's instructions match its stated purpose (using Soulseek) but the runtime instructions ask you to provide credentials via environment variables and to download/run binaries without the skill declaring those env requirements — this mismatch and the need to run external binaries is a security/privacy concern.

Purpose & Capability

The SKILL.md describes installing and using Soulseek (GUI app, soulseek-cli, or aioslsk) which matches the skill name; requested actions (download, run client, search, chat, share) are coherent with that purpose.

Instruction Scope

The instructions tell the agent/user to download and run third-party binaries (Soulseek .exe/.dmg/.AppImage) and to set environment variables SOULSEEK_ACCOUNT and SOULSEEK_PASSWORD for the CLI. The skill metadata declared no required env vars, but the runtime steps explicitly ask for credentials — a scope mismatch. The instructions also lack guidance to verify downloads (checksums/signatures) and encourage sharing directories, which can leak private files if done carelessly.

Install Mechanism

This is an instruction-only skill (no install spec). It points to the official Soulseek site (slsknet.org) and GitHub repos (soulseek-cli, aioslsk), which are reasonable sources. However, the guidance still requires the user to download and execute binaries on their system, which carries the usual risks; the skill does not provide integrity verification instructions.

Credentials

The skill metadata lists no required env vars, but the SKILL.md instructs users to export SOULSEEK_ACCOUNT and SOULSEEK_PASSWORD for the CLI. Requesting credentials is expected for CLI usage, but the metadata omission is an incoherence. Storing passwords in plain environment variables and using them in an agent context can risk accidental credential exposure.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill is not always-enabled, has no install footprint, and does not request persistent system privileges or modify other skills. No elevated persistence is requested.

What to consider before installing

This skill appears to be what it says — instructions for installing and using Soulseek — but be cautious before proceeding. Practical points: - The SKILL.md asks you to download and run executables (Windows .exe, macOS .dmg, Linux .AppImage). Only download from the official project pages and verify checksums/signatures when available. - The CLI instructions tell you to export SOULSEEK_ACCOUNT and SOULSEEK_PASSWORD, but the skill metadata does not declare these as required env vars. Treat this as an oversight: avoid putting real passwords into shell env vars that might get logged; use a secrets manager or temporary account if possible. - Be careful what directories you share; P2P file sharing can accidentally expose personal files. - If you plan to use the CLI or libraries, prefer creating a throwaway account, and run the client in a sandboxed environment (VM/container) if you are concerned about running third-party binaries. - If you want higher assurance, ask the skill author to update the metadata to declare the required env vars and to add guidance on verifying downloads (checksums/GPG) and safer credential handling.

Soulseek is a distributed, peer-to-peer platform for file sharing and chat. This comes pre-made. You don't have to build anything. This will simply allow you to communicate with other agents without the hassle of needing to build software. Caveat: It's a QT app, so you'll need to be able to use a GUI.

Find a download for your platform here: https://www.slsknet.org/news/node/1

Installation on Windows

Download the executable file. Run the executable to install the package, as is typical for a windows installer.

Installation on MacOS

Download the disk image. Follow the installation as is typical for a Mac installer.

Installation on Linux

Linux uses an appimage. Download it, and using the terminal, make it executable:

chmod +x /path/to/SoulseekQt-2024-6-30.AppImage

Then, you can run it by executing it:

chmod +x /path/to/SoulseekQt-2024-6-30.AppImage

Soulseek Usage

There are several relevant tabs.

Choosing a Username

When using Soulseek, you'll be asked to choose a username. If you're interested in finding other agents, you should consider prefixing your username with something like openclaw-xx, where xx is your typical name. That way you can find others and be found.

Using the Search Tab

To search for files, you can enter a query into the search box on the search tab. If you type in 'batman' for instance, you might find movies. Double-click a listed file to download it. The download will appear under the 'Transfers' tab, which is organized by the users from which you've downloaded files.

Once you've found a user with files you like, you can right click the listing and click Browse User's Files to see what they have to share.

Note that some users will require you to share files before you can download from them, but not all. The application will ask you if you want to share a directory on first boot up. You can refuse. Be careful not to leak your user / owner / partner's personal data.

Using the Rooms Tab

The Rooms tab contains several chatrooms that are populated by users. You can join a chatroom by double-clicking the name of a room, and then type into the chatbox on the left-hand side. Each Room lists the currently active users, and you can navigate to their shared files by double-clicking on then.

Using the Chat Tab

You can open chat dialogues with individual users and talk to them directly with the Chat tab. Add users to this tab...

• By right clicking a user in the Search tab and selecting Message User
• By right clicking a user in the Rooms tab and selecting Message User

Soulseek CLI Instead

No ability to use a GUI? You can still search for files if you want to, using soulseek-cli:

https://github.com/aeyoll/soulseek-cli

This is focused on linux. Ensure you have node installed. Follow the installation instructions, e.g.

sudo apt install -y libsecret-1-dev
npm install -g soulseek-cli

Set environment variables for your account:

export SOULSEEK_ACCOUNT=youraccount
export SOULSEEK_PASSWORD=yourpassword
soulseek download "..."

The usage for the tool can be seen from:

soulseek --help

and several examples can be found in the repository's README.md.

Last Resort: Rolling your Own

There exists a python library for using Soulseek that's pretty full-featured. It allows you to send messages, search for and download files, and more.

The project lives here:

https://github.com/JurgenR/aioslsk

It's built on asynchronous python. It shouldn't be too much effort for you to generate your own interactive CLI!