diff --git a/internal/agent/args.go b/internal/agent/args.go
index 40fdd0e..b9b886c 100644
--- a/internal/agent/args.go
+++ b/internal/agent/args.go
@@ -56,6 +56,14 @@ type Args struct {
 	// extra context biasing the model.
 	NoSkill bool
 
+	// WithSkills opts into loading user-installed skills from
+	// $ZOT_HOME/skills/, .zot/skills/, .claude/skills/, and
+	// .agents/skills/. Without this flag only the built-in skills
+	// shipped with the zot binary are available, so a fresh install
+	// has a deterministic skill set regardless of what's lying
+	// around in the user's home directory.
+	WithSkills bool
+
 	ListModels bool
 	Help       bool
 	Version    bool
@@ -151,6 +159,8 @@ func ParseArgs(in []string) (Args, error) {
 			a.NoExt = true
 		case "--no-skill", "--no-skills":
 			a.NoSkill = true
+		case "--with-skills", "--with-skill":
+			a.WithSkills = true
 		case "--reasoning":
 			v, err := want(&i, arg)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -259,6 +269,10 @@ flags:
   --no-skill                   skip skill discovery for this run,
                                including built-in skills (no skill
                                tool, no Available skills manifest)
+  --with-skills                load user-installed skills from
+                               $ZOT_HOME/skills/ + .zot/skills/ +
+                               .claude/skills/ + .agents/skills/.
+                               default: only built-in skills load
 
   --max-steps N                agent loop iteration cap (default 50)
   --list-models                print known models and exit
diff --git a/internal/agent/build.go b/internal/agent/build.go
index 3d1afed..e6fe7ba 100644
--- a/internal/agent/build.go
+++ b/internal/agent/build.go
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ func Resolve(args Args, requireCred bool) (Resolved, error) {
 	)
 	if !args.NoSkill {
 		homeDir, _ := os.UserHomeDir()
-		discovered, _ = skills.Discover(ZotHome(), args.CWD, homeDir)
+		discovered, _ = skills.Discover(ZotHome(), args.CWD, homeDir, args.WithSkills)
 		if len(discovered) > 0 {
 			skillTool = skills.NewTool(discovered)
 			reg[skillTool.Name()] = skillTool
diff --git a/internal/agent/cli.go b/internal/agent/cli.go
index fdf0c7f..cf5d4e5 100644
--- a/internal/agent/cli.go
+++ b/internal/agent/cli.go
@@ -417,9 +417,11 @@ func runInteractive(ctx context.Context, args Args, version string) error {
 			// out built-in skills — they're hidden from user-facing
 			// surfaces because they're implementation detail; the
 			// model still sees them through the system-prompt
-			// manifest and the skill tool.
+			// manifest and the skill tool. User skills only appear
+			// when --with-skills is set; without it the picker shows
+			// nothing but the model still has the built-ins.
 			userHome, _ := os.UserHomeDir()
-			list, _ := skills.Discover(ZotHome(), r.CWD, userHome)
+			list, _ := skills.Discover(ZotHome(), r.CWD, userHome, args.WithSkills)
 			return skills.VisibleSkills(list)
 		},
 		PersistModel: func(providerName, model string) {
diff --git a/internal/skills/skills.go b/internal/skills/skills.go
index a779d41..857862d 100644
--- a/internal/skills/skills.go
+++ b/internal/skills/skills.go
@@ -83,19 +83,46 @@ func VisibleSkills(in []*Skill) []*Skill {
 	return out
 }
 
-// Discover walks every supported location, parses each SKILL.md, and
-// returns the merged skill set. First-match-wins per name; the order
-// matches the priority list in the package doc. Errors per skill are
-// returned alongside the partial result so a single broken file
-// doesn't suppress the rest.
+// Discover returns the merged skill set. By default this is just
+// the built-in skills compiled into the zot binary; user-installed
+// SKILL.md files are NOT loaded unless includeUser is true. Users
+// opt in via the `--with-skills` flag.
 //
-// Built-in skills (compiled into the zot binary) are added LAST so
-// any user-installed skill with the same name shadows the built-in.
-// That lets users customise the help text by dropping their own
-// SKILL.md with the same name into $ZOT_HOME/skills/<name>/.
-func Discover(zotHome, cwd, userHome string) ([]*Skill, []error) {
+// First-match-wins per name; the order matches the priority list
+// in the package doc (project-local before global before claude-
+// compat before agents-compat, all before built-ins). That means a
+// user-installed skill with the same name as a built-in shadows
+// the built-in once includeUser is true.
+//
+// Errors per skill are returned alongside the partial result so a
+// single broken file doesn't suppress the rest.
+func Discover(zotHome, cwd, userHome string, includeUser bool) ([]*Skill, []error) {
 	var errs []error
 	seen := map[string]*Skill{}
+	if includeUser {
+		errs = append(errs, scanUserSkills(zotHome, cwd, userHome, seen)...)
+	}
+	// Built-ins fill in any name the user didn't already provide
+	// (or every name, when includeUser is false).
+	for _, s := range loadBuiltins() {
+		if _, dup := seen[s.Name]; dup {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[s.Name] = s
+	}
+	out := make([]*Skill, 0, len(seen))
+	for _, s := range seen {
+		out = append(out, s)
+	}
+	sort.Slice(out, func(i, j int) bool { return out[i].Name < out[j].Name })
+	return out, errs
+}
+
+// scanUserSkills walks the user-skill search dirs and populates
+// `seen` with first-match-wins per name. Split out so Discover's
+// includeUser=false path doesn't have to skip over a giant block.
+func scanUserSkills(zotHome, cwd, userHome string, seen map[string]*Skill) []error {
+	var errs []error
 	for _, loc := range searchDirs(zotHome, cwd, userHome) {
 		entries, err := os.ReadDir(loc.dir)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -122,20 +149,7 @@ func Discover(zotHome, cwd, userHome string) ([]*Skill, []error) {
 			seen[s.Name] = s
 		}
 	}
-	// Built-ins fill in any name the user didn't already provide.
-	for _, s := range loadBuiltins() {
-		if _, dup := seen[s.Name]; dup {
-			continue
-		}
-		seen[s.Name] = s
-	}
-
-	out := make([]*Skill, 0, len(seen))
-	for _, s := range seen {
-		out = append(out, s)
-	}
-	sort.Slice(out, func(i, j int) bool { return out[i].Name < out[j].Name })
-	return out, errs
+	return errs
 }
 
 // SystemPromptAddendum returns the text to append to the system
diff --git a/internal/skills/skills_test.go b/internal/skills/skills_test.go
index 62485ca..9aca524 100644
--- a/internal/skills/skills_test.go
+++ b/internal/skills/skills_test.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func TestDiscoverProjectAndGlobalPriorityAndDedup(t *testing.T) {
 	// Unique skill in global only.
 	mk(filepath.Join(zotHome, "skills"), "global-only", "from global")
 
-	skills, errs := Discover(zotHome, cwd, "")
+	skills, errs := Discover(zotHome, cwd, "", true /* includeUser */)
 	if len(errs) > 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("errs: %v", errs)
 	}