No guided way to export/import config

[itsjling]

Currently I have to manually copy the file and know where to put it etc.

[itsjling]

This was generated by AI during triage.

Agent brief

Category: enhancement

Add guided catalog export and import for backups, sharing, and moving to another machine. The maintainer confirmed this scope during triage.

Current behavior

Users must copy the catalog file themselves and know where to place it. The CLI has no catalog export or import command. list --json emits skill entries without the required catalog version, so its output is not a valid catalog backup. add accepts skill sources, not saved catalogs.

Triage checked the command registry, catalog storage and validation, list output, README, tests, and existing plans. No existing transfer flow or prior rejection was found. No out-of-scope records were present. These findings come from code inspection, not a runtime reproduction.

Agreed behavior

• Provide viblib export and viblib import. In a terminal, prompt for a file path when none is supplied and show what will happen.
• Export the catalog's skill names, source references, and categories in a versioned catalog file that import accepts.
• Import into the active catalog, honoring VIBLIB_HOME. Users supply the transfer file; they do not need to know the catalog's storage path.
• Validate the whole import before changing the catalog. Invalid input must leave the catalog unchanged.
• Merge into existing entries. Preview additions and conflicts before applying changes. Skip identical entries. For each conflict, let the user keep the current entry or use the imported entry. Preserve entries absent from the import.
• Preserve local source paths and warn that they may need changing on another machine.
• End a successful import with an install command the user can run. Import itself does not install skills.
• Ask before overwriting an existing export file, with No as the default.
• Support explicit file paths and --yes for scripts. Require a separate, explicit policy to keep current entries or use imported entries when conflicts occur. --yes alone must not choose a conflict policy. Without a terminal, report missing required input rather than waiting for a prompt.

Key interfaces

• Catalog contains a version and a map of skills. Each CatalogSkill contains skill, source, and categories.
• Catalog validation defines the accepted transfer data. Preserve the version needed to read an exported file again.
• Catalog path resolution defines the active destination, including the VIBLIB_HOME override.
• Existing catalog load/save behavior and CLI prompt conventions provide the contracts to retain. Choose the command argument and conflict-policy flag spelling during implementation and document them.

Acceptance criteria

• Export followed by import into an empty catalog preserves skill names, sources, and categories.
• Both commands accept explicit paths and prompt for missing paths in a terminal.
• Import honors the active catalog location, including VIBLIB_HOME.
• Malformed JSON, unsupported versions, and invalid catalog entries fail before any catalog change.
• The import preview distinguishes additions and conflicts. Identical entries need no decision, and entries absent from the import remain intact.
• Interactive conflicts support keeping the current entry or using the imported entry. Cancelling before apply leaves the catalog unchanged.
• Local source paths survive transfer, with a warning about use on another machine.
• Import does not install skills and prints an install command after success.
• Interactive export asks before overwriting an existing file and defaults to No. Declining leaves that file unchanged.
• Scripted use with explicit paths and --yes completes without prompts when no unresolved input remains. Conflicts require an explicit policy; without one, import fails without changing the catalog.
• Help and user docs explain guided use, scripted use, conflict policies, and the limits of local source portability.
• Tests cover transfer round trips, merge outcomes, invalid input, cancellation, overwrite handling, and scripted conflicts. Required project checks pass.

Out of scope

• Exporting installed skill files, local edits, lock files, fingerprints, or resolved versions.
• Installing skills during import.
• Replacing the entire catalog instead of merging.
• A new top-level menu, cloud sync, or automatic relocation of local sources.

No product decisions remain open. This issue records the build scope; triage does not implement it.