diff --git a/skillhub-cli/src/commands/download.ts b/skillhub-cli/src/commands/download.ts
index 463f9a5d..db0d1e0e 100644
--- a/skillhub-cli/src/commands/download.ts
+++ b/skillhub-cli/src/commands/download.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Command } from "commander";
-import { createWriteStream } from "node:fs";
-import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import { createWriteStream, mkdirSync } from "node:fs";
+import { resolve, dirname } from "node:path";
 import { finished } from "node:stream/promises";
 import { ApiClient } from "../core/api-client.js";
 import { loadConfigFromProgram } from "../core/config.js";
@@ -190,6 +190,14 @@ export function registerDownload(program: Command) {
         }
 
         const outPath = resolve(outputDir, `${skillSlug}.zip`);
+        const outDir = dirname(outPath);
+        try {
+          mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });
+        } catch (e: any) {
+          spinner.fail(`Failed to create output directory: ${outDir}`);
+          process.exitCode = 1;
+          return;
+        }
         const fileStream = createWriteStream(outPath);
         await finished(body.pipe(fileStream));
 
diff --git a/skillhub-cli/src/commands/install.ts b/skillhub-cli/src/commands/install.ts
index edcf11b2..60a02549 100644
--- a/skillhub-cli/src/commands/install.ts
+++ b/skillhub-cli/src/commands/install.ts
@@ -444,7 +444,17 @@ async function installFromRegistry(
   const { statusCode, body } = response;
 
   if (statusCode >= 400) {
-    spinner.fail(`Skill not found: ${ns}/${actualSlug}`);
+    let errorMsg = `Failed to download skill: ${ns}/${actualSlug}`;
+    if (statusCode === 404) {
+      errorMsg = `Skill not found: ${ns}/${actualSlug}`;
+    } else if (statusCode === 403) {
+      errorMsg = `Access denied: ${ns}/${actualSlug}. Check your token permissions.`;
+    } else if (statusCode === 503) {
+      errorMsg = `Service temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.`;
+    } else if (statusCode >= 500) {
+      errorMsg = `Server error (${statusCode}). Please try again later.`;
+    }
+    spinner.fail(errorMsg);
     await rm(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
     process.exitCode = 1;
     return;