diff --git a/website/package.json b/website/package.json
index 6bf50e700..e3aa70fc4 100644
--- a/website/package.json
+++ b/website/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
     "docusaurus": "docusaurus",
+    "prestart": "node scripts/prebuild.mjs",
     "start": "docusaurus start",
+    "prebuild": "node scripts/prebuild.mjs",
     "build": "docusaurus build",
     "swizzle": "docusaurus swizzle",
     "deploy": "docusaurus deploy",
diff --git a/website/scripts/prebuild.mjs b/website/scripts/prebuild.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f129d745f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/scripts/prebuild.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Runs website/scripts/extract-skills.py before docusaurus build/start so
+// that website/src/data/skills.json (imported by src/pages/skills/index.tsx)
+// exists without contributors needing to remember to run the Python script
+// manually. CI workflows still run the extraction explicitly, which is a
+// no-op duplicate but matches their historical behaviour.
+//
+// If python3 or its deps (pyyaml) aren't available on the local machine, we
+// fall back to writing an empty skills.json so `npm run build` still
+// succeeds — the Skills Hub page just shows an empty state. CI always has
+// the deps installed, so production deploys get real data.
+
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdirSync, writeFileSync, existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+
+const scriptDir = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const websiteDir = resolve(scriptDir, "..");
+const extractScript = join(scriptDir, "extract-skills.py");
+const outputFile = join(websiteDir, "src", "data", "skills.json");
+
+function writeEmptyFallback(reason) {
+  mkdirSync(dirname(outputFile), { recursive: true });
+  writeFileSync(outputFile, "[]\n");
+  console.warn(
+    `[prebuild] extract-skills.py skipped (${reason}); wrote empty skills.json. ` +
+      `Install python3 + pyyaml locally for a populated Skills Hub page.`,
+  );
+}
+
+if (!existsSync(extractScript)) {
+  writeEmptyFallback("extract script missing");
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
+const result = spawnSync("python3", [extractScript], {
+  stdio: "inherit",
+  cwd: websiteDir,
+});
+
+if (result.error && result.error.code === "ENOENT") {
+  writeEmptyFallback("python3 not found");
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
+if (result.status !== 0) {
+  writeEmptyFallback(`extract-skills.py exited with status ${result.status}`);
+  process.exit(0);
+}