---
title: "Skills"
url: "/skills-and-tools"
description: "Reusable instruction modules that shape how an agent responds, and how they differ from tools."
productArea: skills-and-tools
audience: ["business-user"]
tags: ["skills"]
lastReviewed: 2026-08-25
---

# Skills (/skills-and-tools)





A skill is a reusable block of instructions that gets added to an agent's context at runtime.
Skills change *how* an agent behaves — how it formats a code answer, how it triages a support
request, how it structures research.

<Callout type="info">
  **Skills are not tools.** A skill adds instructions. A [tool](/skills-and-tools/tools) runs
  something and returns data. If you want the agent to *do* something, you want a tool.
</Callout>

## Using skills [#using-skills]

* **Browse** — select **Developer → Extensions** in the sidebar to see your own skills,
  or browse and install built-in ones from the [Marketplace](/marketplace).
* **Attach** — open an agent's **Skills** tab and toggle on the skills you want.
* **Inspect** — select any skill to read the instructions it injects before you attach it.

Skills compose additively. Every attached skill's instructions are present at once, so a small,
well-chosen set works better than a long list.

## What skills are good for [#what-skills-are-good-for]

Good uses:

* Domain behaviour: support triage, lead qualification, research structure
* Output shape: how to format code, how to structure a summary
* Task-specific method: how to approach scheduling, how to draft an email

Poor uses:

* **General tone and personality.** Put that in the [SOUL prompt file](/agents/core-prompt-files)
  instead. Tone in a skill is harder to predict because it competes with every other attached
  skill.

## Custom skills [#custom-skills]

Depending on your plan, you can create your own skills in the dashboard as well as attaching
ones from the library. The number of skills you can attach per agent is a plan limit — see
[plans and usage](/organization).

### Writing one with the assistant [#writing-one-with-the-assistant]

Instead of drafting the instructions yourself, describe the behaviour you want to the
[in-dashboard assistant](/troubleshooting/support#in-dashboard-assistant) — "create a skill for
handling refund requests", "tighten the wording in the escalation skill".

It creates new skills directly. **Changes to an existing skill are proposed, never applied
silently**: you get a change set card in the chat listing what would change, exactly like
[editing an agent](/agents#editing-with-the-assistant), and nothing is written until you approve
it. Built-in library skills are read-only and cannot be edited or deleted.

## Choosing well [#choosing-well]

* **Be specific.** Vague instructions produce inconsistent behaviour.
* **Watch for conflicts.** Two skills can give contradictory instructions; test combinations in
  the agent's **Sandbox** tab.
* **Fewer is better.** Every attached skill takes up context the agent could be using for your
  knowledge content.

## Related pages [#related-pages]

* [Tools](/skills-and-tools/tools)
* [Marketplace](/marketplace)
* [Core prompt files](/agents/core-prompt-files)
* [Agents overview](/agents)