Skills
Reusable instruction modules that shape how an agent responds, and how they differ from 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.
Skills are not tools. A skill adds instructions. A tool runs something and returns data. If you want the agent to do something, you want a tool.
Using skills
- Browse — select Developer → Extensions in the sidebar to see your own skills, or browse and install built-in ones from the 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
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 instead. Tone in a skill is harder to predict because it competes with every other attached skill.
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.
Writing one with the assistant
Instead of drafting the instructions yourself, describe the behaviour you want to the 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, and nothing is written until you approve it. Built-in library skills are read-only and cannot be edited or deleted.
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.