Skills
A skill teaches an agent how to handle one kind of task. It can describe the steps to follow, point to a template, show a finished example, or include a script that helps complete the work.
The agent reads the skill when the task calls for it. The rest of the time, the skill stays out of the way.
A reusable way to do one task
Return to the marketing launch agent from the Agents concept. The agent knows your product, audience, and voice because those facts guide all of its work. But preparing a launch brief requires a particular process.
Your team may expect every brief to answer the same questions:
- Who is this launch for?
- What problem does the feature solve?
- What evidence supports the message?
- Which channels should the campaign use?
- Who must approve the final brief?
Instead of putting that whole process in the agent's standing instructions, you can save it as a launch-brief skill. The agent can then use the same process for Team Workspaces this month and a different launch next month.
The agent reads the skill when the task calls for it
At first, the agent sees the skill's name and a short description. The description helps it recognize when the skill is useful.
For example:
Use when creating or revising a product launch brief. Covers the audience, message, proof, channels, and approval checklist.
When you ask for a launch brief, the agent reads the full skill and follows it. When you ask the same marketing agent to answer a quick product question, it has no reason to load the launch process.
A vague description such as "Campaign information" does not give the agent a clear situation to recognize. A useful description says when to use the skill and what kind of help it provides.
Instructions, skills, and files play different roles
These three parts can all contain useful context, but they answer different needs.
| Use | For | Launch agent example |
|---|---|---|
| Instructions | Context and rules that should guide every task | The audience, product position, and company voice |
| Skill | A process for a recognizable kind of task | The steps for preparing a launch brief |
| File | Material the agent may need to consult | Product notes or an approved brief from a previous launch |
A skill can tell the agent to read a file or use a tool. For example, the launch-brief skill can ask the agent to open the product notes, check campaign data, and fill in the team's brief template. The skill carries the process; the files provide the material; the tools provide the actions.
What a skill contains
Every skill is a folder with a file named SKILL.md at its center.
SKILL.md contains:
- A name that identifies the skill.
- A description that tells the agent when to use it.
- A body that explains how to perform the task.
The folder can also include templates, examples, reference material, and scripts. A launch-brief skill might look like this:
campaign-brief/
|-- SKILL.md
|-- templates/
| `-- launch-brief.md
`-- examples/
`-- approved-brief.md
The body tells the agent which questions to answer and in what order. The template gives the result a consistent shape. The example shows what your team considers a strong brief.
Keeping these resources together makes the process easier to reuse, inspect, and improve.
Find or create a skill
You can write a skill for a process that belongs to your team, or adapt an existing skill to match the way you work.
Manage skills shows how to create a skill in Agenta or upload a skill folder, .zip, or .skill archive.
For examples from the wider ecosystem, explore Anthropic's skills repository or the public directory at skills.sh. Read a skill and its supporting files before adding it, especially when it includes executable scripts. A published skill reflects its author's process, which may differ from yours.