Agent Skills are folders of instructions, scripts, and resources that agents can discover and use to do things more accurately and efficiently. Each folder has a SKILL.md file. Each skill has metadata and instructions that tell an agent how to perform a specific task.
It's an open standard, meaning the goal is to be supported by any and all AI development tools, rather than bespoke. The goal is to make reusable instructions that are tailored towards a specific task, giving agents new capabilities and repeatability.
A main advantage over other [[20260306121823-ai-instructions]] or [[20250811104331-ai-mcp]] approaches is that skills use Progressive Disclosure to better manage (read: reduce) context costs. Agents load only the name and description of each skill. When a task matches, the agent reads the full SKILL.md instructions into context, and then executes them.
When crafting a skill, ensure that the skills contain domain-specific context. Avoid generic and vague instructions. Generate skills from real world artefacts and knowledge.
Skills are similar to tools in [[20250811104331-ai-mcp]], but tools are more defined capabilities. Think of like an API request, or a specific function. Skills are more guidance on how to do something.