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Agents — core

Agent skills

Also called: loadable instructions, skill packages, reusable procedures

DEFINITION

Packaged folders of instructions, examples, and sometimes scripts that an agent loads on demand for a particular kind of task — reusable know-how it pulls in when relevant, rather than cramming everything into one prompt.

WHY IT MATTERS

Skills are how a general agent is given repeatable, organisation-specific procedures without retraining it — and, like any instruction source, they're something to review and trust deliberately, since a skill can direct the agent's behaviour and which tools it reaches for.

COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH

Fine-tuning or new model abilities. A skill is context loaded at use time; it adds procedure and guidance, not new underlying capability in the model.