VegaDūtaTutorial · Agents
How to add an Agent Skill
This tutorial shows you how to give your agents a skill: a named set of instructions for one kind of task, which an agent loads only when a request matches it. You will look at the built-in skills, write a custom one, and see how uploaded and agent-drafted skills are handled.
Adding and editing skills needs a workspace admin. Other members can read the skills the workspace has.
By the VegaDūta team · Last updated
Step by step
Open the Skills page
In the console, open Skills under Build. The page lists your workspace's custom skills and the built-in skills. Select any skill to read its instructions.
Review the built-in skills
Fourteen skills are included and on for every agent, covering documents (docx, pdf, pptx, xlsx), writing, code review, data analysis, and SQL. Switch one off with its toggle if you do not want agents to use it. Built-in skills cannot be edited in place.
Create a skill
Press New skill. Give it a name using lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, up to 64 characters; the name cannot be changed later. Write the description carefully, up to 1,024 characters: it is what agents read to decide when to use the skill, so say what the skill does and when it applies. Then write the instructions and press Save skill.
Or upload one as a .zip
Press Upload .zip to import a skill folder that contains a SKILL.md file and any supporting text files. Files that are not text are skipped, and the import tells you how many. To change a skill's bundled files later, upload it again.
Test it with an agent
Open an agent's playground and send a request that matches the skill's description. Agents use a saved skill from their next message. If the skill is not picked up, the description is usually too vague about when it applies.
Review agent-drafted skills
Skills written by an agent appear with an Agent draft badge and are switched off. Read the draft and enable it only if you are satisfied. A proposed rewrite of an existing skill shows as a staged rewrite: choose Apply to live skill or Discard.
Going further
Skills are portable and cheap to keep around.
- Export any skill, including a built-in one, to keep it in version control or move it to another workspace.
- To customise a built-in skill, export it, change its name, and upload it as your own.
- Only names and descriptions are in every prompt, so a long list of skills does not lengthen unrelated requests.
Frequently asked questions
What goes in a SKILL.md file?
A name, a description that says what the skill does and when to use it, and the instructions the agent should follow. Supporting text files can sit alongside it in the same folder.
Who can add or edit skills?
Workspace admins. Other members see the list of skills and can read them, but cannot add, edit, or delete them.
When does a new skill take effect?
From each agent's next message. There is nothing to redeploy.
Can I stop agents from using a built-in skill?
Yes. Each built-in skill has a toggle on the Skills page. Switching it off removes it for every agent in the workspace.
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