A Skill is a folder with a SKILL.md in it, used to hand StablEdge's Agent the process, domain knowledge, and reusable files for a class of tasks. By default the Agent sees only each Skill's name and summary; it loads the body when it judges the task needs it, and reads the bundled reference documents, templates, or run scripts when needed.
What is a Skill
You can think of a Skill as an onboarding manual written for the Agent. It is a good place to capture things like:
- Multi-step processes: the fixed order of operations and checkpoints for a class of tasks;
- How to use a file format or API: for example, conventions for reading and writing a kind of document, or for calling an API;
- Team knowledge: data structures, business rules, writing conventions;
- Reusable files: scripts, reference documents, templates, and assets.
StablEdge's built-in Skills, such as pdf, docx, xlsx, and pptx, all follow this structure and can serve as references.
Skill or plugin
| Requirement | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Teach the Agent a way of working and a set of rules to follow | Skill |
| Give the Agent reference material, templates, or a few scripts that run in the Sandbox | Skill |
| You need your own interface, Always-on background tasks, storage, or an external service | plugin |
| The plugin should also teach the Agent how to use it | Ship a Skill inside the plugin |
Plugins can ship their own Skills: once a plugin is enabled, the SKILL.md in its directory is registered under the name plugin.<plugin ID>. It does not take part in automatic activation and stops working when the plugin is disabled.
What a Skill is made of
my-skill/
├── SKILL.md Required: YAML frontmatter + Markdown body
├── reference.md Optional: reference document, read on demand
├── scripts/ Optional: scripts the host runs in the Sandbox
│ └── run.py
└── assets/ Optional: templates, images, and other files for output
└── template.docx- frontmatter: contains at least
nameanddescription. These two are always visible to the Agent and decide whether the Skill gets picked. See SKILL.md and frontmatter. - Body: operating instructions that enter the context only after the Skill is loaded.
- Bundled files: kept in the Skill directory; the Agent reads, copies, or runs them through the
skilltool. See Resources and scripts.
Three loading levels
| Level | Content | When it enters the context |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Metadata | Frontmatter fields such as name and description | Always visible, used for search and matching |
| 2. Body | The Markdown body of SKILL.md; for a Progressive Skill, the "cover + section index" | When the Agent loads the Skill |
| 3. Bundled files | Reference documents, scripts, templates | When the Agent explicitly reads, copies, or runs them |
When the body is long and covers several topics, write the Skill in a Progressive structure so the Agent reads only the sections the current task needs. See Progressive structure.
How the Agent uses a Skill
The Agent uses Skills through the built-in skill tool, which supports the following actions:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
list | Browse installed Skills page by page (50 per page, summaries truncated to 80 characters) |
search | Search Skills by task keywords (5 results by default, 10 at most) |
load | Load the Skill body; for a Progressive Skill, returns the cover and section index |
read_section | Read one section of a Progressive Skill by section ID |
list_files | List the bundled files in the Skill directory |
read_file | Read a bundled file into the context |
copy_file | Copy a bundled file into the current Workspace |
run_script | Run scripts under scripts/ in the Sandbox, executed by the host |
Where Skills come from
StablEdge discovers Skills in the following order; when names collide, the first one found wins:
- Skills installed for the current account (
<StablEdge data directory>/skills/user/); - Skills bundled with enabled plugins;
- Built-in Skills shipped with the app.
pdf, docx, xlsx, pptx, skill-creator, and plugin-creator.In the Enterprise edition, an administrator can distribute managed Skills from the server side. Such Skills are managed by the Enterprise and are outside the scope of this documentation.
Reading path
- SKILL.md and frontmatter: write your first Skill that is recognized correctly.
- Progressive structure: split the body into sections once it grows long.
- Resources and scripts: bundle reference documents, templates, and scripts.
- Installation and updates: install from a folder, ZIP, HTTPS, or GitHub, and sync changes automatically.
- Best practices and examples: two complete examples and common mistakes.