Skill Creator

Create effective skills to extend agent capabilities.

What is a Skill?

Skills are modular packages that provide:

1. Specialized workflows - Multi-step procedures for specific domains
2. Tool integrations - Instructions for working with specific file formats or APIs
3. Domain expertise - Company-specific knowledge, schemas, business logic
4. Bundled resources - Scripts, references, and assets for complex tasks

Skill Directory Structure

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md          # Required: skill definition with YAML frontmatter
├── scripts/          # Optional: Python or shell scripts
├── references/       # Optional: reference documents
└── assets/           # Optional: images, data files

SKILL.md Format

---
name: my-skill
description: "What the skill does and WHEN to use it. Include trigger conditions here."
requires:             # Optional: required tools
  - shell
allowed-tools:        # Optional: tools this skill can use
  - shell
  - write_file
metadata:             # Optional: additional info
  emoji: "🔧"
---

# Skill Title

Instructions for using this skill...

Core Principles

1. Be Concise

Context window is shared. Only add what the agent doesn't already know.

Bad: "First, you need to understand that git is a version control system..." Good: "Run git status to check changes."

2. Set Appropriate Freedom

• High freedom: Multiple approaches valid → text instructions
• Medium freedom: Preferred pattern exists → pseudocode with parameters
• Low freedom: Operations are fragile → specific scripts

3. Write Good Descriptions

The description field is the primary trigger. Include:

• What the skill does
• When to use it (specific contexts/keywords)

Example:

description: "Create git commits with conventional format. Use when committing code changes, staging files, or pushing to remote."

Creating a Skill

Step 1: Define Purpose

What specific task does this skill solve? Keep it focused.

Step 2: Write SKILL.md

1. Add YAML frontmatter with name and description
2. Write clear, actionable instructions
3. Include examples over verbose explanations

Step 3: Add Resources (Optional)

If the skill needs scripts or references, add them:

my-skill/
├── SKILL.md
├── scripts/
│   └── helper.py
└── references/
    └── api-docs.md

Step 4: Test

1. Load the skill in Agentica
2. Trigger it with various inputs, run python scripts(eg: python3 scripts/helper.py), and check results
3. Iterate based on results

Skill Locations

Skills are loaded from (in priority order):

1. .agentica/skills/ - Project-level
2. ~/.agentica/workspace/skills/ - User-level
3. Built-in skills - Package-level

Project skills override user skills with the same name.

Examples

Simple Skill

---
name: format-json
description: "Format and validate JSON files. Use when working with .json files or JSON data."
---

# JSON Formatter

Format JSON with 2-space indentation:
\`\`\`bash
python -m json.tool input.json > output.json
\`\`\`

Validate JSON:
\`\`\`python
import json
json.loads(content)  # Raises if invalid
\`\`\`

Skill with Trigger

---
name: test-runner
description: "Run project tests with coverage reporting."
requires:
  - pytest
---

# Test Runner

Run all tests:
\`\`\`bash
pytest -v
\`\`\`

Run with coverage:
\`\`\`bash
pytest --cov=src --cov-report=html
\`\`\`