Remember the scene in the movie The Matrix where the protagonist Neo instantly downloads “Kung Fu” skills? Or imagine how convenient it would be if your AI assistant could plug and play various professional abilities just like installing an app?
This is exactly what Agent Skills aims to solve.
What Does It Look Like?
To put it simply, it is a folder.
The soul of this folder is a SKILL.md file, written in Markdown format that both humans and AI can understand. Inside, there are not only instructions for the AI to understand, but it can also include code scripts (scripts/), reference documents (references/), and various template resources (assets/).
This set of standards is an open format initiated and maintained by Anthropic, with the goal of making AI Agent capabilities “modularized” and “standardized.”
How Does It Work? (The Wisdom of Progressive Disclosure)
You might wonder: If the AI carries so many skills on its back, won’t the Context (context) explode?
This is the brilliant part of Agent Skills, it adopts a “progressive disclosure” strategy:
| Strategy | Description |
|---|---|
| Discovery | When just starting up, the AI only reads the “name” and “introduction” of the skill. Just like looking at a menu, you know the dish exists, but you don’t necessarily need to know its full recipe right away. |
| Activation | When you ask a relevant question, the AI finds that a certain skill meets the need and then truly reads the detailed SKILL.md instructions. |
| Execution | After reading the detailed instructions, the AI follows them like manual, performing the task step-by-step, even calling attached Python scripts to solve difficult problems. |
Why Do We Need Agent Skills?
Traditional AI instructions are usually hard-coded or placed randomly. Agent Skills brings two core advantages:
| Advantage | Description |
|---|---|
| Universality (Write once, use everywhere) | Once you write a “PDF processing skill,” you can use it in Claude Code, and it will also work on other Agents that support this standard. |
| Portability | For enterprises, this is extremely valuable. You can package company-specific professional knowledge (e.g., reimbursement regulations, leave procedures) into a Skill. Any newly appointed AI assistant can start working immediately after reading this Skill, without talking nonsense. |
How Is This Different from Traditional Tools or Functions?
This is the most frequently asked question.
General Tools are like giving the AI a screwdriver (API); it only knows how to turn screws but doesn’t know when to turn them or how many turns are needed.
But Agent Skills is more like a “construction guide” paired with a whole box of tools. It doesn’t just provide tools; it also includes “Procedural Knowledge”—which is the SOP for teaching the AI how to use these tools logically to complete complex tasks.
Here’s a Real-Life Example
If you want to create a “Coffee Master” skill, your folder structure would look like this:
SKILL.md: Says “If it’s a latte, steps are A -> B; if it’s pour-over, pay attention to water temperature C.”scripts/timer.py: A script specifically for the AI to time pour-over seconds.references/beans.md: A comparison table of various coffee bean origins and flavors.
With this skill pack, your AI assistant can become a coffee expert instantly, even without prior coffee training!
In Summary
Agent Skills is establishing a standard that allows AI capabilities to be shared and circulated just like open-source software.
| Role | Advantage |
|---|---|
| Developers | For developers: Write once, use everywhere, no need to reinvent the wheel. |
| Enterprises | For enterprises: Intellectual property capitalization, ensuring the accuracy of AI answers. |
| Users | For users: Your AI will become smarter and smarter, and it will be tailored specifically to your needs. |
This is a fully open-source standard. Go check it out on GitHub now and start building your first Skill!