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skills progressive disclosure

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lorenzejay
2026-07-26 14:09:09 -07:00
parent 213d9485fe
commit ba9b29ffcf
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docs/edge/en/concepts/skills.mdx
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@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ mode: "wide"
Skills are self-contained directories that provide agents with **domain-specific instructions, guidelines, and reference material**. Each skill is defined by a `SKILL.md` file with YAML frontmatter and a markdown body.
When activated, a skill's instructions are injected directly into the agent's task prompt — giving the agent expertise without requiring any code changes.
Agents first receive each configured skill's name and description. When a
description applies to the current request, the agent loads that skill's full
instructions for that execution. This keeps unrelated instructions out of the
context while giving the agent the relevant expertise without code changes.
<Note type="info" title="Skills vs Tools — The Key Distinction">
**Skills are NOT tools.** This is the most common point of confusion.
@@ -79,12 +82,13 @@ reviewer = Agent(
role="Senior Code Reviewer",
goal="Review pull requests for quality and security issues",
backstory="Staff engineer with expertise in secure coding practices.",
skills=["./skills"], # Injects review guidelines
skills=["./skills"], # Discovers review skills
tools=[GithubSearchTool(), FileReadTool()], # Lets agent read code
)
```
The agent now has both **expertise** (from the skill) and **capabilities** (from the tools).
The agent now has both **expertise** (loaded from the relevant skill when
needed) and **capabilities** (from the tools).
---
@@ -324,7 +328,8 @@ The directory name must match the `name` field in `SKILL.md`. The `scripts/`, `r
## Pre-loading Skills
For more control, you can discover and activate skills programmatically:
For more control, you can discover and activate skills programmatically.
Passing an activated skill makes its instructions always-on:
```python
from pathlib import Path
@@ -351,12 +356,21 @@ agent = Agent(
Skills use **progressive disclosure** — only loading what's needed at each stage:
| Stage | What's loaded | When |
| :--------- | :------------------------------------ | :------------------ |
| Discovery | Name, description, frontmatter fields | `discover_skills()` |
| Activation | Full SKILL.md body text | `activate_skill()` |
| Stage | What's loaded | When |
| :--------- | :------------------------------------ | :---------------------------------------- |
| Discovery | Name, description, frontmatter fields | Agent setup or `discover_skills()` |
| Activation | Full SKILL.md body text | Relevant runtime request or `activate_skill()` |
| Resources | Resource directory catalog | Explicit `load_resources()` call |
During normal agent execution (passing directory paths via `skills=["./skills"]`), skills are automatically discovered and activated. The progressive loading only matters when using the programmatic API.
With `skills=["./skills"]`, the directory is discovered at setup but the full
instructions are not placed in every prompt. The agent reviews the metadata on
each execution and loads only a skill that applies. The loaded instructions are
scoped to that execution, so skills selected for earlier calls do not accumulate
on the agent.
Inline skill strings and `Skill` objects already activated with
`activate_skill()` remain always-on. This provides an explicit opt-in when the
instructions should apply to every request.
---