Files
crewAI/docs/v1.12.2/en/concepts/skills.mdx
Lucas Gomide a237ebabba feat: adopt directory-based docs versioning with Edge channel (#6202)
* feat: adopt directory-based docs versioning with Edge channel

Switch docs.crewai.com from navigation-only versioning (every version
selector entry rendered the same docs/<lang>/* source files) to
Mintlify's directory-based versioning so each version selector entry
renders its own snapshot. Add an "Edge" channel under docs/edge/<lang>/*
that always reflects main HEAD for unreleased work, eliminating
pre-release leakage onto frozen release labels. External links to
canonical /<lang>/* URLs are preserved via wildcard redirects that
always land on the current default version.

Layout:
- docs/edge/<lang>/*         rolling source (you edit here)
- docs/edge/enterprise-api.*.yaml
- docs/v<X.Y.Z>/<lang>/*     frozen, immutable snapshots
- docs/v<X.Y.Z>/enterprise-api.*.yaml
- docs/images/               shared, append-only
- docs/docs.json             nav + redirects

URLs follow the Mintlify-idiomatic shape: /edge/<lang>/<page> for
Edge, /v<X.Y.Z>/<lang>/<page> for every frozen snapshot. The wildcard
redirects /<lang>/:slug* -> /<default>/<lang>/:slug* keep stale links
working, and every freeze rewrites them (plus all per-section/per-page
redirects) so destinations always resolve to the current default
without depending on a second redirect hop.

Release flow integration (devtools release):
- New module crewai_devtools.docs_versioning.freeze() materialises
  docs/v<X.Y.Z>/ from docs/edge/, rewrites openapi: refs inside the
  snapshot, inserts the version into every language block in
  docs.json, and refreshes all redirect destinations.
- _update_docs_and_create_pr() in cli.py now calls that freeze during
  Phase 2 of devtools release. Edge changelogs are updated first (so
  the snapshot freeze picks them up), then the snapshot is staged
  alongside docs.json, branched as docs/freeze-v<X.Y.Z>, and the PR
  is titled [docs-freeze] docs: snapshot and changelog for v<X.Y.Z>
  — the title prefix the new CI guard reads.
- The PR still gates tag, GitHub release, PyPI publish, and the
  enterprise release as before; no new PRs are added.
- Pre-releases (1.X.YaN, 1.X.YbN, ...) skip the snapshot — they ride
  Edge — and the docs PR title omits the [docs-freeze] prefix.
- docs_check (AI-generated docs scaffolding) writes to
  docs/edge/<lang>/* so newly-generated unreleased docs land in Edge
  and never accidentally touch a frozen snapshot.

Migration scripts (one-shot):
- scripts/docs/freeze_historical_versions.py reconstructs all 16
  historical snapshots (v1.10.0 .. v1.14.7) from git tags via
  git archive | tar, rewriting openapi: MDX refs so each snapshot
  reads its own enterprise-api YAML rather than the live one.
- scripts/docs/prefix_version_paths.py one-shot-migrates docs.json:
  rewrites every page path in 16 versioned blocks to point under
  docs/v<X.Y.Z>/, inserts a new Edge entry per language, tags
  v1.14.7 as Latest (default), prunes pages whose target file
  doesn't exist in the snapshot (e.g. docs/ar/ didn't exist before
  v1.12.0), and writes the wildcard + per-section redirects.
- scripts/docs/freeze_current_edge.py is now a thin CLI wrapper
  around docs_versioning.freeze for manual one-off freezes (e.g.
  retroactively snapshotting a forgotten release).

CI guards (.github/workflows/docs-snapshots.yml):
- Frozen snapshots under docs/v[0-9]*/ are immutable; only PRs whose
  title contains [docs-freeze] (i.e. release-cut PRs generated by
  devtools release or the manual wrapper) may modify them.
- Images under docs/images/ are append-only since snapshots share a
  single image directory. Deleting or renaming an image breaks every
  historical snapshot that still references it.

Restored docs/images/crewai-otel-export.png from PR #3673; it was
deleted in PR #4908 but v1.10.0 / v1.10.1 snapshots still reference
it. Restoring instead of editing the snapshots preserves historical
rendering fidelity and validates the new append-only rule
retroactively.

Tests:
- lib/devtools/tests/test_docs_versioning.py covers the freeze: file
  copy, openapi rewrite, version insertion, default demotion, redirect
  upserts, per-section redirect rewriting, idempotency, and invalid
  inputs.

Verified locally with mintlify broken-links: 0 broken links across
the full site (Edge + 16 frozen versions, 4 locales).

AGENTS.md (repo root) is the contributor guide for the new model;
RELEASING.md is the release-cut runbook; README's Contribution
section links to both.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

* style: resolve linter issues

---------

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
2026-06-17 11:56:59 -04:00

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---
title: Skills
description: Filesystem-based skill packages that inject context into agent prompts.
icon: bolt
mode: "wide"
---
## Overview
Skills are self-contained directories that provide agents with domain-specific instructions, references, and assets. Each skill is defined by a `SKILL.md` file with YAML frontmatter and a markdown body.
Skills use **progressive disclosure** — metadata is loaded first, full instructions only when activated, and resource catalogs only when needed.
## Directory Structure
```
my-skill/
├── SKILL.md # Required — frontmatter + instructions
├── scripts/ # Optional — executable scripts
├── references/ # Optional — reference documents
└── assets/ # Optional — static files (configs, data)
```
The directory name must match the `name` field in `SKILL.md`.
## SKILL.md Format
```markdown
---
name: my-skill
description: Short description of what this skill does and when to use it.
license: Apache-2.0 # optional
compatibility: crewai>=0.1.0 # optional
metadata: # optional
author: your-name
version: "1.0"
allowed-tools: web-search file-read # optional, space-delimited
---
Instructions for the agent go here. This markdown body is injected
into the agent's prompt when the skill is activated.
```
### Frontmatter Fields
| Field | Required | Constraints |
| :-------------- | :------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `name` | Yes | 164 chars. Lowercase alphanumeric and hyphens. No leading/trailing/consecutive hyphens. Must match directory name. |
| `description` | Yes | 11024 chars. Describes what the skill does and when to use it. |
| `license` | No | License name or reference to a bundled license file. |
| `compatibility` | No | Max 500 chars. Environment requirements (products, packages, network). |
| `metadata` | No | Arbitrary string key-value mapping. |
| `allowed-tools` | No | Space-delimited list of pre-approved tools. Experimental. |
## Usage
### Agent-level Skills
Pass skill directory paths to an agent:
```python
from crewai import Agent
agent = Agent(
role="Researcher",
goal="Find relevant information",
backstory="An expert researcher.",
skills=["./skills"], # discovers all skills in this directory
)
```
### Crew-level Skills
Skill paths on a crew are merged into every agent:
```python
from crewai import Crew
crew = Crew(
agents=[agent],
tasks=[task],
skills=["./skills"],
)
```
### Pre-loaded Skills
You can also pass `Skill` objects directly:
```python
from pathlib import Path
from crewai.skills import discover_skills, activate_skill
skills = discover_skills(Path("./skills"))
activated = [activate_skill(s) for s in skills]
agent = Agent(
role="Researcher",
goal="Find relevant information",
backstory="An expert researcher.",
skills=activated,
)
```
## How Skills Are Loaded
Skills load progressively — only the data needed at each stage is read:
| Stage | What's loaded | When |
| :--------------- | :------------------------------------------------ | :----------------- |
| Discovery | Name, description, frontmatter fields | `discover_skills()` |
| Activation | Full SKILL.md body text | `activate_skill()` |
During normal agent execution, skills are automatically discovered and activated. The `scripts/`, `references/`, and `assets/` directories are available on the skill's `path` for agents that need to reference files directly.