Skills for AI Agents
Create reusable Skills in your AI agent library to standardize workflows and connect external systems for consistent task performance.
With Skills, you give your agents reusable abilities or instructions. These expand your agents' capabilities and enable them to perform specific tasks. Skills can be used by multiple agents or assigned directly to a single agent.
Key Benefits and Use Cases
A Skill is a collection of instructions and additional information that describes how a specific task should be performed. This way, you can standardize recurring processes.
Skills can, for example:
- Set writing style: Provide specific formulations or a communication style
- Define workflows and describe a fixed sequence of work steps
- Standardize ratings: Establish criteria and rating systems
- Define templates and procedures: Create results according to a predefined structure
- Provide knowledge, for example via PDFs or other files
- Connect external systems, such as via scripts, code, routines, or APIs
Example: Determining bug severity
A Skill can define a standardized process for assessing bugs. It can specify:
- How the severity is determined
- Which criteria are used
- Which information is entered into the task
- Which icon or label is used
Creating Skills in the Library
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Open the Library
- via Settings (gear icon in the bottom left of the main menu) > Library
- or open the AI section in the left main menu and click the Library button in the top right
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Select the Skills section
In the left navigation of the Library, select Skills. Here you can see all existing Skills and create new ones.
Creating a new Skill
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Click the + Skill button
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Select the action + Skill
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Create and edit the Skill. Changes to Skill details are saved automatically. There is no classic Save button.
In the Skill Details window you can enter various types of content, including:
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Instructions: Describe how the agent should work on the task, make decisions, and deliver results.
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Supporting Material: Use the + Add button to include additional examples, templates, notes, PDFs, and knowledge sources. These contents can serve as a knowledge base for the agent to execute the Skill.
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Access Credentials: Give agents access to external systems or APIs. Click + Add to configure credentials that the Skill needs for external systems or APIs without exposing them.
Tip: Improve Skills with AI
You can get support from awork AI when creating and optimizing a Skill. To do this, click Improve with AI in the top right corner of the Skill Details. The awork Agent will help you optimize the instructions and structure of your Skill.
Importing a Skill
You can also import existing Skills:
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Click + Skill.
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Select the Import Skill option.
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Import the data as a ZIP package with all information including description and files.
A newly created Skill is private by default.
Adding Access Credentials for API or External Tool
A Skill can receive external access credentials, for example for API access. To do this, click the + Add button in the Access Details section in the Skill Details. Then configure the access in the Add Access Credentials dialog.
- Name of Access: Enter the API or Tool name
- Access Credentials Required to Use the Skill: Determine whether users must authenticate to use the Skill.
- Scope: Choose between two options:
- Each User Adds Their Own: Each user must provide their own authentication. The credentials remain private for each user.
- Share Access for Every Use: The configured access method is available to multiple users. The actual secret is not visible to other users.
- Value of Access Credentials: Enter the key, token, or other secret.
Click Save to save the credentials, or Cancel to cancel the process.
Important: Saved access credentials cannot be displayed again later. You can delete a saved secret and optionally add a new one.
Managing Skills in the Library
Filtering the View
Use the tabs above the Skill cards to filter the view:
- Active: Shows your enabled Skills
- All: Shows all available Skills
- Mine: Shows Skills you created
- Shared with Me: Shows Skills that other users have shared with you
You can also access Skills directly from an active Agent chat. Click the + button in the input area > Skills > Manage in Library. The Skills of the respective Agent are marked with a badge, for example: Project Planner Configuration Applied
Editing a Skill
Hover over a Skill card and click the Details button in the bottom left or click Edit via the action button in the top right. The full Skill Details open for editing.
Available Actions per Skill
Click the action button in the top right corner of a Skill card or in the open Skill Details at the top right to access more actions:
- Copy Skill Link: Share the Skill with others
- Export: Export the Skill Details
- Duplicate: Create a copy of the Skill
- Share: Configure access rights for the Skill
- Delete: Delete the Skill
Sharing a Skill
In the Share dialog, you can determine who has access to the Skill:
- General Access: Determine whether and how your organization can access the Skill
- Individual Access: Click Add User or Team to add individual users or teams
- Access Rights: Choose between None, Read and Use, or Manage
Starting a Thread
Hover over a Skill card and click the Start Thread button. A new AI thread with this Skill will be started.
Enabling and Disabling Skills
You can change the status of a Skill directly on its Skill card in the Library. Use the toggle:
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Active: The Skill can be considered and used by agents.
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Disabled: The Skill cannot be applied by agents.
The Active Skill Pool
So that an agent doesn't have to consider all available Skills with every request, there's an active Skill pool.
The Skills enabled in it are automatically considered during execution. The agent checks them based on your request and uses an appropriate Skill if it is relevant.
You can also mention a Skill directly in an AI thread. This allows the agent to specifically consider it for your request, even if the Skill is not part of the active Skill pool.
For a single run, you can enable additional Skills. This extension applies only to this run.
A Skill is not executed automatically just because it's available as context. The agent checks based on your request whether a Skill is relevant and should be used.
Library Skills vs. Agent-Specific Skills
There are two types of Skills:
Library Skills are reusable and can be shared in the workspace and used by multiple agents.
Agent Skills belong to a specific agent. An Agent Skill can later be extracted from the agent and converted into a regular Library Skill.
Skills in the Library
A Library Skill is independent of a specific agent and can be linked to one or multiple agents. It can also be shared and independently reused.
Agent-Specific Skills
Skills that are embedded directly in an Agent only apply to that agent. It does not appear in the general Library and is only available for that agent.
Users with edit rights for the agent can also edit the Skill.
An Agent Skill can later be extracted from the agent and converted into a regular Library Skill.
Managing an Agent's Skills
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Open the Agents section in the Library.
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Click Details for the desired agent.
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Open the Skills section there.
Here you see all Skills assigned to the agent.
By clicking Open you can view the details of a Skill. Via the Action Menu you can Edit or Delete a Skill.
Assigning Skills to an Agent
An agent can use multiple Skills. Both Skills from the Library and agent-specific Skills are available.
- Open the Agent Details
- Click the + Add button in the Skills section.
- Choose Add Existing Skill (= Library Skill) or Create New Agent Skill (= Agent-specific Skill)
Embedding a Library Skill into an Agent
- Open the Skill Details.
- In the Basics > Skill is Part of section, select Embed in Agent via the action menu.
- Select the appropriate agent and confirm by clicking the Save button.
This converts the Skill into an agent-specific ability.
- It will no longer be available in the Library afterwards.
- Existing shares remain saved and become active again when you move the Skill back to the Library.
- You can only access this Skill in the Agent configuration and edit it there.
Note: If a Skill is already linked to an agent, it can only be embedded in that agent.
Tips:
If a Skill should only be available to a specific agent, create it directly on the agent. The agent-specific Skill will then not appear in the general Library.
If a Skill is to be used by multiple agents, add it to the agent instead of embedding it exclusively.
Making a Skill Available in the Library
- Open the Skill Details.
- In the Basics > Skill is Part of section, select Move to Library via the action menu.
- Confirm by clicking the Save button.
This converts the Skill into a Library Skill. You can access, share, and edit the Skill in the Library.
The Skill remains linked to the agent.
Best Practices and Troubleshooting
- A Skill is not being used automatically: First check whether the Skill is considered in the active Skill pool of the agent. You can also mention the Skill directly in the AI thread. This allows the agent to specifically check it for your request, even if it's not in the active Skill pool.
- The Skill should only be available to one agent: Create the Skill directly on the desired agent. This keeps it restricted to that agent and it won't appear in the general Library.
- You want to use a Skill with multiple agents: Create the Skill in the Library and link it to the desired agents.
FAQ
What is a Skill?
A Skill is a collection of instructions that describes how a specific task, process, or routine should be performed.
Is a Skill executed automatically when I mention it?
No. When you explicitly mention a Skill, the agent checks whether it's relevant to your request and can use it accordingly.
What is the active Skill pool?
The active Skill pool contains the Skills that an agent considers by default during execution.
Can an agent use multiple Skills?
Yes. An agent can use multiple Skills from the Library and agent-specific Skills.
Can Skills contain files?
Yes. Files such as PDFs can be stored as a knowledge base for a Skill.
What is the difference between a Library Skill and an Agent Skill?
A Library Skill is independent of a specific agent and can be used for multiple agents. An Agent Skill belongs directly to a single agent and is only available there.
Can I link a Skill to multiple agents?
Yes. Library Skills can be linked to multiple agents.
Can saved secrets be viewed later?
No. Saved API keys and other secrets cannot be displayed again. They can be deleted and re-entered if needed.
Is there versioning for Skills?
No. There is currently no versioning for Skills.
