# Skills Source: https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/concepts/skills A reusable method you teach once so agents do specific work the way your team does it. A **skill** is a reusable method. It teaches agents how your team does a specific kind of work: the research process, the report format, the brand voice, the API pattern, or the checklist that makes the output trustworthy. That is different from a fact the agent should remember, and different from a tool the agent can click. A [memory](/docs/concepts/memories) might say "weekly summaries go to #exec-updates." A tool might be web search. A skill says *how* to build the summary: which fields matter, what counts as risk, and what good looks like when leadership reads it. You create a skill once. The agents that need that method can use it. When you improve the skill, every agent using it gets better. ## More than instructions [#more-than-instructions] A good thread often reveals a better way to work. The agent found the right research pattern, produced the report in the format your team prefers, followed your writing voice, or figured out how to use an API that matters to your workflow. *A weekly pipeline thread might teach which CRM fields matter, how your exec team wants risks called out, and what format the final update should follow.* Without a skill, that method lives in chat history. Next week someone re-explains it, or the agent improvises a slightly different version. A skill turns the method into something you can attach, pin, discover, and share. ## What skills can teach [#what-skills-can-teach] Skills capture different kinds of reusable methods. Most real skills mix more than one. A repeatable sequence, like preparing a weekly pipeline summary, reviewing support tickets, or turning research into a client brief. Writing standards, brand voice, editorial rules, tone preferences, and examples of what good output sounds like. How to gather sources, compare companies, evaluate claims, cite findings, or build a market scan. Formats for reports, emails, briefs, tables, webpages, decks, or other outputs your team creates often. How to work with a specific system, endpoint, query pattern, or third-party service the right way. Code-backed steps for calculations, data cleanup, API calls, file transforms, or other mechanics that should run the same way every time. Hyperagent includes global skills every agent can use. They teach the built-in tools their craft: media generation, composed video, file conversion, data-connection setup, and context building. Your own skills are where you capture team process, voice, formats, and domain expertise. ## From thread to skill [#from-thread-to-skill] Skills usually come from work you have already shaped once. The agent pulled the data, found the risky deals, drafted the exec update, and you refined the output until it matched how your team talks about revenue. That process is worth saving. In the thread, you can ask Hyperagent to suggest a skill based on the output you just created. It drafts a method you review, edit, and save. The skill should hold the repeatable part, not this week's deal list. Current numbers stay in the thread, table, or connected system. A Weekly Pipeline Summary skill might capture: which CRM fields to check, how to compare this week to last week, what counts as a risk, and how leadership wants the update structured. Once it is saved, you make it available to the agents that should call that method when the request is relevant. ## Anatomy of a skill [#anatomy-of-a-skill] Before a skill can help an agent, it needs a clear label, a clear purpose, and enough instruction for the agent to follow the method. A Weekly Pipeline Summary skill should say when to use it, which source to query, what the summary must include, and what format the team expects. Vague names like "Reporting" make discovery harder than "Weekly Pipeline Summary." What you and the agent use to recognize the skill. Specific names are easier to find and safer to pin. Situations where the method should apply. This is the main signal for discovery when the skill is not pinned. Steps, examples, constraints, inputs, and what good output looks like. This is the core of the skill. Code for repeatable mechanics, plus credential fields for services those scripts need. Values stay out of the conversation. See [Skills with APIs and credentials](/docs/concepts/skills/apis-and-credentials). ## How an agent uses skills [#how-an-agent-uses-skills] Once a skill exists, the agent needs a way to bring it into the [thread](/docs/concepts/threads). That is controlled by **Skill Discovery**, pin state, and how far the agent is allowed to search. ### How skills enter a thread [#how-skills-enter-a-thread] Pinned always, discovered when needed, or preloaded as a fixed kit. **Pinned skills are visible from the start.** The agent sees the skill's name and description at the beginning of the thread, so it can recognize when that method applies. A RevOps agent might keep Weekly Pipeline Summary pinned because that workflow is central to its job. **With Skill Discovery on, other skills can be found when needed.** The agent starts lean: pinned summaries first, then search when the task points at a method. Full documentation loads only when matched. Context stays available for the conversation. **With Skill Discovery off, attached skills are preloaded.** The agent starts with full documentation for its attached skills and does not search broadly. That works well for a small, fixed kit. It uses more context from the first turn. ### How agents find the right skill [#how-agents-find-the-right-skill] With discovery on, clear fields matter. A skill named "Weekly Pipeline Summary" with when-to-use text like "Use when preparing recurring sales pipeline summaries for leadership" is easier to match than a generic "Reporting" skill. If you type the skill's name in your message ("use the Weekly Pipeline Summary skill"), the agent can search for it, load the full documentation, and follow it. You do not need to attach or pin it first, as long as the agent's scope allows the search. ### Search scope [#search-scope] Search scope controls how far the agent can look when a skill is not already visible. The agent can discover skills across your knowledge base, even when they are not attached. Use when a well-built method should be available without wiring it to every agent by hand. The agent only finds skills you linked in agent settings. Use for shared or Slack-facing agents that should not pick up methods from unrelated workflows. In agent settings, the **Skill Discovery** toggle usually drives these choices together: on means discover with broader search; off means preload the attached set. [Knowledge access](/docs/concepts/agents/knowledge-access) can further limit what a shared agent may see. Full detail: [How agents load skills](/docs/concepts/skills/how-agents-load-skills). ## How skills help every agent improve [#how-skills-help-every-agent-improve] Skills are portable across agents. That is what makes them compound. You might build Weekly Pipeline Summary while working with a RevOps agent. Once it works, the same method can help a Chief of Staff agent prep leadership updates or a Sales Manager agent review team performance. When the method is ready for other people, share it through a [team](/docs/concepts/teams). Teammates can use the skill without rebuilding the process. Teams also control credentials: no credentials, the owner's credentials, or each person bringing their own key. When you improve the skill (tighter checklist, better examples, a fixed API method), every agent using it benefits. That is different from stuffing the same instructions into one agent's system prompt. A system prompt belongs to one agent. A skill travels to the roles that need the method. ## Skills vs agents [#skills-vs-agents] An **[agent](/docs/concepts/agents)** is the configured teammate: identity, instructions, tools, integrations, and the outcome it owns. A **skill** is a reusable method that teammate can call when the request requires it. The Weekly Pipeline Summary is not the agent. It is the method. Several agents can use it for different jobs without each one becoming a copy of the same mega-prompt. Role, tools, knowledge, model, controls, and [invocations](/docs/concepts/agents/invocations). Examples: RevOps Lead, Leadership Brief, Renewal Watch. Steps, examples, scripts, credentials, and when-to-use guidance. Examples: Weekly Pipeline Summary, Brand Voice Guide, API Query Method. ## How skills differ from other context [#how-skills-differ-from-other-context] Skills work alongside memories, tools, and integrations. They solve a different problem. How to handle a specific output or workflow. "Write a client brief in our format." Facts or preferences that should travel forward. "Weekly summaries go to #exec-updates." A built-in platform action. Web search, image generation, code execution. Access to a connected external account. Slack, GitHub, Gmail, Sheets. See [Tools and integrations](/docs/concepts/tools-and-integrations). Tools and integrations give capabilities and access. Memories give standing facts. Skills teach the method. ## FAQs [#faqs] When you want an agent to repeat a method, not just remember a fact. Good candidates: recurring reports, research workflows, writing formats, review checklists, API procedures, and any process you find yourself explaining more than once. One-off preferences, single facts, or context that only matters once in one thread. If the agent needs to remember a detail later, that is usually a [memory](/docs/concepts/memories). If it needs to follow a repeatable process, that is usually a skill. Specific, repeatable, and testable. It says when to use it, what steps to follow, what inputs it needs, and what finished output looks like. Writing skills need samples. Research skills need a source strategy. API skills need endpoints, required fields, and failure cases. Yes. Scripts handle repeatable operations. Credential fields supply secrets at run time without pasting keys into chat. Working with an API: [Skills with APIs and credentials](/docs/concepts/skills/apis-and-credentials). Day-2 editing and import: [Edit and import skills](/docs/concepts/skills/skills-edit-and-import). No. It depends on Skill Discovery, pin state, attach/scope settings, and [knowledge access](/docs/concepts/agents/knowledge-access) for shared agents. Details: [How agents load skills](/docs/concepts/skills/how-agents-load-skills). When it is part of the agent's default job. A writing agent might always need a voice guide. For methods that only matter sometimes, leave them discoverable. Yes. Name the skill in the thread. If scope allows the search, the agent loads the full documentation and follows it. A skill is a reusable method that teaches agents how to handle specific workflows and outputs. Capture it once, attach it where it matters, and improve it in one place so every agent that uses it gets better.