What is an Agent Skill?

An Agent Skill is a SKILL.md folder that teaches an AI coding agent a repeatable workflow, including when to load it.

An Agent Skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file that teaches an AI coding agent a repeatable workflow and when to load it. The agent does not browse the web for that procedure every time. It reads the markdown you installed.

The SKILL.md contract

At minimum the file starts with YAML frontmatter:

---
name: find-skills
description: Use when the user needs to discover and install a skill from the open catalog.
---

name is a lowercase slug. It becomes the folder name.
description is the discovery surface. It must say when to load the skill, not only what the skill is.
The body is the procedure: steps, file layout, and the mistakes to avoid.

What a skill is not

Format	What it stores	When to pick it
Agent Skill	Procedure on disk	The steps fit in markdown and extra files
MCP	Live tools with schemas	The agent must call a running API
Prompt snippet	One-shot text	You will not repeat the job
Persona pack	Voice, not procedure	You want a speaking style, not a workflow

Folder layout

Keep SKILL.md small. Put scripts, templates, and long references in sibling files the skill can open only when needed. That is how you stop the always-loaded context from growing.

find-skills/
  SKILL.md
  references/
    catalog-notes.md
  scripts/
    search.mjs

Next: install the folder on Claude, Cursor, Codex, or Grok, or write your own SKILL.md.