# Skills overview

A skill is a reusable playbook an agent loads on demand. Instead of stuffing every how-to into an agent's prompt, you write the procedure once as a skill — and the agent pulls it in only when the task calls for it.

## What a skill is

A skill is an instruction pack — a markdown playbook that tells an agent how to do something well. When an agent hits a task that matches, it loads the skill (with use_skill) and follows the steps, without you bloating its base prompt. Think of it as a procedure the agent can look up the moment it needs it.

Each skill carries a little more than just text:

- A SKILL.md body — the actual how-to the agent reads.
- Granted tools — the tools the playbook expects to use.
- Scripts — named commands the skill can run in the sandbox.
- Identity — an icon, name, description, version, tags, and a palace locus.

## Built-in vs. custom

The library groups skills into two kinds, with an All / Built-in / Custom filter:

- Built-in — Foxora’s own playbooks, managed for you. They’re shown read-only and abstract: you see the name, description, and what they grant, but never the SKILL.md body or scripts.
- Custom — the skills you write. These get the full editor: identity, granted tools, scripts, and the SKILL.md body.

Skills are discovered from your project and global skill folders, so a skill you write for one project can be shared across your machine.

> Skills sharpen agents; tools enable themA skill is know-how (a playbook). A tool is a capability (executable code). A skill often grants the tools it relies on — see the tools catalog.