Agent skills

An agent skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file that teaches an AI coding agent how to do one job. The agent reads each skill's name and description at startup and loads the full instructions only when a task needs them, so a skill it is not using costs little more than its name and description.

The SKILL.md format

A skill folder holds SKILL.md and, optionally, scripts/, references/ and assets/. SKILL.md starts with YAML frontmatter, then Markdown instructions. The Agent Skills specification requires two fields: name (up to 64 lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens, matching the folder name) and description (up to 1,024 characters, saying what the skill does and when to use it). Optional fields are license, compatibility, metadata and the experimental allowed-tools. In Claude Code every field is optional and only description is recommended. Both sources checked 2026-10-28.

---
name: pdf-processing
description: Extract PDF text, fill forms, merge files. Use when handling PDFs.
---

# PDF processing
Step-by-step instructions for the agent...

Where each agent loads skills

Each path below comes from the agent's own documentation, linked in the last column and checked 2026-10-28. Project folders sit in your repository; personal folders sit in your home directory.

Install with vskill

The open-source vskill CLI detects which agents you have and puts the skill where each one looks for it. It supports 56 install targets (vskill 1.2.16, counted 28 Oct 2026). The command is below.

Check a skill before you install it

A skill can tell your agent to run commands and can ship its own scripts. Every listing on Verified Skill shows its security scan, trust tier and source. See the trust center and how we verify for what is checked and what a scan does not guarantee.

Browse skills

Start with the Claude Code skills hub, pick a category below, or search the full registry. To decide what belongs in a skill and what belongs in AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, read AGENTS.md vs CLAUDE.md vs skills and the SpecWeave skills guide.