What are agent skills?

An agent skill is a folder that teaches an AI agent one repeatable job. At its center is a SKILL.md file: a short description at the top, then instructions the agent follows. Next to it sit whatever the job needs, such as scripts, templates, fonts or example files.

What is inside a skill folder

kinetic-title-drop/
├── SKILL.md          # description + step-by-step workflow
├── templates/        # HTML compositions the agent edits
├── scripts/render.mjs
└── LICENSES/         # licenses of any open-source parts

The description at the top of SKILL.md is what the agent reads first. When your request matches it, the agent loads the rest of the file and follows the workflow. That keeps your context small: the agent only reads a skill when it needs it.

Why use a skill instead of a long prompt

• It is repeatable. The same skill gives the same look next week and for a teammate.
• It can ship files. Templates, fonts and render scripts travel with the instructions.
• It can check its own work. A good skill ends with a QA step, such as checking that text fits inside safe areas.

Which agents can use skills

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI and OpenCode can all work from SKILL.md folders. Claude Code reads ~/.claude/skills. The others also read a shared ~/.agents/skills folder. The Lookbook installer writes to both, so one install covers every agent on your machine.