Agent Skills
Also called: SKILL.md
By HubAI editorial team · Source checked: 24 October 2026What does it mean?
A format for packaging task instructions and optional supporting files so compatible agents can discover and use them. A skill describes a way of working; it is not an account or a subscription.
Picture this
A team keeps its briefing structure, examples and review checklist in one skill folder. A compatible assistant reads that material when asked to prepare a briefing.
Where you’ll come across it
Reusable house style, repeatable procedures and specialist task guidance. Test the same skill in each target tool because available connectors and execution behaviour may differ.
What it doesn’t mean
Inspect downloaded instructions and scripts before using them. Portability of a file format does not transfer permissions or guarantee identical results across assistants.
Draw the permission boundary
A short exercise · use fictional or non-sensitive material.
- Sketch a simple assistant that drafts a reply but cannot send it. Use invented recipients.
- Mark which tools it can read from, which it could write to and where approval is required.
- Try an instruction inside a sample document asking it to ignore those limits. Check that actual permissions still block the action.
Which safeguard is enforced by the application rather than a polite instruction?
Did that make it clearer?
Likes are a private on-page choice, not a public rating. For a correction or complaint, send the pre-filled form to our editorial inbox. Nothing is sent until you submit it.Check the source
Written and explained by HubAI. The reference below lets you go deeper; it is not an endorsement of a particular product.
Technical reference: agentskills.io ↗