Agent Skills

Agent Skills teach an agent how to perform a task without placing every instruction in the root prompt. Runtime skills live under skills/.

Property	Rule
Location	`skills/<name>/SKILL.md`
Name	Kebab-case and equal to the directory name
Loading	On demand
Optional resources	`references/`, `assets/`, and `scripts/`
Ownership	Root agent or one folder SubAgent

Each skill uses the Agent Skills directory format:

skills/
└── triage-incidents/
    ├── SKILL.md
    ├── references/
    └── scripts/

Keep SKILL.md action-oriented. Move schemas, background, long examples, and conditional detail into referenced files.

Runtime behavior

ADK uses its progressive skill tools. LangGraph receives Harnest’s portable list, load, and resource tools. Both load skill content only when needed. A root skill belongs to the root agent. A folder SubAgent can own private skills; its parent does not inherit them. Skills do not add tools or MCP connections. Use a plugin when a reusable skill must travel with the MCP connection that supplies its operations. A non-empty plugin requires both the MCP and skill halves.

Authoring skill versus runtime skills

harnest skills install installs a project-editing guide for your coding agent. It does not add a runtime skill to the compiled agent.

Overview

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Agent Skills

Runtime behavior

Authoring skill versus runtime skills

​Runtime behavior

​Authoring skill versus runtime skills

Runtime behavior

Authoring skill versus runtime skills