Agent Skills Framework

Agent Skills Framework

The Agent Skills format packages repeatable agent know-how as a folder with a required SKILL.md (YAML frontmatter plus markdown instructions). We assess it: portable across Claude Code, Gemini, Cursor, Codex, and other runtimes, but tool-specific extensions and discovery quality still vary. Use it when you want skills you can carry between agents. Pair with Agent Skills - Sources for vetted repos.

Blurb

Skills are reusable, discoverable modules that package instructions, scripts, and resources for AI agents. A skill is a directory with a required SKILL.md file and optional bundled resources. Skills use progressive disclosure: metadata stays in context; the body loads when the skill triggers; bundled files load on demand.

Summary

Layout: skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md plus optional scripts/, references/, assets/. The description field is the primary trigger signal. Keep the body under ~500 lines. Push detail into reference files.

In this vault: agent-skills/skills/ mirrors the pattern. gbrain two-layer pages and identity files in AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md sit alongside skills.

Details

Required frontmatter

1
2
3
4

---
name: my-skill          # lowercase, hyphens; matches folder name
description: "What it does and when to use it (trigger keywords live here)."
---

Skill types (informal)

Runtimes in the garden

• Claude Code: .claude/skills/ or shared agent-skills/
• Cursor / cursor-agent: .cursor/skills/
• Gemini CLI, Codex, Cline, OpenCode: tool-specific paths; core SKILL.md often ports with path changes only

See Agent Skills - Sources for official docs, awesome lists, and marketplaces.