Skills

A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md and any helper files the workflow needs. When a request matches the skill description, Open Interpreter loads it and follows the instructions.

Use skills when the same task keeps coming up and you want it to run the same way every time. Things like:

• "Cut a release"
• "Run the migration checklist"
• "Generate an end-of-week report"

Anatomy of a skill

my-skill/
├── SKILL.md          # required: instructions and metadata
├── scripts/          # optional: executable helpers
├── references/       # optional: docs the agent can cite
└── assets/           # optional: templates the agent fills in

A minimal SKILL.md:

---
name: cut-release
description: Cut a tagged release and update the changelog.
---

When the user asks to cut a release:

1. Run `pnpm test` and bail out if anything fails.
2. Bump the version in `package.json` using semver based on the changes.
3. Move the "Unreleased" section in `CHANGELOG.md` under a new heading.
4. Commit, tag, and push.

The frontmatter description is what Open Interpreter matches against, so make it specific.

Where skills live

Open Interpreter searches a list of locations and uses the first match.

Repo-local skills win over personal ones. Personal skills win over bundled defaults.

Use a skill

You usually do not have to do anything. The agent checks descriptions against the request and pulls in matching skills automatically.

To browse what is available or trigger one explicitly:

/skills

Write a new skill

mkdir -p .agents/skills/cut-release
cd .agents/skills/cut-release