co-mono/packages/coding-agent/docs/skills.md
Nico Bailon 09bca9672f
Add skills system with Claude Code compatibility (#171)
* Add skills system with Claude Code compatibility

* consolidate skills into single module, merge loaders, add <available_skills> XML tags

* add Codex CLI skills compatibility, skip hidden/symlinks
2025-12-12 18:24:52 +01:00

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# Skills
Skills are instruction files that the agent loads on-demand for specific tasks.
## Skill Locations
Skills are discovered from these locations (in order of priority, later wins on name collision):
1. `~/.codex/skills/**/SKILL.md` (Codex CLI user skills, recursive)
2. `~/.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md` (Claude Code user skills)
3. `<cwd>/.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md` (Claude Code project skills)
4. `~/.pi/agent/skills/**/*.md` (Pi user skills, recursive)
5. `<cwd>/.pi/skills/**/*.md` (Pi project skills, recursive)
Skill names and descriptions are listed in the system prompt. When a task matches a skill's description, the agent uses the `read` tool to load it.
## Creating Skills
A skill is a markdown file with YAML frontmatter containing a `description` field:
```markdown
---
description: Extract text and tables from PDF files
---
# PDF Processing Instructions
1. Use `pdftotext` to extract plain text
2. For tables, use `tabula-py` or similar
3. Always verify extraction quality
Scripts are in: {baseDir}/scripts/
```
### Frontmatter Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|-------|----------|-------------|
| `description` | Yes | Short description for skill selection |
| `name` | No | Override skill name (defaults to filename or directory name) |
The parser only supports single-line `key: value` syntax. Multiline YAML blocks are not supported.
### Variables
`{baseDir}` is replaced with the directory containing the skill file. Use it to reference bundled scripts or resources.
### Subdirectories (Pi Skills)
Pi skills in subdirectories use colon-separated names:
- `~/.pi/agent/skills/db/migrate.md``db:migrate`
- `<cwd>/.pi/skills/aws/s3/upload.md``aws:s3:upload`
## Claude Code Compatibility
Pi reads Claude Code skills from `~/.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md`. The `allowed-tools` and `model` frontmatter fields are ignored since Pi cannot enforce them.
## Codex CLI Compatibility
Pi reads Codex CLI skills from `~/.codex/skills/`. Unlike Claude Code skills (one level deep), Codex skills are scanned recursively, matching Codex CLI's behavior. Hidden files/directories (starting with `.`) and symlinks are skipped.
## Disabling Skills
CLI flag:
```bash
pi --no-skills
```
Or in `~/.pi/agent/settings.json`:
```json
{
"skills": {
"enabled": false
}
}
```
## Example
```markdown
---
description: Perform code review with security and performance analysis
---
# Code Review
Analyze:
## Security
- Input validation
- SQL injection
- XSS vulnerabilities
## Performance
- Algorithm complexity
- Memory usage
- Query efficiency
```