> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.quadrillion.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skills

> Define reusable workflows that agents can invoke automatically or on demand.

Skills are named workflows — sets of instructions for accomplishing specific tasks. Unlike [rules](/rules) which set ongoing behavior, skills are procedures that agents follow when a particular type of work comes up.

## What are skills?

A skill includes:

* **Name**: Identifier used to invoke the skill
* **Description**: When to use this skill
* **Instructions**: Step-by-step guidance
* **Auto-invoke setting**: Whether agents can trigger it automatically

On local workspaces, skills are stored as `SKILL.md` files in Qualia's configuration directory. On Qualia Cloud, skills are stored with your account instead. Either way, they persist across sessions.

## Agent-triggerable vs manual

### Agent-triggerable skills

When enabled, the skill appears in the agent's available tools:

* Agents see the skill name and description
* If a request matches, the agent loads and follows the skill
* No action needed from you

Use agent-triggerable skills for workflows the AI should recognize and handle automatically:

* "Analyze a time series column"
* "Run exploratory data analysis on a new dataset"
* "Train and evaluate a classification model"

### Manual-only skills

Must be explicitly invoked:

* Not listed in agent context
* Activated with `/skill-name` in chat
* For workflows you want to control

Use manual skills for:

* Sensitive operations
* Workflows requiring specific timing
* Procedures you want to invoke deliberately

## Creating skills

1. Open **Agent Customization** (the briefcase icon) and select **Skills**
2. Click **New skill**
3. Enter:
   * **Name**: Lowercase with hyphens (e.g., `time-series`)
   * **Description**: When to use this skill (e.g., "Initial analysis of a time series column")
   * **Instructions**: The workflow steps
   * **Agent-triggerable**: Whether agents auto-invoke

## Using skills

### Slash command

Invoke any skill with `/` followed by the skill name:

> */time-series*

The skill's instructions are loaded and the agent follows them.

Typing `/` opens a menu of your skills with their descriptions. Hover a skill and
click the info button to open it in Agent Customization, or use **Browse all** in
the menu header to open the full skills page.

### Agent auto-invocation

For agent-triggerable skills, just describe what you want:

> *"Analyze this time series data"*

If you have a `time-series` skill with matching description, the agent recognizes the request and loads the skill.

## Skill structure

A well-designed skill includes:

1. **Context**: What situation triggers this skill
2. **Steps**: Ordered actions to take
3. **Verification**: How to confirm success
4. **Error handling**: What to do if something fails

Example skill content:

```markdown theme={null}
# Time Series Analysis

Use this skill for initial analysis of a time series column.

## Steps

1. Make a time series plot, a histogram, and a partial autocorrelation plot.
2. Test for long-term trends and drifts.
3. Analyze the time series in frequency space and identify cyclic behavior or interesting frequencies.
4. Find any anomalous time periods.
```

## Importing skills

Import from Cursor and Import from Claude Code read directories on the machine your workspace runs on, so they appear for local workspaces only. (Linking a folder, below, works on remote and self-hosted workspaces too.)

### From Cursor

1. Open **Agent Customization** (the briefcase icon) and select **Skills**
2. Click **Import… > Import from Cursor**
3. Skills from `~/.cursor/skills/` are imported

### From Claude Code

1. Click **Import… > Import from Claude Code**
2. Skills from `.claude/skills/` and legacy `.claude/commands/` are imported

## Linked folders

Importing copies skills once — later edits in the source don't change your copy. **Linking** instead keeps a folder as a live source: Qualia re-reads it on every turn, so edits in the source are reflected with no re-import step. This is the recommended way to consume a skills repository you maintain yourself.

1. Open **Agent Customization** (the briefcase icon) and select **Skills**
2. Click **Linked folders**
3. Enter the absolute path to a directory of `skill-name/SKILL.md` subfolders **on the workspace host**, then click **Link**. When Qualia runs on your own machine, a **Browse…** button opens a native folder picker.

Each linked folder shows a validity indicator and how many skills it currently contributes, so a mistyped path or an empty folder isn't a silent dead-end. Only the top level of the folder is scanned — a `SKILL.md` must sit directly in `<folder>/<skill-name>/SKILL.md`.

Linked skills are **read-only in Qualia**: there's no edit, delete, or mode toggle for them, and their auto-invoke setting is controlled by `disable-model-invocation` in the source `SKILL.md`. Edit them in the source repository. If a linked skill's name collides with one you created in Qualia, your own skill takes precedence.

Paths are resolved on the machine the workspace backend runs on, so linking works for local, remote, and self-hosted workspaces alike. It's unavailable only in the multi-tenant hosted cloud.

## Skills vs rules

| Aspect        | Rules                                 | Skills                         |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| **Purpose**   | Ongoing behavior guidelines           | Specific procedures            |
| **Scope**     | Apply broadly                         | Triggered for specific tasks   |
| **Structure** | Constraints and preferences           | Step-by-step instructions      |
| **Example**   | "Always use polars instead of pandas" | "How to analyze a time series" |

Use both together: rules for how to work, skills for what to do.

## Managing skills

### Viewing files

In **Agent Customization > Skills**, use **Import… > Open skills folder** to reveal the skills directory. Each skill has its own folder containing a `SKILL.md` file. (Cloud workspaces store skills with your account, so there is no folder to reveal; edit skills from the Skills tab instead.)

### Editing

Edit your own skills in **Agent Customization > Skills** or directly on disk. Changes are picked up automatically. Linked-folder skills are read-only in Qualia — edit them in their source repository instead.

### Deleting

Delete your own skills from **Agent Customization > Skills**; the skill is removed from storage. Linked-folder skills can't be deleted here — remove the folder from **Linked folders** to unlink it, which never modifies the source.

## Best practices

**Match skills to workflows**: Each skill should correspond to a recognizable task. If you find yourself writing very long skills, consider breaking them into multiple smaller skills.

**Write clear descriptions**: The description helps agents (and you) know when to use the skill. Be specific about triggers.

**Test agent triggering**: After creating an agent-triggerable skill, verify it activates correctly with various phrasings of the same request.

**Version control your skills**: Consider making your skills repository a git repository and synchronizing it across devices or projects.