What a 'Skill' Is (It's a Text File)

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what is an AI skill, and do I have to install something?what is an AI skill, and do I have to install something?what is SKILL.md?

It is a folder with a text file in it, not an install. The file says what the job is called, the exact words someone says when they need it, and the numbered steps. Beside it sit the things the steps need: a checklist, a small script, an example of a good result. It is the SOP you would hand a new hire, written for the AI instead.It is a folder with a text file in it, not an install. The file says what the job is called, the exact words someone says when they need it, and the numbered steps. Beside it sit the things the steps need: a checklist, a small script, an example of a good result. It is the SOP you would hand a new hire, written for the AI instead.A directory holding SKILL.md: frontmatter with a name and a description, then imperative numbered steps, alongside scripts/, references/ and assets/. The host keeps only the metadata in context and loads the body when the description matches, which is progressive disclosure, so carrying thirty skills costs thirty descriptions. Keep the body short, push detail into references, and keep credentials out of it entirely.

why write a skill instead of reusing a good prompt?why write a skill instead of reusing a good prompt?skill versus a pasted prompt

Because the whole team can run it and it runs the same way every time, including the steps that say what not to do. The description line does most of the work: one that says helps with Metrc either never fires or fires on everything, while one carrying the exact phrases your team says fires reliably. Keep the folder somewhere everyone gets the same copy.Because the whole team can run it and it runs the same way every time, including the steps that say what not to do. The description line does most of the work: one that says helps with Metrc either never fires or fires on everything, while one carrying the exact phrases your team says fires reliably. Keep the folder somewhere everyone gets the same copy.A skill is description-matched procedure injection: same steps, same script, same negative constraints on every run, versioned in a repo and portable across agent hosts unchanged. The trigger is the description string, so write it with the literal phrasings users actually produce. The failure mode is silence: a wrong step repeats on every run, and overlapping descriptions get resolved by the host without telling you which won.