Skills

Skills are reusable, filesystem-based resources that provide the agent with domain-specific expertise: workflows, context, and best practices that transform general-purpose agents into specialists.

Compatibility

AdaL skills are compatible with Claude Code skills. You can use any Claude Code skill repository with AdaL.

What Are Skills?

Think of Skills as a hybrid of MCP and AGENTS.md:

• Unlike AGENTS.md (which loads all project context upfront), Skills load on-demand when relevant
• Unlike MCP servers (which require running processes), Skills are simple markdown files with optional bash scripts for tools

This means you don't need to repeatedly provide the same guidance across conversations—the agent discovers and loads the right expertise automatically.

Key characteristics:

• Filesystem-based: Skills live in folders containing SKILL.md and optional supporting files
• On-demand loading: Agent searches and loads skills when your task matches
• Tool integration: Skills can include bash scripts that the agent executes as tools

Skill Sources

Skills come from three places:

Source	Location	Use Case
Personal	~/.adal/skills/	Your custom skills
Project	.adal/skills/	Team skills shared via git
Plugin	~/.adal/plugin-cache/	External skills from GitHub

Understanding the Hierarchy

For external skills, there's a three-level structure:

Marketplace (GitHub repo, e.g., anthropics/skills)
    └── Plugin (skill group, e.g., document-skills)
            └── Skill (individual capability, e.g., xlsx, docx, pdf)

• Marketplace: A GitHub repository containing one or more plugins. Add with /plugin marketplace add.
• Plugin: A group of related skills. Install with /plugin install or via the /plugin dialog.
• Skill: An individual capability. Used automatically by the agent.

Example: The anthropics/skills marketplace contains the document-skills plugin, which includes skills for xlsx, docx, pptx, and pdf.

Teams Can Use Skills to Share Knowledge

Turn your feature docs and technical specs into skills. The agent loads them automatically when relevant, so you:

• Skip repetitive context — No more pasting the same background for every task
• Share knowledge — Team patterns and conventions become discoverable
• Avoid missed dependencies — Cross-feature context loads automatically

Example: Your team has payment-flow.md documenting the checkout process. As a skill, the agent loads it automatically when you work on payment-related code.

Quick Start & Commands

/skills - View All Active Skills

Shows all skills the agent can currently see and use, from all sources:

• Personal skills (~/.adal/skills/)
• Project skills (.adal/skills/)
• Plugin skills (installed from marketplaces)

/plugin - Manage External Skills

Manages external skills from different marketplaces (GitHub repositories):

Step	Command	Description
1	/plugin marketplace add <owner/repo>	Add a marketplace (one-time setup)
2	/plugin	Browse available plugins and marketplaces
3	/plugin install <plugin>@<marketplace>	Install a plugin (or use dialog)
4	/skills	View all active skills
5	Use naturally	The agent invokes skills when relevant

Example workflow:

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills    # Add marketplace
/plugin                                       # Browse & install via dialog
/skills                                       # See installed skills
> Create a PowerPoint presentation           # Agent uses pptx skill automatically

Other commands:

Command	Description
/plugin marketplace remove <name>	Remove a marketplace
/plugin uninstall <plugin>@<marketplace>	Uninstall a plugin

Note: The <marketplace> in install/uninstall refers to the marketplace name (from marketplace.json), not the GitHub repo. For example, anthropics/skills repo → marketplace name anthropic-agent-skills.

Interactive Dialogs

Skills Browser (/skills)

View all installed skills grouped by source:

> Skills (Page 1/2)

Personal (~/.adal/skills/):
  my-custom-skill

Project (.adal/skills/):
→ team-workflow

Plugins:
  xlsx (document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills)
  docx (document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills)
  pptx (document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills)
  pdf (document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills)

Plugin Browser (/plugin)

Navigate with arrow keys, press Enter to view details or install:

> Plugins

anthropic-agent-skills:
→ ✓ document-skills (installed)
  ○ example-skills

huggingface-skills:
  ○ model-trainer
  ○ dataset-creator

Tips:
  /plugin install <name>@<repo> to install
  /plugin marketplace add <owner/repo> to add repository

Example Skill Repositories

Anthropic Official Skills

Repository: github.com/anthropics/skills

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills

Collections:

• document-skills - Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF processing
• example-skills - Algorithmic art, frontend design, MCP builder

Hugging Face Skills

Repository: github.com/huggingface/skills

/plugin marketplace add huggingface/skills

Collections:

• model-trainer - Train/fine-tune LLMs using TRL on HF Jobs
• hugging-face-paper-publisher - Publish research papers
• hugging-face-dataset-creator - Create and manage datasets

Community Resources

• Awesome Claude Skills - Curated community skills
• Skills Marketplace - 25k+ community skills

Creating Your Own Skills

Personal Skills (~/.adal/skills/)

Create a folder with a SKILL.md file:

mkdir -p ~/.adal/skills/my-skill

~/.adal/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md:

name: my-skill
description: Brief description of what this skill does and when to use it

# My Skill

## When to Use
Describe when the agent should use this skill.

## Instructions
Provide step-by-step instructions for the agent to follow.

Advanced: Multi-file Skill Structure

Skills can bundle additional resources that the agent loads as needed. The agent discovers supporting files through links in your SKILL.md.

Content types:

• Instructions - Additional markdown files (FORMS.md, REFERENCE.md) with specialized guidance and workflows
• Code - Executable scripts (fill_form.py, validate.py) that the agent runs via bash; scripts provide deterministic operations without consuming context
• Resources - Reference materials like database schemas, API documentation, templates, or examples

The agent accesses these files only when referenced. Each content type has different strengths: instructions for flexible guidance, code for reliability, resources for factual lookup.

Example: pdf-skill

pdf-skill/
├── SKILL.md        # Main instructions (required)
├── FORMS.md        # Form-filling guide
├── REFERENCE.md    # Detailed API reference
└── scripts/
    └── fill_form.py    # Utility script

In your SKILL.md, link to supporting files:

For form filling, see [FORMS.md](./FORMS.md).
For API details, see [REFERENCE.md](./REFERENCE.md).
To fill a form: `python scripts/fill_form.py`

The agent reads linked files when relevant and executes scripts via bash.

Project Skills (.adal/skills/)

Same format, but in your project directory. These are shared with your team via git.

mkdir -p .adal/skills/team-workflow

Skill Priority

When skills have the same name, first-loaded wins:

1. Personal (~/.adal/skills/) - highest priority
2. Project (.adal/skills/)
3. Plugin (~/.adal/plugin-cache/) - lowest priority

Storage Locations

Path	Purpose
~/.adal/plugin-cache/	Cloned marketplace repos
~/.adal/skills/	Personal skills
.adal/skills/	Project-specific skills
~/.adal/settings.json	Plugin settings

Skills vs Other Approaches

Approach	Pros	Cons
Skills	On-demand loading, no running processes, team-shareable via git	Markdown-based (not real-time APIs)
MCP Servers	Real-time API access, standard protocol	Requires running processes, more setup
AGENTS.md	Simple, always loaded	All-or-nothing (no selective loading)

Use Skills for domain expertise and workflows, MCP for real-time tool access, and AGENTS.md for project-wide context. They complement each other.

Related: Slash Commands · MCP Servers · Workflows & Examples