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

# Skills

> Enable system skills or create custom ones to extend the capabilities of your agents.

# Using Agent Skills

The **Skills** page is your hub for managing Agent Skills — structured workflows that give the SRI Agent domain expertise. Enable pre-built system skills, create custom skills tailored to your team's runbooks, and manage everything from one place.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/rubixkube/vcrcLHnsfAfdbq9A/images/platform/skills-catalogue.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=vcrcLHnsfAfdbq9A&q=85&s=0df67ddae541fcc1242cf209743b6588" alt="Agent Skills page with System and Custom counters, skills catalogue on the left, and a skill open on the right showing description and agent instructions." width="3600" height="2260" data-path="images/platform/skills-catalogue.png" />

  <Caption>The Skills catalogue. System skills ship with the product, custom skills are authored in the open Agent Skills format, the same standard used by other AI agents.</Caption>
</Frame>

***

## Skills Page Overview

When you open **Skills** from the left sidebar, you'll see:

* **Skill counts** — Total **System** and **Custom** skills at a glance
* **Filter tabs** — Switch between **System**, **Custom**, **Enabled**, and **Disabled** views
* **Search bar** — Find skills by name or description
* **Skills catalog** — List of all available skills with status badges
* **+ New Skill** button — Create a custom skill (top-right corner)

<Info>
  <strong>First time here?</strong> A banner at the top introduces Agent Skills and links to the open <a href="https://agentskills.io/home">Agent Skills format</a> documentation.
</Info>

***

## Browsing Skills

### Filter Tabs

Use the filter tabs above the catalog to narrow your view:

| Filter       | Shows                                    |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------- |
| **System**   | Pre-built skills maintained by RubixKube |
| **Custom**   | Skills created by your team              |
| **Enabled**  | All currently active skills              |
| **Disabled** | Skills that are available but not active |

You can also use the **Search bar** to find skills by name or keyword.

### Skill Cards

Each skill in the catalog shows:

* **Name** with an **ENABLED** or **DISABLED** badge
* **Brief description** of what the skill does
* **Agent assignment** (`sre-agent`)
* **Tool count** — how many tools the skill uses

***

## Viewing Skill Details

Click on any skill in the catalog to see its full details in the right panel:

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/rubixkube/mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3/images/using/skills/skill_details.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3&q=85&s=4129cc6efe14371d1e4f3729fcfd1cce" alt="Skill detail view showing description, instructions, and tools" width="1919" height="869" data-path="images/using/skills/skill_details.png" />

  <Caption>Detail view of the linear-tickets-to-notion skill with description and instructions</Caption>
</Frame>

The detail panel displays:

* **Skill type** — `system skill` or `custom`
* **Agent** — Which agent uses this skill (currently `sre-agent`)
* **Version** — Skill version number
* **Last updated** — When the skill was last modified
* **Enabled toggle** — Enable or disable the skill for your tenant
* **Use as template** — Create a custom skill based on this one
* **Description** — Full description of the skill's purpose
* **Instructions** — The step-by-step workflow the agent follows, including which tools to use at each step

***

## Enabling and Disabling Skills

### Enable a Skill

To make a skill available to the SRI Agent:

1. Navigate to the **Skills** page
2. Find the skill you want to enable in the catalog
3. Click on the skill to open its detail panel
4. Toggle the **Enabled** switch to on

The skill becomes immediately available — the next time you ask a relevant question in Chat, the SRI Agent will use this skill's instructions.

### Disable a Skill

To stop a skill from being used:

1. Open the skill's detail panel
2. Toggle the **Enabled** switch to off

<Warning>
  Disabling a skill does not delete it. You can re-enable it at any time.
</Warning>

***

## Creating Custom Skills

You can create custom skills in two ways: **from scratch** or **from a template**.

### Option 1: Create from Scratch

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/rubixkube/mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3/images/using/skills/custom_skill.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3&q=85&s=01def80b13ea9246242c2bbaaa72c09a" alt="New Skill form with upload, name, description, and instructions fields" width="1919" height="871" data-path="images/using/skills/custom_skill.png" />

  <Caption>New Skill creation form — upload a SKILL.md file or fill in the fields manually</Caption>
</Frame>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Click + New Skill">
    Click the **"+ New Skill"** button in the top-right corner of the Skills page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Upload or Fill In">
    You have two options:

    * **Upload a SKILL.md file** — Drag and drop a skill file that follows the open [Agent Skills format](https://agentskills.io/home). The fields will be auto-populated.
    * **Fill in manually** — Enter the skill details directly in the form.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter Skill Details">
    Fill in the following fields:

    | Field             | Description                     | Rules                                                 |
    | ----------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Name**          | Unique skill identifier         | Lowercase, numbers, hyphens only. 1–64 characters     |
    | **Description**   | What the skill does             | Up to 1024 characters                                 |
    | **Agent**         | Which agent will use this skill | Select **SRI Agent** from the dropdown                |
    | **Allowed Tools** | Tools this skill can use        | Comma-separated tool names. Leave empty for all tools |
    | **Instructions**  | Step-by-step workflow           | The detailed instructions the agent will follow       |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the Agent">
    From the **Agent** dropdown, select **SRI Agent**. This is currently the only agent available for skill assignment.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create the Skill">
    Click **"Create skill"** to save. The skill will appear in the catalog under the **Custom** filter tab.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Option 2: Create from Template

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/rubixkube/mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3/images/using/skills/skill_from_template.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3&q=85&s=4a17d4ac3b9d5525000847b58609f047" alt="New skill from template form with pre-populated fields" width="1919" height="873" data-path="images/using/skills/skill_from_template.png" />

  <Caption>Creating a new skill from an existing system skill template</Caption>
</Frame>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open a System Skill">
    Click on any system skill in the catalog to open its detail panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Use as Template">
    Click **"Use as template"** in the top-right of the detail panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Customize">
    The form opens pre-populated with the system skill's details. Modify the **name**, **description**, **instructions**, and **allowed tools** to match your requirements.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Agent and Create">
    Select **SRI Agent** from the agent dropdown and click **"Create skill"**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Using templates is the fastest way to create custom skills — start from a proven workflow and adapt it to your environment.
</Tip>

***

## Editing Custom Skills

You can edit any custom skill after it has been created. System skills cannot be edited directly — use **"Use as template"** to create an editable copy instead.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Custom Skill">
    Click on the custom skill in the catalog to open its detail panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Edit">
    Click the **"Edit"** button in the top-right of the detail panel. The skill form opens pre-populated with the current values.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Update the Fields">
    Modify any of the editable fields:

    | Field             | Description                                           |
    | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Name**          | Unique skill identifier (lowercase, numbers, hyphens) |
    | **Description**   | What the skill does and when to use it                |
    | **Agent**         | Which agent will use this skill (SRI Agent)           |
    | **Allowed Tools** | Comma-separated tool names the skill can use          |
    | **Instructions**  | Step-by-step workflow the agent follows               |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save Changes">
    Click **"Update skill"** to save. Changes take effect immediately — the next Chat interaction will use the updated skill definition.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Editing a skill's instructions or allowed tools takes effect immediately for all future executions. If a skill is currently in use by an active Chat session, the updated version applies to the next invocation.
</Warning>

***

## Agent Selection

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/rubixkube/mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3/images/using/skills/agent_selection.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3&q=85&s=e0520a64f314ceed3e708d2918e0788e" alt="Agent dropdown showing SRI Agent as the available option" width="1915" height="855" data-path="images/using/skills/agent_selection.png" />

  <Caption>The Agent dropdown when creating a skill — currently only the SRI Agent is available</Caption>
</Frame>

When creating or editing a custom skill, you'll see an **Agent** dropdown. Currently, the **SRI Agent** is the only agent available for skill assignment. The SRI Agent powers RubixKube's Chat interface — when you ask questions related to an enabled skill's domain, the agent automatically triggers the skill and follows its instructions.

***

## Allowed Tools

When creating a skill, you can specify which tools the skill is designed to use:

* **Comma-separated list** — Enter tool names separated by commas (e.g., `fetch_infrastructure_snapshot, fetch_kubernetes_logs, analyze_kubernetes_resources`)
* **Leave empty** — If left empty, the skill can reference all available tools

<Info>
  Common tools include: <code>fetch\_infrastructure\_snapshot</code>, <code>fetch\_kubernetes\_graph\_snapshot</code>, <code>analyze\_kubernetes\_resources</code>, <code>kubectl\_describe\_tool</code>, <code>fetch\_kubernetes\_logs</code>, <code>fetch\_kubernetes\_metrics</code>
</Info>

***

## Skill Format & Validation

RubixKube validates all skills against the open [Agent Skills specification](https://agentskills.io/specification). When you create or update a skill — whether through the console form or by uploading a `SKILL.md` file — the following rules are enforced.

### SKILL.md File Format

If you're uploading a skill file, it must follow the standard `SKILL.md` format with **YAML frontmatter** and a **markdown body**:

```md theme={null}
---
name: my-custom-skill
description: A clear description of what this skill does and when to use it.
allowed-tools: tool_one tool_two tool_three
---

## Instructions

Step 1: Do the first thing
  Action: Describe what to do
  Tool: tool_one

Step 2: Do the next thing
  Action: Describe the follow-up action
  Tool: tool_two
```

### Field Validation Rules

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Name">
    | Rule                            | Details                                                          |
    | ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Required**                    | Must be a non-empty string                                       |
    | **Length**                      | 1–64 characters                                                  |
    | **Characters**                  | Lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only (`a-z`, `0-9`, `-`) |
    | **No leading/trailing hyphens** | Cannot start or end with `-`                                     |
    | **No consecutive hyphens**      | Cannot contain `--`                                              |

    ```
    ✅ kubernetes-cluster-triage
    ✅ debug-linear-incident
    ✅ my-skill-v2

    ❌ My-Skill          (uppercase not allowed)
    ❌ -my-skill          (cannot start with hyphen)
    ❌ my--skill           (consecutive hyphens not allowed)
    ❌ this-name-is-way-too-long-and-exceeds-the-sixty-four-character-maximum-limit
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Description">
    | Rule              | Details                                                                                                                             |
    | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Required**      | Must be a non-empty string                                                                                                          |
    | **Length**        | 1–1024 characters                                                                                                                   |
    | **Best practice** | Describe both *what* the skill does and *when* to use it. Include keywords that help the SRI Agent match user queries to this skill |
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Instructions">
    | Rule              | Details                                                                  |
    | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
    | **Required**      | Must be a non-empty string                                               |
    | **Length**        | Max 16,384 characters (16 KB)                                            |
    | **Best practice** | Use clear step-by-step structure. Specify which tool to use at each step |

    Write instructions as structured steps:

    ```
    Step 1: Obtain High-Level Cluster Overview
      Action: Begin by getting a broad snapshot of the
      entire cluster's state.
      Tool: fetch_infrastructure_snapshot

    Step 2: Analyze Resource Health
      Action: Identify any resources in error, warning,
      or degraded states.
      Tool: analyze_kubernetes_resources
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Allowed Tools">
    | Rule         | Details                                                                                 |
    | ------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Optional** | Can be left empty (skill can reference all available tools)                             |
    | **Format**   | Comma-separated tool names in the console, or space-delimited in `SKILL.md` frontmatter |
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Compatibility (optional)">
    | Rule         | Details                                                          |
    | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Optional** | Only include if your skill has specific environment requirements |
    | **Type**     | Must be a string                                                 |
    | **Length**   | Max 500 characters                                               |
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Metadata (optional)">
    | Rule             | Details                              |
    | ---------------- | ------------------------------------ |
    | **Max keys**     | 50                                   |
    | **Key length**   | Max 64 characters per key            |
    | **Value length** | Max 1000 characters per string value |
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Allowed Frontmatter Fields

Only the following fields are recognized in the `SKILL.md` frontmatter:

| Field           | Required | Description                            |
| --------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------- |
| `name`          | ✅        | Unique skill identifier                |
| `description`   | ✅        | What the skill does and when to use it |
| `allowed-tools` | ❌        | Tools this skill is designed to use    |
| `license`       | ❌        | License applied to the skill           |
| `compatibility` | ❌        | Environment requirements               |
| `metadata`      | ❌        | Custom key-value pairs                 |

<Info>
  RubixKube follows the open <a href="https://agentskills.io/specification">Agent Skills specification</a> from Anthropic. You can validate your <code>SKILL.md</code> files locally using the <a href="https://github.com/agentskills/agentskills/tree/main/skills-ref">skills-ref</a> reference library.
</Info>

<Tip>
  You can also upload a <strong>SKILL.md</strong> file following the open <a href="https://agentskills.io/home">Agent Skills specification</a> — the same format used by Cursor, Claude Code, and GitHub Copilot.
</Tip>

***

## How Skills Get Triggered

Skills can be triggered in two ways through **Chat**: **automatically** by intent matching, or **explicitly** using the `@` mention.

### Automatic Matching

When you ask the SRI Agent a question, it silently compares your intent against all enabled skills. If a match is found, the agent loads and follows that skill's instructions — no special syntax needed.

For example:

* Asking *"What's wrong with my cluster?"* → triggers **kubernetes-cluster-triage**
* Asking *"Put my Linear tickets in Notion"* → triggers **linear-tickets-to-notion**

### Explicit @ Mention

You can also invoke a skill directly by typing **`@`** in the Chat input. This opens a context menu listing all enabled skills — click the one you want, then type your message.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/rubixkube/mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3/images/using/skills/@mention.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3&q=85&s=a9a91e2682ff5236f69218aead9c03fa" alt="@ context menu showing available skills in Chat" width="1918" height="861" data-path="images/using/skills/@mention.png" />

  <Caption>Typing @ in Chat shows all enabled skills — click to attach a skill to your message</Caption>
</Frame>

This is useful when you want to **explicitly choose** which skill the agent should follow, rather than relying on automatic matching.

### Skill Execution

Once a skill is triggered (by either method), the SRI Agent:

1. **Loads** the skill's detailed instructions
2. **Executes** each step using the specified tools (you'll see `fetch_skill_details` in the Chat activity)
3. **Returns** structured results in your conversation

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/rubixkube/mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3/images/using/skills/skill_execution.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mlOcvNrFYENLAEw3&q=85&s=17d9c4b770cf11606ddca0a1975f2d38" alt="Chat showing skill execution with fetch_skill_details tool call" width="1919" height="875" data-path="images/using/skills/skill_execution.png" />

  <Caption>The SRI Agent loading and executing a skill — note the fetch\_skill\_details tool call</Caption>
</Frame>

<Info>
  You don't need to mention the skill by name when using automatic matching — the SRI Agent infers the match from context. Use <code>@</code> when you want to be explicit.
</Info>

***

## System Skills Reference

RubixKube includes the following pre-built system skills:

| Skill                         | Description                                                                                                                               | Tools     |
| ----------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |
| **kubernetes-cluster-triage** | Systematic health check and triage of a Kubernetes cluster — analyzes infrastructure, identifies unhealthy resources, gathers diagnostics | 6 tools   |
| **linear-tickets-to-notion**  | Fetches assigned Linear issues and adds them to a new Notion page using Linear and Notion MCP tools                                       | sre-agent |
| **research-devops-sre-infra** | Uses web search to research DevOps, SRE, and infrastructure topics                                                                        | 1 tool    |

***

## What You Learned

* How to browse and filter skills in the catalog
* How to view skill details including description, instructions, and tools
* How to enable and disable skills
* How to create custom skills from scratch or from a template
* How skills get triggered through Chat
* The system skills available out of the box

***

## Next: [Using Settings](/using/settings)

***

## Related Guides

* [Using Agents & Tools](/using/agents) — Monitor agent health and capabilities
* [Skills Concepts](/concepts/skills), how skills work and why they matter
* [Dashboard](/using/dashboard) — Your command center for infrastructure health
* [Integrations](/using/integrations) — Connect external tools and services

***

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    <br />

    Please include your Tenant ID (Settings → Organization), timestamp, and screenshots.
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