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About Skills

Skills are reusable knowledge packages that extend the agent with domain-specific expertise — deployment guides, debugging playbooks, framework best practices, and more. Each skill is a self-contained SKILL.md file that provides specialized instructions the agent can draw on during conversations. Skills follow the agentskills.io specification, ensuring compatibility across AI tools.
Skills are available as a Public Beta opt-in from the Settings page in JetBrains IDEs 0.428.8+. They are also being rolled out server-side for Community (Vanguard) tier users.

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Creating a Skill

Each skill lives in its own named directory containing a SKILL.md file: 
.augment/skills/
  ├── python-testing/
  │   └── SKILL.md
  ├── api-design/
  │   └── SKILL.md
  └── deploy-guide/
      └── SKILL.md

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SKILL.md Format

Each SKILL.md file must include YAML frontmatter with a name and description, followed by markdown content with instructions: 
---
name: deploy-guide
description: Step-by-step deployment procedures for our production infrastructure
---

# Deployment Guide

## Pre-deployment Checklist
1. Run all tests with `npm test`
2. Verify environment variables are set
3. Check database migrations are up to date

## Deploying to Production
...

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Frontmatter Fields

FieldDescriptionRequirements
nameSkill identifier1–64 characters, lowercase alphanumeric and hyphens only, must match directory name
descriptionWhat the skill does and when to use it1–1024 characters

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Skill Name Requirements

Skill names must:
  • Be 1–64 characters long
  • Use only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens
  • Not start or end with a hyphen
  • Not contain consecutive hyphens
  • Match the directory name containing the SKILL.md file
Valid names: python-testing, api-design, deploy-guide Invalid names: Python-Testing, api_design, -deploy, my--skill

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Skill Modes

Skills can operate in one of three modes:
ModeBehavior
AutoInjected into every conversation automatically
ManualAvailable on demand via the / slash menu
DisabledLoaded but not active
Use Auto for skills you always want available (e.g., project conventions). Use Manual for specialized skills you only need occasionally (e.g., deployment playbooks). Set skills to Disabled to temporarily deactivate them without removing the files.

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Skill Locations

Skills are discovered from multiple locations in order of precedence:
LocationScopeDescription
~/.augment/skills/UserAvailable in all workspaces (highest precedence)
<workspace>/.augment/skills/WorkspaceProject-specific, can be version controlled
~/.claude/skills/UserCompatible with Claude Code
<workspace>/.claude/skills/WorkspaceCompatible with Claude Code
~/.agents/skills/UserIndustry-standard location
<workspace>/.agents/skills/WorkspaceIndustry-standard location
When multiple skills with the same name exist in different locations, the skill from the higher-precedence location is used.

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Getting Started

1

Create the skills directory

mkdir -p .augment/skills/my-skill
2

Create the SKILL.md file

Create .augment/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md:
---
name: my-skill
description: Custom skill for my project workflow
---

# My Custom Skill

Add your domain-specific guidance, examples, and instructions here.
3

Use the skill

The skill will be discovered automatically. Use the / slash menu to invoke manual skills, or set the mode to Auto for always-on skills.

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Best Practices

  1. Focus each skill on a single domain — keep skills modular and specific
  2. Include concrete examples — provide code samples and commands
  3. Write clear descriptions — help the agent understand when to apply each skill
  4. Version control workspace skills — commit .augment/skills/ to share with your team
  5. Use Auto sparingly — only for skills that are relevant to every conversation

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See Also