Skills
Skills let developers package reusable workflow guidance and supporting files so Enterprise AI agents can apply the same procedure consistently across tasks.
A skill is a workflow bundle with one required manifest file named SKILL.md or skill.md. The manifest provides the skill name, description, and task instructions. A skill can also include scripts, templates, schemas, examples, API references, and other resources that support the workflow.
Use skills for repeatable tasks such as diagnostics, data processing, report generation, code validation, document processing, and team-specific procedures.
| Skill type | Description |
|---|---|
| Hosted skills | Uploaded, managed, and versioned skill bundles that can be attached to OCI-managed hosted shell environments. |
| Local skills | Skill folders available in a customer-managed runtime and referenced by local path when using local shell execution. |
| Inline skills | Request-scoped skill bundles provided directly in a request, typically as a base64-encoded zip file. |
| Curated skills | Provider-managed skill bundles for supported workflows, where available for the selected model, region, and shell environment. |
Review skills before attaching them to a shell environment. Skills can influence planning, command execution, file access, and network behavior. Don't store secrets in skill bundles. Use domain secrets or OCI Resource Principal where appropriate, and enforce authorization, approval, network, and resource controls outside the skill.
For request examples, skill attachment examples, versioning details, limits, and safety guidance, see get-started-agents.htm#skills.