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Skills

Kilo Code implements Agent Skills, a lightweight, open format for extending AI agent capabilities with specialized knowledge and workflows.

What Are Agent Skills?​

Agent Skills package domain expertise, new capabilities, and repeatable workflows that agents can use. At its core, a skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file with metadata and instructions that tell an agent how to perform a specific task.

This approach keeps agents fast while giving them access to more context on demand. When a task matches a skill's description, the agent reads the full instructions into context and follows them—optionally loading referenced files or executing bundled code as needed.

Key Benefits​

  • Self-documenting: A skill author or user can read a SKILL.md file and understand what it does, making skills easy to audit and improve
  • Interoperable: Skills work across any agent that implements the Agent Skills specification
  • Extensible: Skills can range in complexity from simple text instructions to bundled scripts, templates, and reference materials
  • Shareable: Skills are portable and can be easily shared between projects and developers

How Skills Work in Kilo Code​

Skills can be:

  • Generic - Available in all modes
  • Mode-specific - Only loaded when using a particular mode (e.g., code, architect)

The workflow is:

  1. Discovery: Skills are scanned from designated directories when Kilo Code initializes
  2. Activation: When a mode is active, relevant skills are included in the system prompt
  3. Execution: The AI agent follows the skill's instructions for applicable tasks

Skill Locations​

Skills are loaded from multiple locations, allowing both personal skills and project-specific instructions.

Global Skills (User-Level)​

Located in ~/.kilocode/skills/:

~/.kilocode/
├── skills/                    # Generic skills (all modes)
│   ├── my-skill/
│   │   └── SKILL.md
│   └── another-skill/
│       └── SKILL.md
├── skills-code/              # Code mode only
│   └── refactoring/
│       └── SKILL.md
└── skills-architect/         # Architect mode only
    └── system-design/
        └── SKILL.md

Project Skills (Workspace-Level)​

Located in .kilocode/skills/ within your project:

your-project/
└── .kilocode/
    ├── skills/               # Generic skills for this project
    │   └── project-conventions/
    │       └── SKILL.md
    └── skills-code/          # Code mode skills for this project
        └── linting-rules/
            └── SKILL.md

SKILL.md Format​

The SKILL.md file uses YAML frontmatter followed by Markdown content containing the instructions:

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

# Instructions

Your detailed instructions for the AI agent go here.

These instructions will be included in the system prompt when:

1. The skill is discovered in a valid location
2. The current mode matches (or the skill is generic)

## Example Usage

You can include examples, guidelines, code snippets, etc.

Frontmatter Fields​

Per the Agent Skills specification:

FieldRequiredDescription
nameYesMax 64 characters. Lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only. Must not start or end with a hyphen.
descriptionYesMax 1024 characters. Describes what the skill does and when to use it.
licenseNoLicense name or reference to a bundled license file
compatibilityNoEnvironment requirements (intended product, system packages, network access, etc.)
metadataNoArbitrary key-value mapping for additional metadata

Example with Optional Fields​

---
name: pdf-processing
description: Extract text and tables from PDF files, fill forms, merge documents.
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
    author: example-org
    version: 1.0.0
---

## How to extract text

1. Use pdfplumber for text extraction...

## How to fill forms

...

Name Matching Rule​

In Kilo Code, the name field must match the parent directory name:

✅ Correct:
skills/
└── frontend-design/
    └── SKILL.md  # name: frontend-design

❌ Incorrect:
skills/
└── frontend-design/
    └── SKILL.md  # name: my-frontend-skill  (doesn't match!)

Optional Bundled Resources​

While SKILL.md is the only required file, you can optionally include additional directories to support your skill:

my-skill/
├── SKILL.md           # Required: instructions + metadata
├── scripts/           # Optional: executable code
├── references/        # Optional: documentation
└── assets/            # Optional: templates, resources

These additional files can be referenced from your skill's instructions, allowing the agent to read documentation, execute scripts, or use templates as needed.

Priority and Overrides​

When multiple skills share the same name, Kilo Code uses these priority rules:

  1. Project skills override global skills - A project skill with the same name takes precedence
  2. Mode-specific skills override generic skills - A skill in skills-code/ overrides the same skill in skills/ when in Code mode

This allows you to:

  • Define global skills for personal use
  • Override them per-project when needed
  • Customize behavior for specific modes

When Skills Are Loaded​

Skills are discovered when Kilo Code initializes:

  • When VSCode starts
  • When you reload the VSCode window (Cmd+Shift+P → "Developer: Reload Window")

Skills directories are monitored for changes to SKILL.md files. However, the most reliable way to pick up new skills is to reload VS or the Kilo Code extension.

Adding or modifying skills requires reloading VSCode for changes to take effect.

Example: Creating a Skill​

  1. Create the skill directory:

    mkdir -p ~/.kilocode/skills/api-design

  2. Create SKILL.md:

    ---
    name: api-design
    description: REST API design best practices and conventions
    ---

    # API Design Guidelines

    When designing REST APIs, follow these conventions:

    ## URL Structure

    - Use plural nouns for resources: `/users`, `/orders`
    - Use kebab-case for multi-word resources: `/order-items`
    - Nest related resources: `/users/{id}/orders`

    ## HTTP Methods

    - GET: Retrieve resources
    - POST: Create new resources
    - PUT: Replace entire resource
    - PATCH: Partial update
    - DELETE: Remove resource

    ## Response Codes

    - 200: Success
    - 201: Created
    - 400: Bad Request
    - 404: Not Found
    - 500: Server Error

  3. Reload VSCode to load the skill

  4. The skill will now be available in all modes

Mode-Specific Skills​

To create a skill that only appears in a specific mode:

# For Code mode only
mkdir -p ~/.kilocode/skills-code/typescript-patterns

# For Architect mode only
mkdir -p ~/.kilocode/skills-architect/microservices

The directory naming pattern is skills-{mode-slug} where {mode-slug} matches the mode's identifier (e.g., code, architect, ask, debug).

You can symlink skills directories to share skills across machines or from a central repository:

# Symlink entire skills directory
ln -s /path/to/shared/skills ~/.kilocode/skills

# Or symlink individual skills
ln -s /path/to/shared/api-design ~/.kilocode/skills/api-design

When using symlinks, the skill's name field must match the symlink name, not the target directory name.

Finding Skills​

There are community efforts to build and share agent skills. Some resources include:

Creating Your Own​

Skills are simple Markdown files with frontmatter. Start with your existing prompt templates or instructions and convert them to the skill format.

Troubleshooting​

Skill Not Loading?​

  1. Check the Output panel: Open View → Output → Select "Kilo Code" from dropdown. Look for skill-related errors.

  2. Verify frontmatter: Ensure name exactly matches the directory name and description is present.

  3. Reload VSCode: Skills are loaded at startup. Use Cmd+Shift+P → "Developer: Reload Window".

  4. Check file location: Ensure SKILL.md is directly inside the skill directory, not nested further.

Common Errors​

ErrorCauseSolution
"missing required 'name' field"No name in frontmatterAdd name: your-skill-name
"name doesn't match directory"Mismatch between frontmatter and folder nameMake name match exactly
Skill not appearingWrong directory structureVerify path follows skills/skill-name/SKILL.md
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