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A skill is a short set of instructions that teaches the agent how to do one kind of task your way: how to write your app’s copy, how you want tests written, what a release checklist looks like. The agent reads a skill’s description and uses the skill whenever a task fits. You can also call one yourself. Newly Agent already comes with built-in skills for building mobile apps. They are always on and aren’t listed. The skills described here are the ones you add.

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Where skills work

Skills work in every chat.

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Two kinds of skills

Use a project skill for how this app should be built, such as its brand voice or naming rules. Use your own skills for how you like to work, such as a code-review checklist you want everywhere.

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Add a skill

You can add skills from two places:
  • The prompt box: click +, then Skills, then + New.
  • Settings: open Settings, then + New skill in the Skills section.
Then choose how to add it.

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Write one

  1. Pick Write one.
  2. Name: a short name such as brand-voice. Spaces turn into hyphens as you type, and the name is always lowercase.
  3. When to use it: one sentence the agent reads to decide when the skill applies, for example “Writing any user-facing copy”.
  4. Instructions: what the agent should do, step by step.
  5. Under Available in, choose This project or All projects, then click Add skill.
Add skill stays grey until the skill has a name and instructions.

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From GitHub

  1. Pick From GitHub and paste a link to a public GitHub repository or folder.
  2. Choose This project or All projects, then click Add skill.
What the link points to decides what you get:
  • A folder with a SKILL.md file adds that one skill, together with the other files in its folder, such as scripts or reference notes.
  • A whole repository, or a folder of skills, adds every skill inside it at once. For example, a repository that keeps its skills under skills/ adds all of them.
  • A link straight to a SKILL.md file adds just that file.
Copies of skills kept in hidden folders (folders whose names start with a dot) are skipped, so you don’t get duplicates. If some files in a repository aren’t valid skills, the rest are still added.
If a repository is too large to read, paste the link to its skills folder instead of the whole repository.

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Use a skill

The agent picks up a skill on its own when your request matches the skill’s When to use it line. You don’t have to do anything. To use one right now:
  1. Type / in the prompt box. A list of your skills that are turned on opens, with this project’s first.
  2. Keep typing to filter by name or description.
  3. Use ↑ and ↓ to move, then Enter or Tab to pick one. You can also click it. Esc closes the list.
  4. The skill appears as a chip, such as /brand-voice, and the prompt box asks you to Describe the task. Type what you want and send.
To drop the chip, click its ×, or press Backspace while the prompt box is empty. You can also just type /brand-voice at the start of a message, followed by what you want.

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Turn a skill off or remove it

Each skill in the list has a switch and a remove button:
  • Switch off to pause a skill. It stays in your list, but the agent doesn’t use it and it doesn’t appear when you type /. Switch it back on at any time.
  • Remove (× in the prompt box menu) deletes it.
The Skills row in the + menu shows how many of your skills are on.

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When changes take effect

A chat loads its skills when it starts, and again when it wakes up after going to sleep. Adding, turning off or removing a skill applies:
  • to every new chat straight away
  • to an existing chat the next time it wakes up
A chat that is already running keeps the skills it started with. To use a new skill right away, start a new chat. Removing a skill doesn’t erase what the agent already read in earlier messages of a chat. For a completely clean start, open a new chat.

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Skills on the Home screen

On the Home screen, your first prompt creates a new project. A skill you add there with This project is saved to that new project as soon as it’s created, so its first chat already has it. If a skill can’t be saved, the new project’s Skills list tells you which one to add again.

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Who can change project skills

Anyone who can edit a project can add, turn off or remove its skills. If the project is shared with you for viewing only, trying to change a skill shows “This project is shared with you for viewing. Ask an admin of the project for edit access.” See Share a project. Your own skills are yours alone. Nobody else sees them, even in projects you share.

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Limits

A skill imported from GitHub is a copy. Later changes in the repository don’t reach Newly. To take a newer version, remove the skill and add it again.

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Messages you might see

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Write a good skill

  • Make “When to use it” specific. “Writing any user-facing copy” works better than “Copy”.
  • Keep each skill to one job. Two small skills beat one long one.
  • Write the instructions as steps, the way you’d brief a teammate.
  • Test it. Start a new chat, type / and pick your skill, then ask for a small task and check the result.