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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 Remote chat, including every chat in the web app. On the Mac app, they work in Local chats that use Newly Agent or your own Claude login. Chats that use Codex don’t load them yet.

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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.