Skills
Teach the AI specialized behaviors and knowledge with reusable skill pages.
What Are Skills?
Skills are specialized instructions that teach the AI how to handle specific tasks. Each skill is a page that contains guidance, workflows, and context that the AI uses when activated.
Think of skills as reusable prompts that give the AI domain expertise. Instead of explaining what you want every time, you create a skill once and activate it whenever you need that capability.
Skills enable the AI to:
- Follow specific workflows consistently across conversations
- Apply domain knowledge you've documented
- Remember preferences for how you want things done
- Handle specialized tasks like grammar checking, meeting notes, or status updates
How Skills Work
Every workspace comes with a Skills database page at the root level. Skills are child pages of this database. The AI automatically sees all available skills at the start of each conversation.
The AI receives:
- The skill's title (the page name)
- The skill's description (the page subtitle)
When you activate a skill, the AI loads the full page content and follows those instructions.
Creating a Skill
You create skills by chatting with the AI. Simply describe what you want the skill to do.
Example conversation:
> You: Create a skill called "Code Review" that helps me review pull requests. It should check for common issues, suggest improvements, and ensure tests are included.
>
> AI: I'll create that skill for you. [Creates the skill page]
The AI will create a new page under the Skills database with:
- A clear title (the skill name)
- A descriptive subtitle (when to use it)
- Detailed instructions in the page body
Tips for Good Skills
- Be specific about triggers - Include when the skill should activate in the subtitle
- Write actionable instructions - Tell the AI what to do, not just what to consider
- Include examples - Show the format or style you want
- Document edge cases - Explain how to handle tricky situations
- Keep it focused - One skill per domain works better than broad, generic skills
Activating Skills
There are two ways to activate a skill:
1. Skill Selector
Click the Skills button in the chat panel to see available skills. Select one to activate it for your message. A badge shows which skill is active.
2. Ask the AI
You can also ask the AI to use a specific skill:
> "Use the Meeting Notes skill to process this transcript..."
>
> "Apply the Grammar Check skill to this page..."
The AI will recognize the skill name and load its instructions.
Skill Structure
A well-structured skill page includes:
Title
A short, descriptive name like "Meeting Notes" or "Weekly Update"
Subtitle
A brief description of when to use the skill. This helps the AI (and you) know when it applies.
Body Content
The detailed instructions. Common sections include:
- Purpose - What this skill accomplishes
- When to Use - Triggers and use cases
- Process - Step-by-step workflow
- Output Format - How to structure the result
- Examples - Sample inputs and outputs
- Edge Cases - How to handle unusual situations
Default Skills
New workspaces come with several built-in skills:
| Skill | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Onboarding | Help new users understand Thoughtful |
| Meeting Notes | Process transcripts into action items |
| Weekly Update | Craft clear status updates |
| Write Document | General-purpose writing assistance |
| Grammar Check | Edit for grammar, spelling, and clarity |
| Brevity Check | Make writing more concise |
These skills are fully editable. Customize them to match your team's preferences or use them as templates for creating your own.
Self-Improving Behavior
Skills enable a powerful pattern: the AI can update its own skills based on what it learns.
Example:
> You: That grammar check missed the Oxford comma issue. Update the skill to catch that in the future.
>
> AI: I'll update the Grammar Check skill to include Oxford comma checking. [Edits the skill page]
This creates a feedback loop where:
- You use a skill
- Notice something that could be better
- Ask the AI to update the skill
- Future uses benefit from the improvement
Over time, your skills become more refined and tailored to how you actually work.
Skills vs AGENTS.md
Thoughtful has two ways to give the AI persistent instructions:
| AGENTS.md | Skills | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Always loaded | Loaded on demand |
| Best for | Core context, preferences, conventions | Specialized tasks, workflows |
| Token usage | Uses context in every conversation | Only uses context when activated |
Use AGENTS.md for information the AI should always know:
- Who your team is
- Your preferred writing style
- Domain terminology
- Tools you use
Use Skills for specialized capabilities:
- Processing meeting notes
- Writing specific document types
- Code review checklists
- Custom workflows
Relationship to Claude Code Skills
If you use Claude Code (Anthropic's CLI tool), you may be familiar with its SKILL.md files. Thoughtful's skills follow a similar philosophy but are designed for the web workspace context.
The key differences:
| Claude Code Skills | Thoughtful Skills | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | SKILL.md files with YAML frontmatter | Pages with title, subtitle, and body |
| Location | .claude/skills/ directory | Skills database in workspace |
| Discovery | File system scan | AI context injection |
| Editing | Edit files directly | Edit pages in the UI or via AI |
The concepts transfer well. If you have Claude Code skills you want to bring into Thoughtful, you can copy the content into a new skill page.
Installing Skills from skills.sh
The AI can browse and install skills from the skills.sh directory, a community collection of pre-built skills.
> "Show me available skills from skills.sh"
>
> "Install the deployment skill from skills.sh"
When you install a skill, it creates a new page under your Skills database with the skill's content. You can then customize it for your needs.
Best Practices
Keep Skills Focused
One skill should do one thing well. Instead of a giant "Writing" skill, create separate skills for "Technical Docs," "Blog Posts," and "Status Updates."
Document the Workflow
Don't just describe what you want. Walk through the exact steps, decisions, and outputs. The more specific, the more consistent the results.
Include Trigger Phrases
In the subtitle, mention phrases that should activate this skill:
> "Process meeting transcripts. Triggers on requests like 'summarize this meeting' or 'extract action items'"
Test and Iterate
Create a skill, try it a few times, notice what could be better, update the skill. The best skills evolve through use.
Share What Works
Skills that work well for you might help your team. The skills database is shared across your workspace, so everyone benefits from improvements.
Composable Skills
Skills can be composable—one skill can route the AI to another skill. This lets you build sophisticated workflows from simple building blocks.
Example: A "Triage" skill that routes to other skills
This pattern is powerful because:
- Reusability — Each skill does one thing well
- Maintainability — Update the sub-skill and all routing skills benefit
- Flexibility — Create different "entry point" skills for different contexts
- Discoverability — The routing skill can help users find the right capability
You can even chain skills together: a "Weekly Report" skill might call the "Meeting Notes" skill to process recent meetings, then call a "Status Update" skill to format the output.