Skills in Code Studio

18 Mar 20268 minutes to read

Overview

Skills let you extend Code Studio with reusable, task-focused capabilities packaged as a structured folder. Each Skill bundles a SKILL.md file alongside any supporting assets—scripts, templates, and examples—that Code Studio loads when the Skill becomes relevant.

Unlike one-off instructions or prompts, Skills encapsulate complete workflows: testing routines, deployment steps, debugging procedures, UI generation patterns, or domain-specific automation. Skills are portable and work across any skills-compatible agent.

When to Use

Use Skills when you need to:

• Standardize a multi-step workflow that you repeat across projects (for example, a testing routine or a code-review checklist).
• Share team-wide AI workflows by storing Skills in the repository under version control.
• Automate domain-specific tasks—such as security scanning, UI generation, or documentation generation—without re-entering the same context in every chat session.
• Override or supplement default AI behavior for a specific class of tasks.
• Create portable capabilities that work across different AI tools, not just Code Studio.

Prerequisites

• Syncfusion Code Studio is installed and running.
• You have an active chat session open in Code Studio.
• You have write access to either your personal profile folder or the project repository, depending on where you want to store the Skill.

Steps to Create a Skill

Tip: Type /skills in the chat input to quickly open the Configure Skills menu.

Skills are stored in directories with a SKILL.md file. Code Studio supports two storage scopes:

Scope	Supported paths
Project Skills (stored in the repository)	.codestudio/skills/, .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Personal Skills (stored in your user profile)	~/.codestudio/skills/, ~/.copilot/skills/, ~/.claude/skills/, ~/.agents/skills/

Step 1: Open the Skills Menu

Open the chat box and type /skills in the chat input.

Step 2: Create a New Skill

Click + New Skill from the command palette.

Step 3: Choose the Save Location

Select where to store your Skill:

Location	Where it is saved	Who can use it
Project Skills	Inside the repository	Anyone with repository access
Personal Skills	Your personal profile	Only you, across all projects

Step 4: Name the Skill Folder

Enter a name for your Skill folder. The directory name must match the name field you will set in SKILL.md. Code Studio creates the folder structure automatically.

Step 5: Create the SKILL.md File

Code Studio creates a SKILL.md file inside the Skill folder. Edit it with the following structure:

Step 6: Add Optional Resources

Place any supporting files the AI should reference inside the same Skill folder:

• Scripts
• Templates
• Examples
• Notes

For example, a Skill for fixing documentation gaps might include:

• SKILL.md — Instructions for reviewing and improving documentation

Step 7: Use the Skill

Type / in the chat input to see all available Skills as slash commands. Select a Skill to invoke it, or add extra context after the slash command (for example, /documentation for the getting-started guide).

Skills also load automatically when your prompt clearly matches what a Skill is designed to handle—no manual command required.

Tip: You can also generate a Skill with AI. Type /create-skill in chat and describe the capability you want. The agent asks clarifying questions and generates a SKILL.md file with the directory structure, instructions, and frontmatter.

Configuration Options

Each Skill is defined by a SKILL.md file consisting of a YAML frontmatter header and a Markdown body.

Header (Required)

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Unique identifier for the Skill, used in slash commands. Must be lowercase with hyphens (for example, documentation). Must match the parent directory name. Maximum 64 characters.
description	Yes	Description of what the Skill does and when to use it. Be specific about both capabilities and use cases so Code Studio can decide when to load the Skill automatically. Maximum 1024 characters.

Header (Optional)

Field	Description
argument-hint	Hint text shown in the chat input field when the Skill is invoked as a slash command. Helps users understand what additional information to provide (for example, [doc file] [section]).
user-invocable	Controls whether the Skill appears as a slash command in the chat menu. Defaults to true. Set to false to hide the Skill from the / menu while still allowing the agent to load it automatically.
disable-model-invocation	Controls whether the agent can automatically load the Skill based on relevance. Defaults to false. Set to true to require manual invocation through the / slash command only.

Use these properties together to control Skill access:

Configuration	Appears in / menu	Auto-loaded by agent	Best for
Both omitted (default)	Yes	Yes	General-purpose Skills
user-invocable: false	No	Yes	Background knowledge Skills the model loads when relevant
disable-model-invocation: true	Yes	No	Skills you only want to run on demand
Both set	No	No	Disabled Skills

Body

The body contains free-form Markdown with the instructions, guidelines, and examples Code Studio follows when using the Skill. Include:

• What the Skill accomplishes.
• When to use the Skill.
• Step-by-step procedures to follow.
• Expected input and output examples.
• References to any scripts or templates included in the Skill folder.

You can reference files within the Skill directory using relative paths. For example: [documentation template](./doc-template.md).

How Code Studio Uses Skills

Skills load content progressively to keep context efficient:

1. Discovery — Code Studio reads the Skill’s name and description from the YAML frontmatter. When you send a prompt such as “review the getting-started guide for gaps”, Code Studio matches it to the documentation Skill based on its description.
2. Instructions loading — Code Studio loads the SKILL.md body into its context, giving it access to the detailed review procedures and guidelines. You can also trigger this step directly by typing /documentation in chat.
3. Resource access — As Code Studio works through the instructions, it accesses additional files in the Skill directory (such as doc-template.md or example improvements) only when referenced.

This three-level loading system means you can install many Skills without consuming unnecessary context—only what is relevant for each task is loaded.

Notes / Limitations

• name must match the directory name. If the name field in SKILL.md does not match the parent directory name, the Skill is not loaded.
• name must be lowercase with hyphens. For example, documentation. Maximum 64 characters.
• description maximum length is 1024 characters. Vague descriptions reduce auto-loading accuracy; use precise, task-specific language.
• SKILL.md is required. A folder without SKILL.md is not recognized as a Skill.
• Personal Skills are not version-controlled. Changes to Personal Skills are local to your profile and are not shared with other team members.
• Project Skills are committed to the repository. Avoid storing sensitive data—credentials, tokens, or private keys—inside Skill files.
• Always review shared Skills before using them to ensure they meet your security requirements. Shared Skills may contain scripts that execute in your terminal.