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Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
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Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
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Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
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Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
#24> Why do frameworks like Claude Code or Codex have the concept of “skills” instead of just using well-organized Markdown docs? "Well-organized markdown docs" are exactly what skills are . More specifically, they are well-organized markdown docs that explain how to do some particular thing.
This. Skills are exactly that, well structured markdown documents. Its the same with AI agents. You define the structure, what it can and can't do, setup rules and guidelines and then the AI sticks to that exact model. I sell skills on marketplace because sometimes, crafting the perfect prompt can be hard - you want something specific and very particular and don't know how to ask AI to do that. This is where skills c…
How do you sell them - do you give a preview or how else do you protect it from just being copy/pasted?
Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
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Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
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Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
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Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
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Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
#29A skill is more like a packaging convention around instructions, with the difference that the runtime knows it's a reusable unit. That lets it expose only the skill's name/description initially and load the full instructions (and sometimes bundled scripts or other resources) only when needed. Truth is that if you implemented the same lazy behavior with AGENTS.md and a bunch of Markdown files you'd end up with something that is functionally very close to a skills system.
Re: Ask HN: I still don't understand why AI agents need "skills"
#30A skill is more like a packaging convention around instructions, with the difference that the runtime knows it's a reusable unit. That lets it expose only the skill's name/description initially and load the full instructions (and sometimes bundled scripts or other resources) only when needed. Truth is that if you implemented the same lazy behavior with AGENTS.md and a bunch of Markdown files you'd end up with somethi…
Something like instructions in Projects? Or how? Could you please describe the pros and cons of each and when to use each?
That'd be truly helpful!