> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.elitea.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is a Skill?

> A Skill is a reusable, named instruction set written in Markdown that you attach to agents and invoke on demand during a conversation — without duplicating logic across agents.

Key characteristics:

* **Reusable**: Write once and attach to as many agents as needed. Updates propagate automatically to every agent using the Skill.
* **Named and invocable**: Each Skill has a unique name and can be triggered mid-conversation by typing `~skill-name` in the chat composer.
* **Versioned**: Maintain multiple named versions alongside the always-present `base` version, so you can iterate safely without breaking existing agents.
* **Modular**: Combine multiple Skills on a single agent to compose complex behavior from small, independently tested pieces.

## Skills in ELITEA

ELITEA Skills let you encapsulate a specific capability — a focused set of Markdown instructions — and share it across agents without copying text. When an agent activates a Skill, its instructions are injected into the conversation for that turn, giving the agent the targeted behavior defined in the Skill.

What makes Skills powerful:

* **Single source of truth**: Update the Skill once; all attached agents immediately reflect the change.
* **Tested in isolation**: Each Skill has a built-in test chat panel so you can verify behavior before attaching it to any agent.
* **Project-scoped sharing**: Any agent in the same project can attach and use the same Skill.
* **Attach up to 5 per agent**: Combine up to five Skills on one agent version to build layered, modular capabilities.

Perfect for shared reasoning templates, persona or tone guidance, domain-specific procedures, and any behavior that multiple agents need to perform consistently.

### Example: Pull Request Review Skill

**Scenario**: Maria is a tech lead whose team uses three different agents — a code review agent, a documentation agent, and an onboarding agent. All three need to evaluate pull request descriptions using the same quality checklist. Instead of copying the checklist into each agent, she creates a single Skill.

**Maria's Task**: "I need all three agents to check that every PR has a clear summary, lists affected components, includes test coverage notes, and flags missing ticket references."

**Skill Configuration:**

* **Name**: `pr-review`
* **Description**: `Evaluates pull request descriptions for completeness and quality.`
* **Instructions**:

```
## PR Description Review

When reviewing a pull request description, check for the following:

1. **Summary** — Is there a clear one-sentence explanation of what the PR does?
2. **Affected components** — Are the files, modules, or services impacted explicitly listed?
3. **Test coverage** — Does the author describe what was tested and how?
4. **Ticket reference** — Is a Jira/GitHub issue number linked?

Flag any missing items and suggest what the author should add.
Format your response as:
- ✅ Present: [item]
- ❌ Missing: [item] — [suggested addition]
```

**How the Skill Works:**

1. Maria creates the Skill once from the **Skills** menu and saves it.
2. She opens each of the three agents and attaches `pr-review` from the **Skills** section.
3. During a conversation, any team member can type `~pr-review` to invoke the Skill, or the agent can activate it automatically based on its instructions.
4. The agent applies the checklist to the PR description and returns a structured review.

**Sample Output:**

> **PR #412 Description Review:**
>
> * ✅ Present: Summary — "Adds retry logic to the payment service"
> * ✅ Present: Affected components — `payment-service/`, `shared/http-client`
> * ❌ Missing: Test coverage — Add a note describing which test cases were added or updated
> * ❌ Missing: Ticket reference — Link the related Jira ticket (e.g., `PAY-301`)

When Maria updates the checklist in the Skill, all three agents pick up the change automatically — no edits needed on each agent individually.

***

<Info title="Reference">
  Ready to get started? Explore the [Skills menu](../../menus/skills) to create your first Skill.

  For detailed definitions of terms and concepts, please refer to the [ELITEA Glossary](../glossary)
</Info>