A skill is a self-contained procedure you package for an agent: the instructions for one task, plus any reference materials and scripts, bundled together so you define it once and reuse it.
Where the prompt sets an agent’s overall role, a skill is a job aid it pulls in only when a particular task calls for it. The agent brings the general ability; the skill gives it your exact steps for that job, so the work comes out the way you expect.
Skills follow the open Agent Skills format, which puts the instructions in a SKILL.md file, so you can move a skill in and out of Dify as a single .zip package.
How a Skill Fits
Suppose your agent handles customer support. Each resource you add to its setup helps in a different way. A knowledge base or file gives the agent facts to read, like your refund policy. A tool gives it an action to take, like looking up an order or issuing a refund through a workflow. A skill gives it a method to follow: check the order status first, offer a refund only within the 30-day window, keep the tone warm, and close with a help-center link.
When the agent has those resources configured, you can name them in a skill in plain language and say when the agent should draw on each. The skill and the resources complement each other.
Where a Skill Lives
A skill can live in two places, and the place decides how far it reaches.
A library skill is a procedure you share across your agents. It lives in your library, the Skills page in your workspace. Revise and publish once, and every agent that uses it picks up the latest change. See Skill Library to create, publish, and add them to your agents.
An embedded skill is a procedure you keep to a single agent. You create or upload one there, and it becomes part of the agent’s own setup. Last modified on July 29, 2026
