> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://dify-6c0370d8-yajing-skill-management-docs.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skills

> Package a task's instructions once as a reusable skill, then share it across your agents

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](https://agentskills.io/home) 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](/en/self-host/use-dify/build/skills/library) to create, publish, and add them to your agents.

An *embedded skill* is a procedure you keep to [a single agent](/en/self-host/use-dify/build/new-agent/build#skills). You create or upload one there, and it becomes part of the agent's own setup.