Adding Skills to Agents

Attach skills to your inference.sh agents so they can load context on demand.

From the Registry

The fastest way to add a skill:

1. Open your agent's settings → Prompt tab
2. Scroll to the Skills section
3. Click Browse to open the skill browser
4. Search and select a skill

The skill's name, description, and URL are filled in automatically.

By URL

Point to any skill hosted anywhere:

1. In the skills section, click + URL
2. Fill in:

1name: api-docs2description: REST API documentation for the payment service3url: https://api.inference.sh/skills/yourteam/api-docs/content

The URL can point to:

• A skill on inference.sh (https://api.inference.sh/skills/{ns}/{name}/content)
• A raw file on GitHub (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/...)
• Any HTTPS URL that returns text/markdown

Inline

Write skill content directly in the agent config:

1. Click + Text
2. Fill in name, description, and the content itself

Good for short, agent-specific instructions that don't need to be shared:

1name: response-style2description: guidelines for tone and formatting3content: |4  Always respond in lowercase.5  Use bullet points for lists.6  Keep responses under 200 words unless asked for detail.

Preloading Skills

For skills the agent needs on every conversation, enable preload. The content is injected directly into the system prompt — available from turn one without a tool call.

1. In the skills section, toggle Preload on the skill
2. Or set preload: true in YAML config

1skills:2  - name: pricing-rules3    skill_id: myteam/pricing-rules4    preload: true

Use preloading for core reference material. Keep large or situational skills as on-demand to avoid bloating the system prompt.

How skill_get Works at Runtime

Non-preloaded skills appear in the skill_get tool when your agent runs:

1skill_get: Retrieves skill content.23Available skills:4- code-review: guidelines for reviewing pull requests5- api-docs: REST API documentation for the payment service67Parameters:8  skill: the name of the skill to retrieve9  path: optional path to a supporting file (e.g. references/api-docs.md)

The agent decides when to call skill_get based on the conversation. Typical flow:

1. User asks something related to a skill's description
2. Agent calls skill_get(skill="code-review") → gets the main instructions
3. If the instructions reference supporting files, agent calls skill_get(skill="code-review", path="references/checklist.md") → gets the specific file
4. Agent uses the loaded context to respond

Content is cached per session — loading the same skill twice doesn't re-fetch.

How Many Skills?

There's no hard limit, but keep descriptions concise. Every skill adds a line to the tool description. 5-15 well-described skills is a good range — enough to cover the domain without overwhelming the agent's context.

If you find yourself adding 20+ skills, consider whether some should be supporting files within a parent skill rather than separate skills.

Next

• Creating skills — build your own skills
• Using with other agents — install skills to Claude Code, Cursor, and more
• Skills overview — how skills work