/skills

Browse the skills available in this session and insert one

What it does

/skills opens a browser of every skill available to the current session. Selecting one inserts it into the prompt box as /<skill-name> so you can add arguments before sending.

A skill is a packaged set of instructions for a particular kind of task — a review checklist, a report format, a domain workflow. Loading one gives the agent that procedure in full, instead of relying on it to improvise.

You usually don't need this

The agent can load skills itself. Every skill's description is presented to the model, and it calls the skill tool when a task matches one. Reach for /skills when you want to:

If the agent should have picked a skill and didn't, the usual cause is its description — see below.

Where skills come from

Skills are discovered from two directories, and both are merged into one list:

Location Scope
~/.latentcode/skills/ your personal skills
~/.config/latentcode/skills/ config-directory skills

Additional folders can be added with the skills key in latentcode.json.

Tip

Having skills in both directories works but makes them hard to keep track of. Consolidating on one location is worth doing early.

Descriptions are load-bearing

A skill with no description in its front-matter is invisible to the agent. The model chooses skills by reading descriptions; an empty one cannot be matched, so the skill will only ever run if you invoke it by hand.

---
name: debt-serviceability-analysis
description: Assess whether a borrower can service and repay a debt facility — DSCR,
  redemption schedule, cash available for debt service. Use when asked about debt
  serviceability, repayment capacity, or "can this loan be repaid".
---

Write the description as when to use this, not what this is. Trigger phrasing — the words a user would actually type — matters more than a tidy summary.

Why skills aren't in the / menu

Individual skills are deliberately excluded from / autocomplete. With a large skill library they would swamp the built-in commands and make the menu unusable. /skills is the way in.

Typing /<skill-name> directly still works if you know the name.

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