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Skills

A skill is a reusable capability package that bundles together instructions, tools, and knowledge sources into a single unit. Instead of manually configuring the same tools and prompts on multiple agents, create a skill once and attach it to any agent.

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Why Use Skills?

Think of skills like job training modules. A “Calendar Management” skill includes the Google Calendar tool, booking instructions, and availability-checking knowledge. Attach it to any agent and they instantly know how to manage calendars. Benefits:
  • Reusability — Create once, use across many agents
  • Consistency — All agents with the same skill behave the same way
  • Modularity — Mix and match skills to build capable agents
  • Easy updates — Update a skill and all agents using it get the improvement

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Skill Structure

FieldDescription
NameDisplay name (e.g., “Appointment Booking”)
DescriptionWhat this skill enables the agent to do
CategoryOrganizational category (e.g., “productivity”, “communication”)
InstructionsAdditional prompt instructions injected into the agent
ToolsTool types included with this skill
Tool ConfigsPre-configured tool settings (API keys, defaults)
Knowledge SourcesKnowledge sources attached to this skill
PriorityExecution priority when multiple skills are attached
TagsSearchable tags for discovery
IconVisual icon for the dashboard
PublicWhether this skill is shared publicly

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Creating a Skill

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From the Dashboard

  1. Navigate to your agent’s Skills tab.
  2. Click Create Skill.
  3. Fill in the skill details:
    • Name and description
    • Select tools to include
    • Add instructions (these are appended to the agent’s main instructions)
    • Attach knowledge sources
  4. Click Save.

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Via the API

curl -X POST https://api.thinnest.ai/api/skills/ \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $THINNESTAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Appointment Booking",
    "description": "Enables the agent to check availability, book appointments, and send confirmations",
    "category": "productivity",
    "instructions": "When a user wants to book an appointment:\n1. Ask for their preferred date and time\n2. Check calendar availability using the Google Calendar tool\n3. Book the appointment\n4. Send a confirmation email via Gmail",
    "tool_types": ["google_calendar", "gmail"],
    "tool_configs": {},
    "knowledge_source_ids": [],
    "is_public": false,
    "tags": ["booking", "calendar", "appointments"]
  }'

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Response

{
  "id": 42,
  "name": "Appointment Booking",
  "description": "Enables the agent to check availability...",
  "category": "productivity",
  "tool_types": ["google_calendar", "gmail"],
  "is_public": false,
  "created_at": "2026-03-06T10:00:00Z"
}

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Attaching Skills to Agents

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From the Dashboard

  1. Go to your agent’s Skills tab.
  2. Browse available skills.
  3. Click Attach on the skills you want.
  4. Set the priority (higher priority skills are applied first).
  5. Optionally override skill configuration for this specific agent.

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Via the API

# Attach a skill to an agent
curl -X POST https://api.thinnest.ai/api/skills/agent/agent_abc123/attach \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $THINNESTAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "skill_id": 42,
    "priority": 1,
    "config_overrides": {}
  }'

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Detach a Skill

curl -X POST https://api.thinnest.ai/api/skills/agent/agent_abc123/detach \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $THINNESTAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "skill_id": 42
  }'

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Managing Skills

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List Available Skills

curl https://api.thinnest.ai/api/skills/available \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $THINNESTAI_API_KEY"

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List Skills on an Agent

curl https://api.thinnest.ai/api/skills/agent/agent_abc123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $THINNESTAI_API_KEY"

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Update a Skill

curl -X PUT https://api.thinnest.ai/api/skills/42 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $THINNESTAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Advanced Appointment Booking",
    "instructions": "Updated booking instructions..."
  }'

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Delete a Skill

curl -X DELETE https://api.thinnest.ai/api/skills/42 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $THINNESTAI_API_KEY"
Deleting a skill automatically detaches it from all agents.

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Skill Priority

When multiple skills are attached to an agent, priority determines the order in which their instructions are injected into the agent’s context:
  • Priority 0 (default) — Applied first
  • Priority 1 — Applied second
  • Higher numbers = lower priority
If two skills provide conflicting instructions, the higher-priority skill takes precedence.

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Public Skills

Skills can be made public to share them across your organization or with other users:
  • Private skills (default) — Only visible to you
  • Public skills — Visible to all users in your organization
Set is_public: true when creating or updating a skill.

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Example Skills

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Web Research

{
  "name": "Web Research",
  "description": "Enables the agent to search the web and extract content from pages",
  "tool_types": ["duckduckgo", "firecrawl"],
  "instructions": "When asked to research a topic, search the web for relevant information. Extract key facts and provide citations with source URLs."
}

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Email Management

{
  "name": "Email Management",
  "description": "Read, compose, and send emails via Gmail",
  "tool_types": ["gmail"],
  "instructions": "Help users manage their email. When composing emails, always confirm the recipient and subject before sending. Keep emails concise and professional."
}

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Data Analysis

{
  "name": "Data Analysis",
  "description": "Analyze CSV data and answer questions about datasets",
  "tool_types": ["duckdb", "csv_tools"],
  "instructions": "When given a dataset, analyze it using SQL queries. Provide clear summaries with key metrics. Include visualizations when helpful."
}

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Best Practices

  • One skill per capability — Don’t bundle unrelated tools into one skill.
  • Write clear instructions — The skill’s instructions should be self-contained and specific.
  • Use descriptive names — “Invoice Processing” is better than “Finance Skill.”
  • Test skills individually — Verify the skill works on a test agent before rolling out.
  • Version through updates — When updating a skill, all agents using it immediately get the new version.