> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hasmcp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Agent Skills | HasMCP Features > Write Agent Skills in HasMCP or sync them from remote MCP servers, and serve them to agents over MCP with the skills extension. # Agent Skills [Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io) package instructions, scripts and reference files that an agent loads only when it needs them. A skill is a folder with a `SKILL.md` at its root. HasMCP lets you author skills on a provider, pick which ones each MCP server offers, and serve them to agents over MCP with the [skills extension](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/extensions/skills/overview), next to the server's tools, resources and prompts. Skills pair well with tools. A tool gives the agent an action, such as `createInvoice`. A skill teaches the agent when and how to use it: your billing rules, the order of calls, edge cases, and templates. ## How It Works 1. **Skills live on providers.** Each provider has a **Skills** tab. A skill is either written in HasMCP (*local*) or synced from a remote MCP server (*remote*). 2. **Servers pick skills.** On an MCP server's **Skills** tab, you choose which of its providers' skills the server offers. 3. **Agents discover and load them over MCP.** When a server has at least one skill, it advertises the skills extension during `initialize`. Agents list the skills and read only the files they need. ## Writing a Skill **1. Open the provider's Skills tab** Go to **Providers**, open a provider and select the **Skills** tab. Click **Add Skill**. The editor opens with a template `SKILL.md`. **2. Write SKILL.md** `SKILL.md` must start with YAML frontmatter that has a `name` and a `description`: ```markdown theme={null} --- name: refund-policy description: How to decide on and issue Stripe refunds. Use when a customer asks for a refund or disputes a charge. --- # Refund policy 1. Look up the charge with `getCharge` first. 2. Refunds over $500 need a human's approval... ``` HasMCP reads the name and description from the frontmatter. You don't enter them separately. **3. Add more files (optional)** Use **Add file**, **Upload files** or **Upload folder** to add reference documents, templates or scripts. Uploading a folder keeps its paths. Select a file to edit its path and content. **4. Save** Click **Create Skill**. The skill is served to agents as `skill:///…`. ### Rules | | Limit | | :- | :- | | **Name** | Lowercase letters, digits and single hyphens (`^[a-z0-9]+(-[a-z0-9]+)*$`), at most 64 characters, unique per provider | | **Description** | Required, at most 1024 characters | | **Files** | At most 512 per skill, including `SKILL.md`, and 16 MiB in total. Text files only. | | **Paths** | Relative, `/`-separated, up to 512 characters. No `.` or `..` segments, and no `\`, `?` or `#`. | ## Remote Skills When a [remote MCP provider](https://docs.hasmcp.com/features/remote-mcp-gateway.md) offers skills through the skills extension, **Sync** pulls them into the provider's Skills tab. These skills are marked **Remote** and can't be edited in HasMCP; their files are fetched from the remote server, with the user's credentials, when an agent reads them. If you write a local skill with the same name, it replaces the remote one. ## Enabling Skills on a Server 1. Open the MCP server and select the **Skills** tab. 2. Click **Edit Skills**. 3. Expand a provider to see its **Available Skills**, and tick the ones to offer. Use **Select All** / **Deselect All** for bulk changes. 4. Click **Save Changes**. Connected clients are notified right away with `notifications/resources/list_changed`. ## Served Over MCP When a server has at least one skill, its `initialize` result declares the extension: ```json theme={null} { "capabilities": { "extensions": { "io.modelcontextprotocol/skills": { "directoryRead": true } } } } ``` Agents that support the extension use these methods: | Method | Purpose | | :- | :- | | `skills/list` | Lists the server's skills (`uri`, `frontmatter`, and a manifest of files with their `sha256` digests and sizes), 50 per page | | `skills/get` | Returns one skill by the URI of its `SKILL.md` | | `resources/directory/read` | Lists the files and folders directly inside a skill folder | | `resources/read` | Reads a file of a skill | Skill URIs look like `skill://refund-policy/SKILL.md` and `skill://refund-policy/templates/email.md`. Each skill's `SKILL.md` is also listed in `resources/list`, so clients without the skills extension can still find and read it. ## API Skills are managed per provider: | Method | Path | Description | | :- | :- | :- | | `GET` | `/providers/{id}/skills` | List the provider's skills | | `POST` | `/providers/{id}/skills` | Create a skill | | `GET` | `/providers/{id}/skills/{skillID}` | Get a skill with its files | | `PUT` | `/providers/{id}/skills/{skillID}` | Replace a skill's files | | `DELETE` | `/providers/{id}/skills/{skillID}` | Delete a skill | Create and update take the files only. The name and description come from `SKILL.md`: ```bash theme={null} curl -X POST https://app.hasmcp.com/api/v1/providers/{providerID}/skills \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $HASMCP_ACCESS_TOKEN" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "skill": { "files": [ { "path": "SKILL.md", "content": "---\nname: refund-policy\ndescription: How to issue refunds.\n---\n\n# Refund policy\n..." } ] } }' ``` Creating, updating and deleting skills needs permission to update the provider. Listing and reading them needs permission to read it. To choose a server's skills, send `providers[].skills[].id` with [Update MCP Server](https://docs.hasmcp.com/api-reference/servers/update-mcp-server.md). ## Related Reading * [Remote MCP Gateway](https://docs.hasmcp.com/features/remote-mcp-gateway.md) * [MCP Composition](https://docs.hasmcp.com/features/mcp-composition.md) * [Expose resources through a server](https://docs.hasmcp.com/kb/expose-resources-through-server.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.