Skills

Skills inject reusable domain knowledge into an agent's system context — either always-on or lazily loaded on demand.

Since BoxLang AI v3.0+

Skills are named blocks of domain knowledge or instructions that can be injected into an agent's system context. Think of them as modular expertise — a SQL optimization skill, a security review skill, a brand voice skill — that you can mix and match across agents without duplicating instructions.

There are two modes:

• Always-on skills (skills:) — content is injected into every system message
• Lazy skills (availableSkills:) — an index is shown to the AI; full content is only loaded when the AI explicitly requests it via the built-in loadSkill() tool

Skill File Format

Skills are markdown files with optional YAML frontmatter, stored under .ai/skills/ by convention:

.ai/skills/
  sql-optimizer/
    SKILL.md
  coding/
    boxlang-expert/
      SKILL.md
  security/
    SKILL.md

Each SKILL.md file:

---
name: sql-optimizer
description: Expert SQL query optimization guidance. Use when writing or reviewing SQL queries.
---

## SQL Optimization Principles

Always use indexed columns in WHERE clauses...
Use EXPLAIN ANALYZE to profile slow queries...
Normalize data but denormalize for read-heavy tables...

If description is omitted, the first paragraph of the markdown body is used — matching the Agent Skills open standard.

Loading Skills

// Load all skills from the default .ai/skills directory
skills = aiSkill()

// Load from a custom path
skills = aiSkill( ".ai/my-skills" )

// Load a single skill file
skill = aiSkill( ".ai/skills/sql-optimizer/SKILL.md" )

// Create an inline skill (no file needed)
inlineSkill = aiSkill(
    name       : "tone",
    description: "Maintain professional and friendly tone",
    content    : "Always use first names, keep responses under 3 paragraphs..."
)

Always-On Skills

Full skill content is injected into the system context on every agent call:

agent = aiAgent(
    name  : "SQLReviewer",
    skills: aiSkill( ".ai/skills/sql-optimizer" )
)

// The SQL optimization instructions are always in context
response = agent.run( "Review this query: SELECT * FROM orders WHERE status = 'pending'" )

Multiple always-on skills:

agent = aiAgent(
    name  : "ContentEditor",
    skills: [
        aiSkill( ".ai/skills/brand-voice" ),
        aiSkill( ".ai/skills/grammar-rules" )
    ]
)

Lazy-Loaded Skills (availableSkills)

With lazy loading, only a compact index (name + description) is injected into the system context. The AI sees what's available and requests the full content of a skill when needed by calling the built-in loadSkill() tool:

agent = aiAgent(
    name           : "EngineeringAssistant",
    availableSkills: aiSkill( ".ai/skills" )   // Scans entire directory
)
// The agent sees: "Available skills: sql-optimizer, boxlang-expert, security-review"
// When asked a SQL question, the AI calls loadSkill("sql-optimizer") to get the full content

Combining Both Modes

Use always-on for globally relevant skills and lazy-loading for specialized knowledge:

agent = aiAgent(
    name           : "PlatformAssistant",
    skills         : aiSkill( ".ai/skills/core" ),          // Always injected
    availableSkills: aiSkill( ".ai/skills/specialized" )    // Available on demand
)

Global Skills

At the module level you can configure skills that are automatically available to every agent in your application:

// In ModuleConfig.bx or Application.bx startup
ModuleSettings = {
    globalSkills: aiSkill( ".ai/global-skills" )
}

Access the global pool at runtime:

globalSkills = aiGlobalSkills()
println( "Global skills: #globalSkills.len()#" )

Adding Skills After Construction

agent = aiAgent( name: "Assistant" )

// Add always-on skill
agent.withSkills( [ aiSkill( ".ai/skills/tone" ) ] )

// Add lazy skill
agent.withAvailableSkills( [ aiSkill( ".ai/skills/advanced" ) ] )

Related Pages

• AI Skills — Full skills reference with aiSkill() BIF
• aiSkill BIF — BIF signature reference
• aiGlobalSkills BIF — Global skills access