> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-2a5c5e50-docs-ferndesk-pro.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skills

> Skills are instruction bundles a bot can follow. Enable first-party skills on a bot you own; the bot loads one when the task calls for it.

A skill tells a bot **how** a particular job is done — the checklist for a weekly report, the steps for a support triage, the way your team wants a summary written. Instead of carrying every procedure in its context all the time, the bot loads a skill when the task calls for it.

## Enable a skill

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign in and open a bot you own">
    A guest cannot enable or run skills.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enable the first-party skills the bot should follow">
    Each bot has its own set. Enable only what that bot's job needs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Let the bot use them">
    The bot loads a skill through its `skill` tool when a task matches. You can also ask for one by name in the conversation.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Skills are not…

| Object                               | What it is                                                       |
| ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Deep Research](/chat/deep-research) | A Chat research run                                              |
| Code's workspace catalog             | The tools a [Code session](/code/how-it-works) runs in its guest |
| [Routines](/bot/routines)            | *When* a bot works; a skill is *how*                             |
| Connected apps                       | Tools from apps you connected under **Customize → Connectors**   |

## How a bot reaches a skill

A skill is not a tool the bot runs on its own initiative — it is an instruction bundle the `skill` tool loads, and the `skill` tool is one entry in the catalog a bot receives. See [Tools](/bot/tools) for where it sits among files and shell, computer use, browser, and the user-visible tools.

Because a skill is instructions rather than a capability, loading one does not add permissions. A skill that tells the bot to change something in a connected app still parks that change behind [Approvals](/bot/approvals), and a skill that tells it to delete files still parks the dangerous step. The skill describes the job; the approval decides whether it runs.

## What you see when a skill runs

A skill runs inside the bot's turn, so it does not produce a row of its own. The conversation shows only the user-visible tools — `send_to_user`, `ask_user`, `notify`, and `secret_request` — and the [Computer](/bot/computer) rail shows the rest as it happens. See [How Bot works](/bot/how-it-works).

## Skills in the CLI

The CLI has its own skills system for the coding agent — `SKILL.md` bundles with frontmatter, found in your project or under `~/.cortex/skills/`, loaded through a `UseSkill` tool and gated by the `permission.skill` table. Those are CLI skills for Code, separate from Bot's first-party skills. See [Extend the CLI](/cli/extend).

## Related

* [Tools](/bot/tools) — the `skill` tool and the rest of the catalog.
* [How Bot works](/bot/how-it-works) — what you see when a skill runs.
* [Routines](/bot/routines) — the schedule a skill does not provide.