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A skill is a set of written instructions that an agent follows for one kind of work, for example “write a cold email” or “reconcile the week’s payouts”. Skills come from four places:
  • Built-in skills that come with Squad. They cover the dashboard, email, the computer, research tools, and each connected app. They are on every workspace. You do not manage them.
  • Skill packs: ready-made collections from independent authors.
  • Your skills: skills that your agents wrote while they worked, and skills that you taught.
  • Custom packs that you add from a public GitHub repository.
Skill settings apply to the whole workspace. When you turn a skill or a pack on or off, it changes for every agent. To open the Skills screen, click the Skills icon (a graduation cap) at the bottom of the sidebar, or go to Settings > Skills.

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Turn a skill pack on or off

Squad includes four packs: The packs are copied unchanged from their authors’ repositories. Jason Cohen, the author of asb-skills, does not endorse Squad.
  1. Open the Skills screen.
  2. Under Skill packs, click the toggle on the pack’s card.
The change applies at once. If a skill in the pack has the same name as a skill that is already on the computer, the pack’s skill stays off, and a note tells you which skills stayed off. Click Open pack → to choose which one to use. Each pack card shows the pack name, “by” and the author, the license, the number of GitHub stars when GitHub answers, the number of skills, how many of them are off, and the first six skill names. Click a card to open the pack view. It shows the pinned version, and whether the pack is enabled for the squad or off. In the pack view you can:
  • turn the whole pack on or off with the toggle next to its name
  • turn single skills in the pack on or off, while the pack is on. A skill that is off shows OFF.
  • click a skill to read its instructions. Skill names in the text that point to another skill in the pack are links.
  • click Sync pack library to get the latest version that Squad published of the built-in packs. The result shows Updated to the latest. or Already up to date.
You can turn off a built-in pack, but you cannot remove it.

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Add a pack from GitHub

The skills in a pack become instructions that your agents follow. Add only repositories that you trust.
1

Open Skills

Open the Skills screen.
2

Add a pack

Under Skill packs, click ＋ Add pack.
3

Paste the repository URL

In Repository URL, paste the address, for example https://github.com/owner/repo.
4

Set the skills folder (optional)

Optional: in the skills folder field, type the folder that holds the skills, for example skills/marketing. Only that folder is fetched.
5

Add the pack

Click Add pack.
Rules:
  • Only public GitHub repositories work.
  • Each skill must be a folder that contains a SKILL.md file.
  • The folder path can be at most four levels deep.
  • A repository that is already a built-in pack is refused. Turn on the built-in pack instead.
The new pack is turned on at once and shows TRACKS UPSTREAM. The pack view shows the commit it is at and its folder. To get the latest version from the repository, open the pack and click Sync to latest. New skills whose names are already in use stay off, and the result line names them. To delete the pack, click Remove pack, then Really remove?. You cannot change the repository or the folder of a pack you added. Remove the pack and add it again. You can also ask an agent in chat to turn a pack on, add one, sync one, or remove one.
Ask your lead

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Manage your squad’s own skills

Your skills lists the skills that your agents wrote and the skills that you taught. The counts at the top are Total, Disabled, and Needs setup.
  • Use Search skills or click a tag, for example #sales, to filter the list. All clears the tag filter.
  • Click the switch on a card to turn the skill on or off for every agent. The switch reads Enabled or Disabled.
  • Click Open to read the skill’s instructions and files.
Each card shows “Built by” and the agent that wrote it, when the skill names its author. Otherwise it shows Workspace skill, or Curated skill for a skill that came with Squad. A card can carry one of these labels: The run count on each card reads 0 today, even for skills that ran. To see which runs used a skill, use Runs. See Run a skill from chat. When the list is empty, the screen shows No skills built yet. See what’s possible opens ideas for work your squad can do. When a search finds nothing, it shows No skills match. When you open a skill, the page shows its instructions and, beside them, FILES IN THIS SKILL, BUILT BY when the author is known, and ✓ Active. Click a file to read it. Hide details gives the instructions the full width. The dashboard has no editor for a skill’s text and no delete button for your own skills. To create, change, or delete a skill, ask an agent.
Ask your lead
Agents add tags to skills. To change tags, ask an agent.

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Run a skill from chat

1

Open the skill list

In a direct chat or group chat composer, type /. The Squad chat composer does not have the / picker. On Home, you can also click the Skills chip.
2

Filter the list

Keep typing to filter the list.
3

Insert and send

Press Enter to insert the skill’s name into your message, then send it.
The list shows your squad’s skills, pack skills, research tools, and app skills. Skills that are turned off are not listed. To see which skills a run used, open the run in Runs. The skills show as chips on the run, and under SKILLS USED in the run detail. See See what your agents did.

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Teach a task by showing it once

You can show an agent a task in its browser. The agent studies the recording and writes a draft skill. The skill becomes active only when you approve it. Before you start:
  • Know the task well enough to do it once from start to end.
  • Sign in to the sites the task needs, in the agent’s browser, or be ready to sign in during the recording.
1

Open the agent's computer

Open the agent’s profile and click the monitor icon. The agent’s computer screen opens.
2

Select Teach a task

Click Teach a task.
3

Describe the task

In WHAT ARE YOU ABOUT TO SHOW?, describe the task, for example “Reconcile the week’s Stripe payouts”.
4

Take over

Click Take over on the screen.
5

Start recording

Click Start recording. The agent’s own browser comes to the front.
6

Do the task

Do the task once in that browser.
7

Stop teaching

Click Done teaching.
8

Send it to the agent

Click Send to followed by the agent’s name to study. The screen shows Learning from your demonstration….
9

Review the draft

When the draft is ready, read it in Review what the agent learned.
10

Name the skill

In SKILL NAME, type a name, for example reconcile-stripe-payouts.
11

Approve

Click Approve skill.
The recording captures your clicks and the values that you type. The review shows the exact file that becomes active. You cannot edit it in the review. If something is wrong, click Discard, or tell the agent in the teaching conversation what to change and wait for a new draft. After you approve, the screen shows ✓ Skill added. Every agent can use the skill. Click Run it once now to have the agent try it and suggest improvements, or View skills to see it on the Skills screen. Other choices during teaching:
  • Keep recording continues the recording.
  • Discard recording throws the recording away.
  • Open the conversation opens the chat where the agent reports on the draft.
  • Nudge again reminds the agent if the draft takes a long time.
See Watch or take over an agent’s computer.

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Check that it works

  • A pack that is on shows the number of its skills and, when some are off, how many.
  • A taught skill shows under Your skills after you approve it.
  • A run that used a skill shows it under SKILLS USED.

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Troubleshooting

“Could not download the repository”. Cause: the URL is wrong, or the repository is private. Fix: check the URL. Only public GitHub repositories work. “No skills were found in that folder”. Cause: the folder has no subfolders with a SKILL.md file. Fix: type the folder that holds the skill folders, or leave the field empty. “Skill packs aren’t set up on this computer yet”. Cause: your workspace computer does not have the pack library yet. Fix: wait for the next platform update, then open the screen again. Teaching shows “Study stalled” or “Studying is taking too long”. Cause: the agent has not written the draft yet. Fix: click Nudge again, or Open the conversation to see what the agent says. If nothing changes, click Discard and teach the task again. “The draft was too large to review, so it was discarded.” Cause: the demonstration produced a draft that was too long to review. Fix: teach the task again with a shorter demonstration. A skill you turned on does not show in the / list. Cause: the list can take a moment to update. Fix: close the list, wait 30 seconds, and type / again.