> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.clarityq.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skills

> Reusable workflows the agent follows — invoked by you or automatically by the agent.

A skill is a named, repeatable workflow that captures the steps, assumptions, and clarifying questions that make a particular task correct. You can invoke a skill explicitly with `/skill_name` in chat, or the agent can recognize from a skill's description that it's relevant to a question and invoke it automatically.

Skills live alongside [Memory](/context-layer/memory) and the [Semantic Catalog](/context-layer/semantic-catalog/what-is-the-semantic-catalog) in your Context Layer. Where Memory holds durable facts and the Semantic Catalog holds metric and dimension definitions, Skills hold *procedures*.

## What a Skill Contains

| Field              | Required | Purpose                                                                                                                      |
| ------------------ | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Name**           | Yes      | Short identifier used to invoke the skill (e.g., `weekly-retention`). Up to 64 characters.                                   |
| **Description**    | Yes      | One-line summary shown in the slash command picker. Also used by the agent to decide when to invoke the skill automatically. |
| **Content**        | Yes      | The methodology itself, written in Markdown, with as much detail as the task needs.                                          |
| **Clarifications** | Optional | Questions the agent asks before running, to gather any required inputs.                                                      |
| **Todos**          | Optional | The task list the agent works through while executing the skill, kept in sync with the content.                              |
| **References**     | Optional | Supplementary documentation the agent can consult on demand while running the skill.                                         |

A skill can chain to another by mentioning it as `@skill_name` in its content — useful for shared sub-procedures like cohort scoping or experiment extraction.

## Built-in Skills

ClarityQ ships with skills for building and maintaining your Context Layer. They're available in the **Builder chat** to admins and contributors:

| Skill             | What it does                                                                                                                        |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `/entity`         | Create or edit an entity (a data source or table definition).                                                                       |
| `/dimension`      | Create or edit a dimension on an entity.                                                                                            |
| `/metric`         | Create or edit a metric.                                                                                                            |
| `/segment`        | Create or edit a segment (a reusable user cohort).                                                                                  |
| `/skill`          | Create or edit a custom skill.                                                                                                      |
| `/product-memory` | Create, edit, or remove a product-level memory entry — facts and rules that apply to everyone working on the product.               |
| `/audit-changes`  | Run a health check focused on the changes introduced in your current draft — surfaces broken references, gaps, and inconsistencies. |

Use these when you want guided creation or editing — the agent walks you through the right SQL, naming conventions, and validations.

## Custom Skills

You can also write **custom skills** for the workflows your team runs repeatedly: a weekly retention drilldown, a launch readout template, a product-area QBR. Custom skills are managed on the **Skills** page.

All custom skills are scoped to the **product level** — once deployed, they're available to everyone working on the product.

## Invoking a Skill

There are three ways a skill can be invoked:

* **Type `/` in chat** — Type `/` followed by the skill name, or just `/` to open the skills picker and filter as you type.
* **Skills dropdown** — Select a skill from the skills dropdown available from the add menu in the chat input box.
* **Automatically by the agent** — When the agent recognizes from a skill's description that it matches the user's question, it imports and follows the skill on its own — no manual invocation needed.

## When to Use Skills vs Memory

* Use **[Memory](/context-layer/memory)** for durable facts and conventions ("we exclude internal accounts").
* Use **Skills** for repeatable procedures with steps ("how we calculate weekly retention").

If you find yourself explaining the same workflow twice, that's a skill.