{
  "dataset": "glossary",
  "record": {
    "id": "agent-skills",
    "term": "Agent Skills",
    "category": "knowledge-memory",
    "short_def": "An open standard from Anthropic that packages procedural knowledge as a folder with a SKILL.md file an agent discovers and loads on demand.",
    "long_def": "A Skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md (metadata plus instructions), optional scripts and resources, which an agent loads dynamically only when relevant — keeping the context window lean. Anthropic unveiled Agent Skills on 16 October 2025 and released it as an open standard at agentskills.io on 18 December 2025; Microsoft, OpenAI, GitHub, Figma and Cursor adopted it.",
    "see_also": [
      "context-engineering",
      "mcp",
      "tool-use"
    ],
    "etymology_origin": "Unveiled by Anthropic on 16 October 2025 and released as an open standard at agentskills.io on 18 December 2025; each Skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file of metadata and instructions.",
    "related_to": [
      "context-engineering",
      "mcp",
      "tool-use",
      "prompt-caching",
      "agentic-rag"
    ],
    "contrast_with": "Unlike MCP, which connects an agent to external tools and data at runtime, Agent Skills package reusable procedural knowledge (how to do a task) that the agent loads into context on demand — know-how, not a tool connection.",
    "example": "Anthropic released Agent Skills as an open standard on 18 December 2025, with Microsoft, OpenAI, GitHub, Figma and Cursor adopting it.",
    "source": "https://claude.com/blog/skills",
    "status": "active",
    "why_it_matters": "Agent Skills let a service ship its own how-to knowledge to any compatible agent as a portable folder, so agents can perform domain tasks correctly without bespoke prompting.",
    "sameAs": [],
    "bridge_entity": "agent-readiness",
    "last_verified": "2026-06-15",
    "md_twin": "/glossary/agent-skills.md"
  }
}