> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.slatecx.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.slatecx.com/guides/agent-skills.md).

# Agent skills

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An agent skill is a reusable, named instruction set.  You can create a skill to perform any multi-step conversational task. For example you might want to create a skill to calculate a prospects potential return on investment or perhaps a skill that allows the agent to develop a business case for a prospect.

Skills can be very powerful as it allows that agent to do real work on behalf of the customer beyond simply understanding your product.

<figure><img src="https://2844884401-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5AhClAmEf81WtHS8kM9H%2Fuploads%2FIWwWZCnUdoXzLBL8R3HQ%2Fimage.png?alt=media&amp;token=948d26c8-044e-4f0a-8e95-613a376102ff" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Skills are defined once per tenant and assigned to campaigns in an explicit order.

## Creating a skill

Select the Skills menu and then click on **+ Create Skill**

<figure><img src="https://2844884401-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5AhClAmEf81WtHS8kM9H%2Fuploads%2FvL42G0pV9RgKZ5AnYQVY%2Fimage.png?alt=media&amp;token=5a762737-9d97-4d1a-801e-6af674db2ecf" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

You can create a skill using an existing template or by defining your own instructions.

<figure><img src="https://2844884401-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5AhClAmEf81WtHS8kM9H%2Fuploads%2F6Y2fiz8fVsoZueognb4i%2Fimage.png?alt=media&amp;token=dffa96f4-b95b-492e-8ae5-12ffea0a74eb" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

In this case lets click on **Build a business case**

Because we are using a template the instructions are written for us.  See them below.

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```
Help the prospect develop a decision-ready business case for a proposed purchase, initiative, or change.

Use this Skill when the prospect wants to justify an investment, evaluate a change, compare approaches, or secure internal approval. If the prospect wants only a financial-return calculation, defer to more specifically relevant assigned guidance when available rather than forcing a wider business case.

Conversation approach:
- Reuse relevant facts already supplied in the conversation and available campaign material. Do not ask for the same information twice.
- Identify information gaps that could materially change the decision. Ask one concise question, or one small group of closely related questions, at a time and adapt the next question to the answer.
- Prioritize the decision and audience, current-state evidence, desired outcomes, options, benefits and costs, risks, and delivery timing. Explain briefly why a difficult input matters.
- Accept ranges, estimates, and unknowns. If the prospect cannot supply everything, offer a useful provisional outline or draft with the missing evidence and assumptions clearly marked.
- Do not turn the conversation into a fixed questionnaire and do not delay a requested draft while waiting for perfect information.

Gather, when relevant:
1. The decision or approval requested, intended decision-makers, other stakeholders, and decision date.
2. The current state or status-quo counterfactual: the problem or opportunity, root causes, affected people and processes, scale, frequency, timing, and available cost, effort, performance, or risk evidence.
3. Desired outcomes, strategic alignment, measurable success criteria, target values, and realization horizon.
4. Reasonable options, including maintaining the status quo, the proposed approach, and at least one practical alternative. Compare their fit, benefits, costs, risks, and time to value.
5. The proposed scope and exclusions, dependencies, constraints, adoption needs, and organizational changes.
6. Expected benefits such as cost reduction, revenue or margin contribution, released capacity, customer or employee experience, compliance, and risk reduction. Capture the evidence, owner, timing, and confidence for material benefits.
7. Costs and resources, using only supplied commercial information: purchase, implementation, integration, migration, training, internal effort, change management, and ongoing operation.
8. Delivery needs: milestones, owners, dependencies, governance, measurement, and benefit-realization responsibilities.
9. Material risks, assumptions, mitigations, and conditions under which the organization should proceed, pause, or reject the proposal.

When the prospect asks for the result, produce concise, audience-appropriate Markdown with:
- Executive summary and recommendation
- Decision requested
- Current state and supporting evidence
- Objectives and success measures
- Options considered and comparison
- Recommended approach, scope, and rationale
- Expected benefits and financial summary
- Costs and resources
- Risks and mitigations
- Implementation, ownership, and timeline
- Measurement and benefit realization
- Assumptions, evidence gaps, and open questions

Base the recommendation on the available evidence and compare it with the status quo. Clearly distinguish prospect-supplied facts, supported evidence, calculations, estimates, and assumptions. Never invent customer facts, prices, benchmarks, case studies, results, or implementation capabilities. Quantify only supported inputs. Where detailed financial analysis would help, include only the summary needed by the business case unless the prospect explicitly requested the full calculation and more specifically relevant assigned guidance covers it. Never advertise, name, or describe another Skill to the prospect. Tailor depth to the audience and request; be concise by default.
```

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These instructions are merely a placeholder. You can modify the instructions to match your specific use case. As you can see from above, the instructions can be very detailed.

## See also

* [The agent](/concepts/the-agent.md)