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Skills

Skills are reusable, prompt-based actions that agents can invoke during tasks. Each skill lives in your coder setup repository under skills/<skill-id>/ with a SKILL.md file and optional supporting files (templates, scripts, references).

Managing Skills​

Open Administration -> Skills in the Web UI to create and manage skills. The Skills page includes the same git workflow as environments:

  • Save changes without committing
  • Commit & Push to version skills in your coder setup repository (default scope is skills/, with an advanced option to include all repository changes)
  • Pull and Discard to sync with teammates

Create or Edit Skills​

Use New Skill to create a skill ID, display name, and description. Each skill includes:

  • Metadata (name, description, model/tools hints)
  • Prompt (the instructions in SKILL.md)
  • Supporting Files (optional files referenced by the prompt)

Skills list and Bookshop Review prompt editor with focused review instructions

Import External Skills​

You can also import skills from external sources:

  • Skill Catalog — curated skills bundled with CoderFlow; search the catalog by name, description, tag, or source
  • NPM Package — import a skill published as an NPM package (supports scoped packages, a version or range, and a custom registry)
  • Git Repository — import a skill directory from a repo, or probe the repo for a marketplace of skill bundles. Both public and private repositories are supported (see Private repositories below)
  • Server Folder — import from an absolute path to a skill directory on the server
  • Zip File — upload a skill archive

Import External Skill dialog with Catalog, NPM, Git, Server Folder and Zip File methods

Imported skills stay synced with their source. Git-based imports can be updated from the Skills page when updates are available.

Private repositories​

Skill imports work with private GitHub and Azure DevOps repositories without entering credentials in the import dialog. CoderFlow first attempts the import unauthenticated; if the repository requires authentication, it automatically retries using a configured Git Provider.

For a private import to succeed:

  • A Git Provider must be configured in CoderFlow for the repository's host. For Azure DevOps, the provider's organization must match the organization in the repository URL.
  • You must be permitted to use that provider (provider team restrictions apply).
  • You must have connected your personal Git account for that provider under Profile Settings → Git Connections (see Connecting Your Git Account).

If no matching provider is connected, the import fails with a message asking you to connect the provider; if the stored credentials are no longer valid, you'll be prompted to reconnect. Updates to a privately-imported skill reuse the original importer's connection.

Ask CoderFlow and skill imports​

Ask CoderFlow does not install or update skills; you do that here. Ask can list the catalog and the installed skills, check which have updates, and show a button that opens this page's import dialog with the source filled in (or the installed skill, with its own Update control). Nothing is imported until you start the import in that dialog, with this page's permissions. To assign an installed skill to an environment, ask Ask to change the environment's skills (an ordinary environment change you confirm), or use Add Skills as described below.

Export a Skill​

To copy a skill to another CoderFlow server, select it on the Skills page and choose Actions → Export Skill. CoderFlow downloads <skill-id>.zip, which holds:

  • the skill's files, in a <skill-id>/ folder;
  • coderflow-skill.json, with the skill's ID, name, export time, who exported it and where it came from.

Build and dependency folders (.git, node_modules, .venv, venv, dist, build, coverage) are left out.

  • Any skill with a SKILL.md can be exported, except proprietary skills (hidden prompt or files): This skill is marked as proprietary and cannot be exported.
  • Exporting needs skills:manage and the Skill authoring capability (Full edition).
  • To bring an export into another server, use Import External Skill... → Zip File. The skill ID is taken from your entry, then the archive's manifest, then its folder name. The import is refused if a skill with that ID already exists. An imported skill is recorded as coming from a zip file; its original source is not kept.

Assign Skills to Environments​

Skills become available to agents only after they are assigned to an environment. In Environments -> Overview, click Add Skills and select the skills to include. The selected skills propagate to every new task launched in that environment.

Assign Skills dialog with Bookshop Review selected for Harbor Books

If you update skill assignments, save the environment and launch a new task for the changes to take effect.

Save, commit, and publish permissions​

Saving a skill changes its local files. A local commit records those changes in the setup repository. Publishing from the Skills page requires the server-scoped Setup repository Git permission (setup:git), in addition to the relevant skill-authoring permission; Environment Admin alone does not grant it. An Environment Admin can instead commit and push the environment's own files, including its environment-owned skills, from the Environments page (see Setup repository Git).

For shared skills, grant skills:manage. For environment-owned skills, grant environments:view_details and environments:skills on the owning environment. Add a Server → Setup Repository Publisher binding for trusted publishers. No full Environment Admin binding is needed. skills:task-edit is an additional grant for editing assigned skills from tasks, not a substitute for authoring.

The commit dialog explains whether the commit stays local. Push publishes all pending repository commits, including other authors' work. If the commit succeeds and push fails, the commit remains saved; use Push to retry instead of creating a duplicate commit. Provider credentials and GitHub rules still apply independently of CoderFlow permissions.

Ask CoderFlow does not publish shared skill files: commit and push them here. It does not publish an environment's own setup files either; it points you to Commit & Push… on the Environments page (see Publishing setup repository changes).

Shared skill assignment requires environments:manage on the target environment. Environment-owned authors can enable their own environment's skills with environments:skills; publication grants no assignment authority. See Permissions for upgrade steps.