Agent skills, beyond one vendor

Convergent Skills

Agent skills are becoming a shared way to package procedural knowledge for AI agents: a SKILL.md file, optional scripts, optional references, and a loading model that keeps most context out of the model until it is useful.

Use free tools Compare skills, tools, and MCP Write a reusable skill

Free tools

Build the first draft.

Browser tool Skill Scaffold Generator

Build a format-aware SKILL.md scaffold from a name, trigger description, workflow steps, resources, and validation rules.

 Browser tool Skill vs MCP Decider

Answer a few design questions and get a practical recommendation: skill, MCP server, or both.

 Browser tool Skill Description Linter

Score a skill description for trigger coverage, verbs, boundaries, length, and missing activation cues.

The thesis

Skills are capability memory.

A skill is not just a prompt, and it is not the same thing as a tool. It is a portable packaging pattern for capability: what the agent should know, how it should decide that the knowledge applies, which files or scripts support the workflow, and how to validate the result. The format matters because capable agents increasingly need repeatable craft, not another copy-pasted instruction block.

The useful mental model is a three-part split. Skills package task knowledge. Tools execute actions. MCP standardizes how hosts connect to external systems that expose tools, resources, and prompts. These pieces overlap in practice, but they solve different problems.

This site is intentionally cross-ecosystem. For Claude-only browsing, examples, and directory-style discovery, see Claude Has Skills. Convergent Skills focuses on the broader pattern: how reusable skills move across Claude, Codex, GitHub Copilot, MCP development workflows, and whatever agent runtimes adopt the same basic contract next.

If you are ready to make one, start with the Skill Scaffold Generator, check the description in the Description Linter, or use the Skill vs MCP Decider when the architecture is unclear.

Map

Read the system.

Free tools Client-side generators, checklists, and linters for authoring better portable agent skills. Skills vs tools vs MCP A taxonomy for prompts, tools, MCP servers, resources, and reusable skills. Anatomy of a skill The SKILL.md file, frontmatter, scripts, references, assets, and progressive disclosure model. Authoring How to write, test, distribute, and maintain reusable skills without stuffing context. Claude skill template A source-backed SKILL.md template with frontmatter, trigger guidance, workflow sections, and portability notes. Skill description best practices How to write descriptions that trigger at the right time without becoming too broad or too vague. Portability Where skills travel today, where they do not, and what portability really depends on. Examples Reusable skill patterns and case studies across document work, engineering, MCP development, and teams. Glossary Concise definitions for agent skills, MCP, tools, resources, prompts, progressive disclosure, and related terms. Sources Annotated bibliography, source map, and machine-readable llms.txt links. FAQ Short answers to the common questions: what skills are, how they differ from tools and MCP, and how to start.

Source-backed facts