Skills

What agents know about how to act.

Overview

Skills are an agent's internal capabilities — strategies, methods, heuristics for accomplishing tasks. Unlike rules (external instructions), skills represent the agent's own knowledge about how to do things.

The Three Stores

Store	What it contains	Who writes	Example
memory	Facts, observations, state	Pattern Agent	"User lives in Munich"
rules	Instructions, constraints	User, Pattern Agent	"Respond in German"
skills	Capabilities, strategies	Agent itself, Pattern Agent	"Date formats I recognize: ..."

How They Combine

When an agent processes a request:

Agent receives message
    ↓
Skills: "How do I approach this?"
    ↓
Rules: "What constraints apply?"
    ↓
Memory: "What do I know about this user/context?"
    ↓
Action

Directory Structure

# System skills (in package, read-only)
src/outheis/agents/skills/
├── common.md       # Shared by all agents
├── relay.md        # Relay-specific
├── agenda.md       # Agenda-specific
├── data.md         # Data-specific
└── pattern.md      # Pattern-specific

# User skills (learned, mutable)
~/.outheis/human/skills/
├── common.md       # Learned strategies (all agents)
├── relay.md        # Relay refinements
├── agenda.md       # Agenda refinements
└── data.md         # Data refinements

System Skills

Base capabilities defined by the developer. Examples:

Agenda Agent:

Date format recognition
Daily.md structure
Inbox processing strategy
Exchange.md usage

Data Agent:

File search strategies
Tag interpretation
JSON structure parsing
Result ranking

Relay Agent:

Request routing
Tool selection
Migration handling
Correction processing

Pattern Agent:

Memory extraction
Rule promotion
Conflict detection
Self-evaluation

User Skills (Learned)

Skills refined through use and correction. Written by:

Agent itself — when a strategy works consistently
Pattern Agent — when observing stable patterns

Example evolution:

# ~/.outheis/human/skills/agenda.md

## Date Formats

- User writes dates as DD.MM.YYYY, not MM/DD/YYYY
- "nächste Woche" means Monday, not 7 days from now

## Daily Structure

- User prefers 🧘/🔴/🟠 emoji sections
- No "Evening" section needed — user doesn't use it

Skill vs. Rule

Aspect	Skill	Rule
Perspective	"How I do this"	"What I should observe"
Origin	Learned by agent	Given by user/Pattern
Scope	Internal capability	External constraint
Example	"I recognize dates like..."	"Always respond in German"

Rules constrain behavior from outside. Skills enable behavior from inside.

Loading Order

In the system prompt:

Skills (common + agent-specific)
Rules (common + agent-specific)
Memory context (user + feedback + context)

System versions first, user versions extend/override.

Writing Skills

Skills should be:

Concrete: Specific patterns, not vague principles
Actionable: Tell the agent what to do
Learnable: Can be refined through feedback

Good skill:

## Date Recognition
- "morgen" → tomorrow's date
- "nächsten Montag" → next Monday (not today if today is Monday)
- "24.03.2026" → parse as YYYY-MM-DD internally

Weak skill:

## Dates
- Understand dates properly
- Be smart about date parsing

When a user corrects an agent:

Agent stores correction in memory (feedback)
Pattern Agent observes repeated corrections
If stable: promotes to user skill
Skill now influences all future actions

This creates a learning loop where corrections become permanent improvements.

Distillation Triggers

The Pattern Agent uses judgment, not fixed thresholds. But these conditions indicate a pattern is ready:

3+ similar observations → pattern detectable
Repeated corrections → principle extractable
Stable preference → ready for skill

A strong preference stated clearly once may become a skill. Something mentioned casually many times may not. Explicit corrections always carry more weight than inferred patterns.

Quality Criteria

A good skill:

Directs attention — tells the agent what to notice, not what to do
Generalizes — applies beyond the specific instance that prompted it
Replaces — makes one or more memory entries unnecessary

If a skill doesn't replace anything, it may be too specific. If it doesn't direct attention, it may be a rule in disguise.