Skills as Named Cuts
Agent skills are teachable, named techniques — like culinary named cuts — not optional flavor text.
Definition
Section titled “Definition”A skill packages when to use it, the steps, stop conditions, and handoffs. merge-it, slap, check-readiness are cuts: precise, repeatable, reviewable.
Why it matters
Section titled “Why it matters”Unnamed “just code” work can’t be taught to agents or critiqued. Named skills let handbooks, evals, and humans share a vocabulary.
For engineers and agents
Section titled “For engineers and agents”- Prefer invoking a skill over reinventing a workflow in chat
- When authoring skills, write stop conditions and non-goals
- Load handbook pages selectively — never the whole book
Where it shows up
Section titled “Where it shows up”Orientation: Skill Universe; every practice’s Agent skill section