Skills · AI coding agents

A Skill is a Markdown file with YAML frontmatter describing reusable knowledge or a workflow. Skills can be invoked manually with a slash command or automatically by the model.

File structure

Two forms:

Directory form (recommended): <name>/SKILL.md plus supporting files.
Flat form: <name>.md.

If both exist in the same directory, the directory form wins.

Frontmatter fields: name (required in directory form; case-insensitive), description (required in directory form; flat form falls back to the first non-empty body line, 240 chars), type (prompt default / inline (same as prompt) / flow (manual invocation only)), whenToUse (also when-to-use, when_to_use), disableModelInvocation, arguments (array or whitespace-separated; usable in the body as $<name>).

Body placeholders: $ARGUMENTS, $ARGUMENTS[0]/$0, $1… (positional, quoting supported), $<name> (declared args), ${KIMI_SKILL_DIR}. If no placeholder is present, the invocation text is appended as \n\nARGUMENTS: <text>.

Locations

Priority: Project > User > Extra > Built-in.

Scope	Location
User	`$KIMI_CODE_HOME/skills/` (default `~/.kimi-code/skills/`), `~/.agents/skills/`
Project	`.kimi-code/skills/`, `.agents/skills/`
Extra	`extra_skill_dirs` in config.toml (additive); `--skills-dir` CLI flag (replaces auto-discovery for that launch; repeatable)
Built-in	Shipped with the CLI (lowest priority); product skills toggleable via `builtin_product_skills`

merge_all_available_skills (config, default true) controls merging skills from all available directories.

Invocation

Manual: /skill:<name> [extra text]; shorthand /<name> works when the name isn’t claimed by a system command; sub-skills appear as /<parent>.<sub>.
Automatic: the model invokes inline-type skills via the Skill tool (blocked by disableModelInvocation: true; max nesting depth 3).
flow skills are manual-only but still exposed via /skill:<name>.
Skill commands entered while the agent is busy are queued; Ctrl-S steers a queued command into the running turn. Unmatched /... input is sent to the agent as a regular message.

Built-in skills

Ship as /<name> (no skill: prefix; idle-only):

Command	Purpose
`/mcp-config`	Configure MCP servers + MCP OAuth login (see MCP: Connecting Servers to Kimi Code)
`/custom-theme [<text>]`	Create/edit a TUI theme
`/update-config`	Inspect/edit `config.toml`/`tui.toml`
`/check-kimi-code-docs`	Answer product questions from the official docs
`/import-from-cc-codex`	Import Claude Code and Codex instructions, skills, and MCP settings
`/sub-skill`	Plus `/sub-skill.review`, `/sub-skill.consolidate`

Example

~/.kimi-code/skills/commit-msg/SKILL.md:

---
name: commit-msg
description: Draft a Conventional Commits message for the staged changes
whenToUse: When the user asks for a commit message
arguments: [scope]
---

Review `git diff --staged` and draft one Conventional Commits message.
Use scope `$scope` if provided. Output the message only, no explanation.

Invoke it:

/skill:commit-msg api

Last verified: 2026-09-07

Official sources:

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