Skills

A skill is a named bundle of capability — a recipe combining actions, MCP tools, and prompt instructions into something you can hand to an operator with one click.

Skills are how you distribute and re-use a working pattern. Hiring an "SDR Outreach" skill is faster than wiring Gmail + LinkedIn + HubSpot + prospect-research-prompt from scratch every time.

Anatomy of a skill

Skill: "SDR Outreach"
description: Cold outreach with research-driven personalization

requires:
  connectors:
    - gmail (send-only scope)
    - linkedin (profile read)
    - hubspot (contacts + companies)
  mcp:
    - search-server  # web search for prospect research

instructions: |
  You are an SDR. Your job is...
  
artifacts:
  templates:
    - cold-email-template.md
    - reply-handler.md

When you install a skill into a guild, Guilde:

1. Verifies the required connectors are assigned (or prompts you to install missing ones)
2. Mounts the MCP servers if not already present
3. Drops the skill's templates into the guild's workspace
4. Makes the skill available when hiring an operator — pick a skill, the operator gets the right defaults pre-wired

Where skills come from

Three sources, ranked by trust + maintenance:

Installing a skill

Settings → Skills → Browse → click a skill → Install. The install dialog walks you through any missing connectors / MCP servers, then the skill appears in the Installed list.

To uninstall: hover the row → Remove. Removing a skill doesn't uninstall the underlying connectors / MCP servers it referenced — those stay because other skills (or operators directly) might still need them.

Authoring a skill

For your team's internal skills, drop a SKILL.md file under .guilde/skills/<slug>/SKILL.md in any workspace. The file uses the AIP-30 skill schema — frontmatter declares requirements, the body is the prompt instructions.

A workspace-authored skill is automatically available in any guild that mounts the workspace. No publish step required for internal use.

To distribute publicly, push to the Guilde marketplace or to Smithery — both read the same SKILL.md format.

Skills vs operators

Skills and operators are different things, often confused:

• A skill is a blueprint for capability — instructions + tools.
• An operator is an instance of a skill (or several) — a hired worker with their own memory, autonomy, and conversation history.

You can hire one operator with one skill ("Hire an SDR"). You can also hire an operator with multiple skills ("Hire a Full-stack Marketer = SEO Auditor

• Content Writer + Email Outreach"). Or you can hire a skill-less generalist operator and let them figure things out from scratch.

What's next

• Actions and MCP — the ingredients
• Operators — who runs the skill