> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.octavehq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What are Skills in Octave?

> Skills are managed Agent Skills — reusable, versioned methods for GTM deliverables that any connected AI assistant can discover and follow, hosted centrally in your workspace.

## What is a Skill?

A Skill packages your team's method for a repeatable deliverable — call prep, discovery scripts, battlecards, one-pagers, QBR decks — as instructions an AI assistant can load and follow. Skills use the Anthropic Agent Skills format: a root `SKILL.md` with the instructions, plus optional bundled reference files the instructions point to.

The difference from a prompt in a doc somewhere: Skills live in Octave, so every assistant connected to your workspace — Claude, Cursor, or anything else speaking [MCP](/mcp/overview) — discovers the same skills, follows the same current version, and your team's method improves in one place.

## Progressive disclosure

Skills load in three levels, so assistants read only what the task needs:

1. **Discovery** — `find_skill` matches a task description against skill names and descriptions; `list_skills` browses the catalog. Neither loads any instructions.
2. **Instructions** — `get_skill` loads the `SKILL.md` body plus a listing of bundled files.
3. **Reference files** — `get_skill_file` reads one bundled file, only when the instructions call for it.

This keeps context lean: an assistant prepping a call loads the call-prep skill, not your entire methodology.

## Skill lifecycle

Skills have a `draft` → `published` lifecycle and can be deactivated. Draft and deactivated skills stay invisible to assistants — `find_skill` and the listing surface only published, active skills — so you can iterate on a method without agents following a half-finished version.

Each skill's folder is stored as a managed [Asset](/concepts/assets) (type `skill`). The Skill API keeps the searchable registry and the stored files in sync, which is why skill files are edited through the Skill API rather than the generic asset surface.

## Managing Skills via API

* `GET /api/v2/skill/list` — list skills, with status and text filters
* `GET /api/v2/skill/get` — load a skill by oId or exact name, including its `SKILL.md` body and file listing
* `GET /api/v2/skill/file` — read one bundled file
* `POST /api/v2/skill/find` — find the best-matching skill for a task description
* `POST /api/v2/skill/create` / `POST /api/v2/skill/update` / `POST /api/v2/skill/delete` — manage skills

The same operations are available to assistants through the [MCP skill tools](/mcp/available-tools#skills).