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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rundock.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

A skill in Rundock is a reusable instruction document. A research workflow, a writing process, an audit checklist, a sales prep sequence: each one belongs in a skill file so the same instructions can attach to one or more agents without being duplicated in every agent’s body.

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Skill vs agent instructions

The agent file defines the role. The skill file defines a specific capability within that role. An agent is a person. A skill is something that person knows how to do. A Content Writer agent has an identity, a voice, a scope, and a set of habits. Those go in the agent’s body. The same Content Writer might know how to run a “weekly LinkedIn audit”, how to “draft a launch announcement”, and how to “convert a transcript into a post”. Each of those is a procedure with steps, and each one belongs in a skill file. The split matters because:
  • Skills are reusable. A “weekly report” skill can attach to multiple agents. Putting it inside one agent’s body means copying it into every other agent that needs it.
  • Skills keep agent files lean. A long, detailed workflow inside an agent’s body bloats the file and dilutes the agent’s identity. Lifting it into a skill keeps the agent body focused on role and voice.
  • Skills are visible to the orchestrator. The orchestrator reads each skill’s description field when routing work. A capability hidden inside an agent’s body is invisible to routing.

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When to make a skill

Make a skill when:
  • The same procedure applies to multiple agents.
  • The procedure is long enough or detailed enough that putting it in the agent’s body would bloat it.
  • The procedure has clear steps you want the agent to follow consistently.
Keep it in the agent’s instructions when:
  • The behaviour is specific to one agent and unlikely to be reused.
  • The instruction is a single sentence or two of guidance, not a multi-step process.
  • The behaviour is part of the agent’s identity rather than a discrete capability.
A simple test: if you can imagine writing “use the X skill” inside an agent’s instructions, X is a skill. If you would only ever write the instruction inside the agent’s body, it is not.

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Where skills live

A skill is a folder, not a flat file. The folder name is the skill’s slug. 
your-workspace/
  .claude/
    skills/
      weekly-report/
        SKILL.md          # the skill definition
        references/       # optional: examples, templates, sub-routines
The SKILL.md file inside the folder is the skill definition. The folder shape exists so a skill can keep references, templates, sub-files, and assets next to its definition without polluting the skills root.
Flat skill files at .claude/skills/my-skill.md are not discovered. Rundock only walks subdirectories of .claude/skills/ looking for SKILL.md. The skill must live at .claude/skills/<slug>/SKILL.md to be picked up.

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How skills attach to agents

Rundock matches skills to agents in two passes. Pass 1: explicit assignment via the agent’s skills: array. The agent’s frontmatter declares which skills it owns. Each entry is a skill slug: 
skills:
  - linkedin-hook-generator
  - voice-editor
  - readwise-highlights
This pass takes precedence. An agent matched in Pass 1 is not considered again in Pass 2 for the same skill. Pass 2: implicit assignment via body-text scan. For every agent not matched in Pass 1, Rundock reads the agent’s body and tests whether the skill’s slug appears as a distinct word-boundary token. Mentioning a skill slug in prose attaches the skill. Mentioning it as part of a larger token does not.
Rundock skills sidebar with the Slide Design skill open, showing the description and the Used By panel listing Des as the assigned agent.
Use explicit assignment when the relationship is permanent and load-bearing (Dev owns git-workflow; Penn owns linkedin-hook-generator). Let body-text fallback handle weaker references. A skill can be assigned to multiple agents. The skill’s profile shows a “Used by” row listing every agent it is attached to.

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What goes in a skill body

Skills are leaf instructions, not standalone personalities. The body is written for the agent that will run it, in the second person. A typical skill body has:
  • A clear “Use this skill when…” opener so the agent has unambiguous entry criteria.
  • The inputs the skill expects.
  • Numbered, imperative steps.
  • An output format the agent should produce.
  • Edge cases.
  • Boundaries: explicit statements of what the skill does NOT do.
Length discipline. Live skills cluster around 100 to 200 lines of body text. If a skill is growing past 300 lines, it is doing too much. Split it, or move bulk into reference files in a sibling folder and link to them from the body. The full field reference is on the skill file format page.

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A note on routing

The orchestrator reads each skill’s description field when deciding whether to route work to an agent that owns it. A skill with no description is invisible to routing. This means the description is a routing signal, not a tagline. Write it as: a verb, a clear capability, and the trigger phrase the user is likely to type. Good: “Scan recent work surfaces for repeated manual patterns and propose new skills to build, ranked by leverage.” Less good: “Helps you find things to automate.” The first one tells the orchestrator exactly when to route a request to the agent that owns this skill. The second is a tagline.

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Where to next

Write a skill

A walkthrough of creating a skill and assigning it to an agent.

Skill file format

Every field, with a complete worked example.