> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bellows.cloud/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Skills > Give the agent reusable playbooks, and call them from a task with a slash. A skill is a folder with a `SKILL.md` file: instructions the agent can load when a task needs them. Bellows ships built-in skills, and your repository can add its own. ## Call a skill from a task In the **New task** composer, type `/` at the start of the prompt or after a space. A **Skills** menu opens. Keep typing to filter by name, use the arrow keys, and press Enter to insert the name. Press Escape to close the menu. ```text Prompt theme={null} /factory-fix PROJ-123: the notes list returns 500 when a note has no title ``` A `/name` in the prompt tells the agent to load that skill and follow it. Skills from your repository are tagged `repo` in the menu. A path such as `a/b` or a URL isn't treated as a skill. A task can select up to 16 skills. ## Built-in skills All built-in names start with `factory-`. | Skill | What it does | | - | - | | `factory-fix` | A playbook for fixing a backend bug end to end under TDD: reproduce with a failing test, fix, publish the PR. | | `factory-gates` | Runs the repository's gates from `.bellows.yaml` and reads their output. See [Gates](https://docs.bellows.cloud/guides/gates.md). | | `factory-github` | Works with GitHub through `gh`: PR reviews, line comments, CI status, issues, replies. | | `factory-jira` | Reads, searches and comments on Jira work items using the task's Jira connection. | | `factory-pr-land` | Takes a pushed PR to landable: waits for CI, fixes red checks, answers review feedback. | | `factory-review` | Asks an independent reviewer to review the work in a separate run. | | `factory-task-title` | Sets a short title for the task in the task list. | Some skills need a tool or a connection. `factory-github` and `factory-pr-land` need a GitHub connection. `factory-jira` needs a Jira connection. Add them under **Settings → Integrations**. A task doesn't offer the agent a skill whose connection it doesn't hold, unless you selected that skill in the prompt. Bellows decides this once, when the task or its follow-up is created, so a connection you add later shows up from the next follow-up. `GET /api/jobs/:id` lists the hidden skills and why under `hiddenSkills`. An organization admin can switch a built-in skill off with `PUT /api/org/skills/builtin//enabled` and the body `{"enabled": false}`. A switched-off skill leaves the menu and is hidden from new tasks in that organization. ## Add a skill to your repository Commit a folder under `.claude/skills/` with a `SKILL.md`: ```text Repository layout theme={null} .claude/skills/ release-notes/ SKILL.md ``` ```markdown .claude/skills/release-notes/SKILL.md theme={null} --- name: release-notes description: Draft release notes from merged PRs. Use when asked to prepare a release. --- # Release notes 1. List the PRs merged since the last tag. 2. Group them by area and write one line each. ``` | Field | Rule | | - | - | | `name` | Lowercase letters, digits and single hyphens, up to 64 characters. It can't start with `factory-`. | | `description` | One line. Say what the skill does and when to use it. The agent and the menu both show it. | Bellows reads up to 50 skill folders from the repository at the task's branch. A folder whose `SKILL.md` can't be read or parsed is skipped. > [!NOTE] > > A repository skill can't take a `factory-` name, so it never replaces a built-in. ## Organization and workspace skills Bellows also supports skills shared across your organization and skills owned by one member. Both live under **Settings → Skills**, in the My workspace and Organization sections: list them, switch one on or off, view its `SKILL.md` and files, download it as a zip, delete it, or (for an admin) promote a workspace skill to the organization. Members see the organization's skills read-only. Both are also created through the API, as a `SKILL.md` or a zip of up to 64 files and 5 MiB. When names clash, the more personal skill wins: your workspace skill, then the repository's, then the organization's, then a built-in. A stored skill can declare what it needs under `metadata:` with `requires-connections`, and is hidden from tasks without that connection like the built-ins above. A zip upload takes the skill's name from its `SKILL.md`. Editing only the `SKILL.md` of a stored skill keeps its other files; send the `baseVersionId` you edited, and if someone saved a newer version first the edit is refused with `409 SKILL_VERSION_STALE` so you can reload. `GET /api/org/skills//zip` and `GET /api/workspace/skills//zip` download a skill as a zip, and `GET /api/skills/builtin/` shows a built-in skill's files and the Bellows release it ships with. > [!NOTE] > > On a running task, a workspace skill that the repository also holds isn't guaranteed to win. Give them different names. ## From the CLI `bellows skill list` shows the skills available to you. 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