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Skills are reusable instructions Roomote can use when a task needs a specialized workflow. In the task prompt, type / to search the packaged skills available to Roomote, then select one to insert its slash invocation. In a session, start a message with $skill-name to explicitly load a packaged, instance, or environment skill. Instance skills are available to members even when no environments are configured. Roomote resolves existing environment skills only from environments you can use. If those environments define different versions with the same name, Roomote asks which one you mean. Every session turn starts with the names and descriptions of your instance skills and inline environment skills already in view, so Roomote can recognize a matching playbook from your request and load it without being asked. Skills installed from the marketplace and repository-defined skills are discovered on demand: Roomote sees which marketplace sources each environment installs and looks them up when one seems relevant. When you ask Roomote which skills are available, its unscoped inventory includes packaged skills, instance skills, and environment skills you can use. Repository-defined skills remain scoped to a specific environment or repository. Use skills when the same guidance keeps showing up across sessions and tasks: a framework-specific review checklist, a release process, a design-system rule, a data workflow, or a repeatable debugging path. Skills are for durable playbooks that help a Roomote agent decide how to work. They are not a replacement for connecting providers, adding environment variables, or writing the one-off prompt for the current task.

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What Skills settings controls

Settings > Skills opens one searchable skill catalog. The All and Everywhere filters are available to every signed-in member; admins can also filter for Env-Specific skills. The Availability column shows Everywhere for instance skills and the selected environments for scoped skills. Select a skill to view its instructions and access any permitted Edit and Delete actions. Instance skills are stored once for the Roomote instance, independently of environments. Any member can create or read them. Only the creator or an admin can edit or delete them; these permissions also apply to conversational creation. Choose Add Custom Skill to create reusable instructions. Members create skills available everywhere. Admins can instead select environments in the creation dialog. Existing skills keep their current availability when edited; the settings UI does not move skills between instance and environment storage. Admins can use Add from Marketplace to open the Vercel Marketplace search, install published skills, and choose which environments use them. Admins can also edit or delete inline environment skills and manage installed marketplace availability from the unified catalog. The same configuration remains available in the environment editor’s YAML view: use manualSkills for inline custom instructions and skills for published skills. See the environment definition reference for examples. Instance skills do not have an environment selection. Environment skills apply to the environments whose YAML includes them.

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When to use a custom skill

Create a custom skill when the instruction is:
  • repeatable across many tasks
  • specific enough that Roomote can tell when to use it
  • more detailed than a short line of environment guidance
  • durable enough to maintain over time
Good custom skills include:
  • a support-investigation workflow for your product
  • a design-system implementation checklist
  • a release-note drafting process
  • a database migration review guide
  • a customer-escalation triage playbook
The support channel recipe shows a complete custom skill with launch criteria and a production-safe investigation flow. If the instruction is only one sentence, it probably belongs in Agent Guidance, environment guidance, or the task prompt instead.

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Create a skill in conversation

Any member can ask Roomote to save an instance skill directly in a session, without starting a coding task or creating a repository file. Include a slug, a description of when to use the skill, and Markdown instructions. For example:
The skill appears in Settings > Skills. There is no environment selection and no environment needs to exist. Refresh an already-open settings page to see a skill created in conversation. Roomote confirms persistence and instance-wide availability after creation. Roomote can discover and load newly created or updated skills immediately in the same conversation. Coding tasks fetch a fresh catalog at startup and on resumed runs; an already-running agent does not reload skill files mid-turn. A failure to fetch that catalog stops startup rather than silently using stale skills. Instance skill names are unique. A duplicate is rejected without overwriting; choose another slug or edit the existing skill if you own it or are an admin. Names use lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, up to 64 characters. Each description is limited to 1,024 characters, and the rendered Markdown document to 64 KiB. An instance can hold up to 128 instance skills. You can also ask Roomote to update an instance skill you created. Roomote reloads the skill first and applies the edit only if its version is still current. Focused edits use exact text replacements; missing or repeated text is rejected unless you explicitly ask to replace every occurrence. Metadata and content changes are saved together, so a permission, naming, replacement, or version conflict does not leave a partial edit. Admins may update any instance skill. Deleting a skill removes it from future discovery and runtime refreshes, not from text already loaded in an active conversation. Locally modified skill files in an existing coding workspace are preserved rather than deleted as unrelated work.

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Write the description carefully

The description helps Roomote decide when the skill is relevant. Make it concrete. Prefer:
Avoid:
The skill content can be more detailed, but the description should quickly answer: “When should Roomote reach for this?”

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How Skills interact with repository-defined skills

Some repositories define their own skills in the repository, usually as checked-in SKILL.md files. Those repository-defined skills travel with the repository and are best for instructions that should stay versioned with that codebase. Skills configured in Roomote settings are different:
  • Instance skills are shared across the instance. They are available to all members, sessions, and coding tasks without environment configuration.
  • Environment skills keep their existing scope. They apply only to their selected environments and remain admin-managed.
  • Repository-defined skills are codebase-level. They apply when the task is working in that repository and the active workflow finds them relevant.
  • Sessions include instance and inline environment skills on every turn and can discover the rest before starting a task. It can load instance skills directly, environment skills only from authorized environments, and it reads repository skill Markdown only from repositories in configured environments. If the workflow needs a workspace, Roomote starts a task in a matching environment and the task loads the environment-scoped or checked-out copy of the skill.
  • Custom skills are supplemental. They help Roomote perform specialized work; they do not replace the built-in task flow, environment setup, or the user’s prompt.
  • Built-in Roomote skills stay authoritative. When names collide, Roomote prefers packaged skills, then instance skills, then environment skills, then repository skills. Use distinct names for team skills. Skill instructions cannot grant permissions or override higher-priority policies.
Use repository-defined skills when the instruction should be reviewed and changed with the code. Use instance skills for shared playbooks without a repository change. Existing environment skills remain useful where an admin wants guidance scoped to selected environments.

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Choosing the right home

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Common issues

  • Roomote does not use the skill. Make the description more specific: Roomote matches your request against the description before loading a skill. For environment skills, check that it is enabled in the selected environment.
  • Roomote cannot find $skill-name. Check the exact invocation name and whether a higher-priority skill has the same name. For environment skills, check access.
  • The skill applies too broadly. Narrow its when-to-use description. Instance skills are shared, not private or environment-scoped.
  • Two skills seem to overlap. Keep the more specific one, or split the workflow so each skill has a clear trigger.
  • A repository already has a similar skill. Prefer the repository-defined skill for codebase-owned behavior, and use Settings skills for cross-environment behavior.