# Skills > Extend Empryo's agent with markdown SKILL.md files. Browse skills.sh, install per project or global scope, and toggle skills into the system prompt per session. Skills are markdown files that extend what the agent knows. A skill can teach it a framework, a workflow, a style guide, or a domain. Empryo reads SKILL.md files at launch and routes them into the agent's system prompt when relevant. ## Browse and install Press `Ctrl+S` or run `/skills`. The picker searches [skills.sh](https://skills.sh) for community skills. ``` /skills open the manager Ctrl+S same ``` Three tabs: - **Search**: live search against the skills.sh catalog, sorted by install count. - **Installed**: every skill Empryo can find on your machine. - **Active**: skills loaded into the current session. ## Scopes Skills resolve from six directories, with project scope taking priority over global: ``` ~/.empryo/skills/ global ~/.agents/skills/ global (shared with other tools) ~/.claude/skills/ global (Claude Code compatible) .empryo/skills/ project .agents/skills/ project .claude/skills/ project ``` If a skill exists in both a global and a project scope, the project copy wins. Symlinks are followed, so shared skill collections (for example `~/.agents/skills` linked from `~/.claude/skills`) deduplicate automatically. ## Install From the picker: enter selects a skill. Empryo runs `bunx` (or `npx` as fallback) to add the skill. It lands in the chosen scope and appears in the Installed tab. From the CLI: ```bash # Browse popular skills bunx skills list # Add from a catalog bunx skills add --skill -g ``` ## Enable and disable Skills are loaded per session. In the Active tab, toggle skills on and off, they appear in the agent's prompt context when on and drop out when off. The setting persists per session. ## Structure A skill is a directory with a SKILL.md at its root: ``` my-skill/ ├── SKILL.md required, the frontmatter + instructions ├── references/ optional supporting docs └── templates/ optional templates ``` `SKILL.md` front matter: ```yaml --- name: my-skill description: When to reach for this skill. --- # My Skill Instructions, conventions, patterns... ``` ## The skill Empryo ships Empryo installs one skill of its own, `empryo`, into `~/.empryo/skills/empryo/SKILL.md`. It teaches an agent to answer questions about Empryo from the live documentation and to change your config safely, with a map of every docs page so it reads the right one instead of guessing. It carries a `version` in its frontmatter and refreshes itself between releases: on launch, at most once every six hours, Empryo reads [the published skill index](https://empryo.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) and installs a higher version. The bytes must hash to the sha256 that index published, the file's own frontmatter must agree with it, and only a copy you have never edited is rewritten. Edit it or delete it and your choice stands. ```json { "liveSkills": false } ``` That pins whatever your installed binary shipped and stops the check entirely. ## Remove From the Installed tab, select a skill and delete. Empryo removes the directory on disk. ## Writing your own Any directory with a `SKILL.md` is a skill. Drop one in `.empryo/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md` (project) or `~/.empryo/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md` (global) and it shows up immediately. The agent loads the skill content into its system prompt when the skill is active for the session, so keep SKILL.md concise and actionable.