What is a Skill in ThreoAI?

A Skill is a packaged SKILL.md file, optionally with bundled files, that gives ThreoAI chat task-specific know-how. When a skill is on, ThreoAI applies it when your request matches the skill's description. You can also invoke one deliberately by typing / in the composer.

How is a Skill different from an Expert?

You pick an Expert to start a focused conversation with a persona. A Skill is know-how that loads automatically in the background when it is relevant, across your normal chats. Experts shape who you talk to; Skills add what the model knows how to do.

Do I have to invoke a Skill manually?

Not usually. A skill that is turned on is applied when your request matches its description. You can also invoke one deliberately by typing / in the composer and choosing it from the menu, which adds it as a chip on the message you send.

Where do I find Skills in ThreoAI?

Skills is a sub-tab inside Studio's Capabilities tab. Skills are enabled per organization, so if the Capabilities tab has no Skills sub-tab, your administrator has not turned the feature on for your tenant.

Skills in ThreoAI

Give ThreoAI chat task-specific know-how with Skills. Turn on a Synthreo skill or upload your own SKILL.md package in Studio, and it loads when needed.

Overview

Skills give ThreoAI chat task-specific know-how. Turn on a Synthreo skill or upload your own, and ThreoAI uses it when your request matches what the skill is for. You can also invoke one deliberately by typing / in the composer and picking it from the menu.

A Skill is a packaged SKILL.md file, optionally with a few bundled files alongside it. The SKILL.md describes what the skill does and how to do it; ThreoAI reads that description and loads the skill on its own when it fits the task in front of you.

You manage Skills in Studio. Open Studio from the left sidebar, select the Capabilities tab, then the Skills sub-tab.

ThreoAI Studio Skills surface with the two-pane layout, skill list on the left and detail on the right

Skills vs Experts vs Connectors

These three extend chat in different ways:

Type	What it is	How it activates
Skill	Packaged know-how (a SKILL.md)	Applied when your request matches its description, or invoked with /
Expert	A reusable assistant or persona you set up	You pick it to start a focused chat
Connector	A link to an external system over MCP	The AI calls it when it needs that system

In short, a Skill adds know-how, an Expert gives you a persona to work with, and a Connector reaches an outside system. Skills and Connectors sit side by side as the two sub-tabs of Capabilities. See Creating an Expert and Connectors.

The Skills sub-tab

Skills is a two-pane view.

The left sidebar groups your skills:

Personal skills - skills you uploaded just for yourself.
Organization skills - skills your administrator has published to your whole team from the Canopy Skill Catalog.
Browse - the Synthreo catalog plus an Add your own entry. The curated Synthreo catalog is rolling out, so it may not be populated in your tenant yet.

Search filters the list by name and description. Each installed skill expands into a file tree, with SKILL.md at the top and any bundled files beneath it. A skill that is turned off is marked as such.

The right detail pane shows the selected skill: its name, an on/off switch, a kebab menu, a metadata grid, the description, and the rendered file contents.

Metadata field	What it tells you
Added by	Who added it: You, You (admin), Your admin, or Synthreo
Last updated	When the skill was last changed
Trigger	Always Automatic - “Loaded when the model matches the description”

The kebab menu holds the per-skill actions: Turn on / Turn off, Download, Replace, and Remove or Uninstall. These are covered in Managing a skill below. Which of them appear depends on the skill and on your permissions.

Prerequisites

Access to ThreoAI with the Skills feature enabled for your organization.
To upload your own skill, a SKILL.md package: either a bare SKILL.md file or a .zip / .skill bundle that contains one. Uploads are limited to 4 MB.
Uploading and replacing your own skills is separately enabled by your organization. Where it is off, Add your own reads “Custom skill uploads are turned off for your organization” and Replace reads “Replace (custom uploads off)”.

Turn on a Synthreo skill

Step 1: Open Browse

In the Skills sub-tab, select Browse in the left sidebar to see the Synthreo catalog.

Step 2: Turn it on

Select a skill to open its detail pane, review the description, and select Turn on (or flip the switch). The skill moves into your list and is active immediately, ready to be applied when a request matches its description or invoked with /.

ThreoAI Studio Skills browse view with the skill list and detail view

Upload your own skill

Step 1: Open Add your own

In the left sidebar, select Browse, then Add your own to open the Add your own skill panel: “Upload a .zip / .skill bundle or a single SKILL.md to add it to the catalog.”

Step 2: Choose your package

Drop in or select your file. ThreoAI accepts .zip, .skill, or .md, up to 4MB:

a .zip or .skill file must include a SKILL.md, and
a bare .md file must contain the skill name and description formatted in YAML frontmatter.

ThreoAI validates the package on upload. It checks the frontmatter, file count, and size, and rejects unsafe archives.

Step 3: Add the skill

Skills you upload are personal to you - there is no team-visibility choice on upload. To make a skill available to your whole organization, an administrator publishes it from the Canopy Skill Catalog (see below).

Select Add skill to finish. The skill appears under Personal skills and is turned on.

An earlier Add your own skill panel, showing a Who can use it? choice of Just me or My team

Use a skill in chat

Leave the skill turned on and chat normally: when your request matches the skill’s description, ThreoAI uses its know-how in the answer. To reach for one deliberately, type / in the composer and pick it from the menu - it appears as a chip on the message, and you can remove the chip before sending. To stop a skill being used at all, turn it off.

Managing a skill

Open a skill and use the switch or the kebab menu:

Turn off - ThreoAI stops using the skill until you turn it back on. It stays in your list. Turning off is confirmed first.
Download - export the skill as a .zip so you can back it up or share it.
Replace - upload a new package to update the skill in place. Needs custom uploads to be enabled for your organization.
Remove - for a skill you uploaded, deletes it.
Uninstall - for a catalog skill, removes it from your list and returns it to the catalog so you can turn it on again later.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Fix
No Skills sub-tab in Studio	The skills feature is not enabled for your organization	Ask your administrator to enable Skills for your tenant
Add your own is greyed out	Custom skill uploads are turned off for your organization	Ask your administrator to enable custom uploads
Upload rejected	Missing `SKILL.md`, missing name/description frontmatter, over 4 MB, or an unsafe archive	Check the bundle contains a valid `SKILL.md` and is under the size limit, then re-upload
Skill never seems to load	Its description does not match the requests you are making	Edit the description to clearly state what the skill is for, then Replace the skill
A teammate cannot see a skill you uploaded	Uploaded skills are personal to you only	Ask your administrator to publish it to the whole team from the Canopy Skill Catalog

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I type a command to use a skill? Not necessarily. A skill that is on is applied when the model matches your request to its description. If you want to be certain a particular skill is used, type / in the composer and choose it - the skill rides along with that message as a chip.

What is the difference between Remove and Uninstall? Remove deletes a skill you uploaded. Uninstall takes a Synthreo catalog skill off your list but leaves it in the catalog, so you can turn it on again later.

Who can see a skill I upload? A skill you upload is personal to you. To make a skill available across your organization, an administrator publishes it from the Canopy Skill Catalog.

How do skills relate to Connectors? A Skill is self-contained know-how, applied on a match or invoked with /. A Connector links chat to an external system over MCP. They are the two sub-tabs of Studio’s Capabilities tab, and administrators manage both catalogs in Canopy. See Connectors.

Can my administrator publish skills for everyone? Yes. Administrators publish and scope skills in Canopy under Platform Admin - Skill Catalog, and those appear to your organization as Synthreo or organization skills.

Studio Overview - the hub where Experts, Agents, Capabilities, Projects, and Aliases live
Creating an Expert - build a reusable assistant you select for a chat
Connectors - the other Capabilities sub-tab, linking chat to external systems over MCP
ThreoAI Overview - the full platform at a glance