> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-1a2462c9-cor-444-sanitize.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skills

> Skills are instruction bundles a bot can follow. Enable first-party skills on a bot you own; the bot loads one when the task calls for it.

A skill tells a bot **how** a particular job is done — the checklist for a weekly report, the steps for a support triage, the way your team wants a summary written. Instead of carrying every procedure in its context all the time, the bot loads a skill when the task calls for it.

## Enable a skill

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign in and open a bot you own">
    A guest cannot enable or run skills.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enable the first-party skills the bot should follow">
    Each bot has its own set. Enable only what that bot's job needs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Let the bot use them">
    The bot loads a skill through its `skill` tool when a task matches. You can also ask for one by name in the conversation.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Skills are not…

| Object                               | What it is                                                       |
| ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Deep Research](/chat/deep-research) | A Chat research run                                              |
| Code's workspace catalog             | The tools a [Code session](/code/how-it-works) runs in its guest |
| [Routines](/bot/routines)            | *When* a bot works; a skill is *how*                             |
| Connected apps                       | Tools from apps you connected under **Customize → Connectors**   |

## Skills in the CLI

The CLI has its own skills system for the coding agent — `SKILL.md` bundles with frontmatter, found in your project or under `~/.cortex/skills/`, loaded through a `UseSkill` tool and gated by the `permission.skill` table. Those are CLI skills for Code, separate from Bot's first-party skills. See [Extend the CLI](/cli/extend).

## Related

* [Tools](/bot/tools) — the `skill` tool and the rest of the catalog.
* [How Bot works](/bot/how-it-works) — what you see when a skill runs.