> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.automagik.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skills

> Slash-command prompt programs that encode best practices into reusable workflows.

# Skills

A **skill** is a structured prompt file that encodes a workflow as a slash command. When you type `/brainstorm` or `/work`, you're invoking a skill — a Markdown document with YAML frontmatter that gets loaded into the agent's context.

## How Skills Work

1. You type `/brainstorm` in Claude Code
2. Claude Code finds `skills/brainstorm/SKILL.md`
3. The skill's content is injected into the conversation
4. The agent follows the skill's instructions

Skills are not code — they're prompt programs. They define phases, decision trees, output formats, and validation steps that the agent follows.

## Skill Anatomy

Every skill lives in `skills/<name>/SKILL.md` with this structure:

```yaml theme={"dark"}
---
name: brainstorm
description: Explore ambiguous or early-stage ideas interactively
---

# Brainstorm Skill

## Phase 1: Understand the Idea
...

## Phase 2: Explore Constraints
...
```

The frontmatter defines:

| Field         | Purpose                                        |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| `name`        | Skill identifier — matches the `/command` name |
| `description` | One-line summary shown in skill listings       |

## Built-in Skills

Genie ships with 17 skills organized by function:

### Core Pipeline

| Skill                                  | Command       | Purpose                                              |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| [Brainstorm](/genie/skills/brainstorm) | `/brainstorm` | Explore ideas interactively, track wish-readiness    |
| [Wish](/genie/skills/wish)             | `/wish`       | Convert a design into a structured WISH.md           |
| [Work](/genie/skills/work)             | `/work`       | Execute a wish — dispatch agents per execution group |
| [Review](/genie/skills/review)         | `/review`     | Validate work against criteria — SHIP or FIX-FIRST   |

### Debugging & Fixing

| Skill                          | Command   | Purpose                                           |
| ------------------------------ | --------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| [Trace](/genie/skills/trace)   | `/trace`  | Investigate unknown issues, isolate root cause    |
| [Fix](/genie/skills/fix)       | `/fix`    | Apply minimal fix for FIX-FIRST gaps              |
| [Report](/genie/skills/report) | `/report` | Full bug investigation with GitHub issue creation |

### Orchestration

| Skill                            | Command    | Purpose                                                    |
| -------------------------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| [PM](/genie/skills/pm)           | `/pm`      | Full PM playbook — triage, assign, track, report, escalate |
| [Council](/genie/skills/council) | `/council` | 10-perspective architectural review                        |
| [Dream](/genie/skills/dream)     | `/dream`   | Batch-execute SHIP-ready wishes overnight                  |
| [Genie](/genie/skills/genie)     | `/genie`   | Transform any session into a Genie orchestrator            |

### Knowledge & Learning

| Skill                        | Command       | Purpose                                          |
| ---------------------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| [Brain](/genie/skills/brain) | `/brain`      | Knowledge graph engine — search, ingest, analyze |
| [Learn](/genie/skills/learn) | `/learn`      | Behavioral correction from user feedback         |
| Brain Init                   | `/brain-init` | Initialize and personalize a knowledge brain     |

### Utilities

| Skill                          | Command   | Purpose                                    |
| ------------------------------ | --------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| [Wizard](/genie/skills/wizard) | `/wizard` | Guided onboarding — scaffold to first wish |
| [Refine](/genie/skills/refine) | `/refine` | Optimize prompts via prompt-optimizer      |
| [Docs](/genie/skills/docs)     | `/docs`   | Audit and generate documentation           |

<Note>
  The `qa-runner` agent has been merged into the `/qa` QA system accessible via `genie qa`.
</Note>

## Invoking Skills

Skills are invoked as slash commands:

```text theme={"dark"}
/brainstorm Add a webhook system for real-time notifications
```

You can pass arguments — the text after the command becomes context for the skill.

Some skills are also triggered automatically:

* `/work` is invoked by the team-lead when dispatching execution
* `/review` is invoked after work completion
* `/fix` is invoked when review returns FIX-FIRST

## Skill Composition

Skills can delegate to other skills:

* `/wizard` delegates to `/brainstorm` for identity shaping and `/wish` for plan creation
* `/work` invokes `/review` after execution completes
* `/report` cascades through `/trace` before filing an issue
* `/dream` orchestrates `/work` → `/review` loops across multiple wishes

## Creating Custom Skills

To add a custom skill:

1. Create `skills/<name>/SKILL.md`
2. Add YAML frontmatter with `name` and `description`
3. Write the skill's instructions in Markdown
4. The skill becomes available as `/<name>`

```yaml theme={"dark"}
---
name: deploy
description: Guide deployment to staging and production environments
---

# Deploy Skill

## Phase 1: Pre-flight Checks
- Verify all tests pass
- Check CI status
- Confirm target environment

## Phase 2: Deploy
...
```

Skills installed via the plugin system (in `~/.claude/plugins/genie/skills/`) are available globally across all projects.

## Skill vs. Agent

|                | Skill                                   | Agent                              |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| **What**       | A prompt program                        | A running process                  |
| **Lifetime**   | Single conversation turn                | Persistent tmux session            |
| **State**      | Stateless (context is the conversation) | Stateful (agent registry, mailbox) |
| **Invocation** | `/command`                              | `genie spawn <role>`               |
| **Use case**   | Structured workflow                     | Long-running autonomous work       |

Skills tell agents *what to do*. Agents are *who does it*.