Skills

Skills extend Io and squad agents with additional capabilities defined in SKILL.md files.

What is a Skill?

A skill is a markdown file (SKILL.md) with YAML frontmatter that describes:

• When to activate the skill
• What instructions to inject into the system prompt
• What tools or behaviors it adds

Installing Skills

From GitHub

# Via IO's chat
"Install the skill from https://github.com/user/repo/tree/main/skills/my-skill"

# Via API
curl -X POST http://localhost:7777/api/skills/install \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/user/repo/main/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md"}'

Manual

Place a SKILL.md file in ~/.io/skills/your-skill/SKILL.md.

Skill Format

---
name: my-skill
description: Helps with XYZ tasks
activation: When the user asks about XYZ
---

# My Skill

Instructions for the AI when this skill is active...

## Guidelines

- Do X
- Don't do Y
- Always consider Z

Managing Skills

Action	Method
List installed	GET /api/skills
Search marketplace	GET /api/skills/discover
Install	POST /api/skills/install
Remove	DELETE /api/skills/:id

Skills for Agents

Skills aren't just for Io — squad agents also load applicable skills into their system prompts. This lets you give specialized instructions to specific agent roles.