Reusable instructions that teach the assistant how to do a specific job well, and consistently.
A Skill is a piece of written guidance, stored in iVendNext, that the assistant fetches when it needs deeper help on a task. Because the assistant pulls a skill only when it is relevant, skills can be rich and detailed without slowing down everyday questions. Each skill has a stable identity and is discoverable by the assistant the moment it connects.
Two kinds of skill
| Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Tool Usage | Teaches the assistant how to use one specific tool well, with examples and common pitfalls. Linked to that tool. |
| Workflow | Describes a multi-step procedure that spans several tools, such as a month-end routine. |
The fields of a Skill
| Field | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Skill ID | Yes | A unique identifier using lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. It cannot change after the skill is created. |
| Title | Yes | A human-readable name. |
| Status | Yes | Draft, Published, or Deprecated. Only published skills are visible to others. |
| Skill Type | No | Tool Usage or Workflow. |
| Category | No | An optional grouping for organisation. |
| Description | Yes | A one-line summary shown when the assistant lists available skills. Keep it short. |
| Content | Yes | The full guidance the assistant reads when it pulls the skill. |
| Linked Tool | No | For Tool Usage skills, the exact tool this skill explains. |
| Visibility | No | Private, Shared, or Public. |
| Shared With Roles | If Shared | The roles that may see a shared skill. |
| Use Count & Last Used | Read-only | Usage analytics, updated each time the assistant pulls the skill. |
Who can see a skill
Visibility depends on both its status and its visibility setting. In short:
A draft is visible only to its owner, whatever the visibility.
A published, public skill is visible to all users.
A published, shared skill is visible to users who hold one of its shared roles.
A private skill is never visible to anyone but its owner.
Administrators can see all skills.
Publishing a skill
Create the skill with a clear ID, title, and description.
Write the content: how to handle the task, with examples and warnings.
For a Tool Usage skill, link it to the relevant tool.
Set visibility, then change status from Draft to Published.
Built-in skills
The AI Gateway ships with a published skill for almost every tool, so the assistant always has expert guidance on hand. These cover document handling, search, reports, analysis, file extraction, dashboards, and a workflow skill for building dashboards. You can add your own skills alongside them.
Never put secrets in a skill. Skill content is visible to every user who can see the skill. Do not include passwords, keys, or sensitive data. Keep skills to guidance, not data.