Extend Zo

Skills

Create repeatable AI workflows

Zo Computer implements Agent Skills, a lightweight, open format for extending AI agent capabilities with specialized knowledge and workflows.

What are Agent Skills?#

Agent Skills package domain expertise, new capabilities, and repeatable workflows that agents can use. At its core, a skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file with metadata and instructions that tell an agent how to perform a specific task.

This approach keeps agents fast while giving them access to more context on demand. When a task matches a skill's description, the agent reads the full instructions into context and follows them—optionally loading referenced files or executing bundled code as needed.

Key benefits#

  • Self-documenting: A skill author or user can read a SKILL.md file and understand what it does, making skills easy to audit and improve
  • Interoperable: Skills work across any agent that implements the Agent Skills specification
  • Extensible: Skills can range in complexity from simple text instructions to bundled scripts, templates, and reference materials
  • Shareable: Skills are portable and can be easily shared between projects and developers

Skill structure#

Skills are stored in the Skills folder within your workspace. You can create a new skill using the Create Skill action in the command palette, or by asking Zo to create one for you in the chat.

How skills work in Zo Computer#

Skills load progressively so Zo stays fast and only pulls in what it needs for the current task:

  • Metadata is always available from each skill's frontmatter, so Zo knows what a skill does and when to use it.
  • When a task matches, Zo reads the full SKILL.md instructions and follows them.
  • If the instructions reference supporting files (templates, examples, guides) or scripts, Zo loads or runs those only when needed.

Skills can bundle additional files alongside SKILL.md, such as:

  • Instructions: extra guides or reference docs
  • Code: scripts Zo can run for deterministic tasks
  • Resources: templates, examples, or other data files

Zo only reads or runs these when the skill instructions explicitly call for them.

Skill directory layout#

Each skill lives at Skills/<skill-dir>/, where <skill-dir> is a lowercase slug that matches the name in frontmatter.

Skills/
└── your-skill-name/
    ├── SKILL.md          # required
    ├── scripts/          # optional executable code
    ├── references/       # optional reference material
    └── assets/           # optional data files or templates

The SKILL.md file#

SKILL.md files can include the following frontmatter fields:

  • name: The name of the skill.
  • description: A description of the skill.
  • compatibility: Optional – environment requirements.
  • metadata: Optional – extra metadata.
  • allowed-tools: Optional – space-delimited list of pre-approved tools.
---
name: your-skill-name
description: Your skill description
---

[Clear guidance for AI to execute the skill]