Skills

Skills are reusable capabilities that your AI agent invokes on demand. They pack instructions, expertise, and tools into a lightweight package.

Key properties:

Model-invoked – Neovate decides when to use them based on the task, not typed commands
Composable – can be chained together as part of larger workflows
Token-efficient – lightweight and focused

What is a Skill?

A skill is a directory containing:

SKILL.md with YAML frontmatter and markdown instructions
Optional supporting files (scripts, schemas, checklists)

Each skill defines what problem it solves, what inputs it expects, and what success looks like.

File Locations

Scope	Location	Purpose
Workspace	`.neovate/skills/<skill-name>/`	Project skills shared with teammates; checked into git
Personal	`~/.neovate/skills/<skill-name>/`	Private skills that follow you across projects

For compatibility, .claude/skills/ is also supported as an alias.

Skill File Format

Skills are defined in Markdown with YAML frontmatter:


---
name: summarize-diff
description: Summarize the staged git diff in 3–5 bullets. Use when the user asks for a summary of pending changes.
---
 
# Summarize Diff
 
## Instructions
 
1. Run `git diff --staged`.
2. Summarize the changes in 3–5 bullets, focusing on user-visible behavior.
3. Call out any migrations, risky areas, or tests that should be run.

The name and description fields are required. Neovate uses the description to decide when to apply the skill.

Supporting Files

Each skill folder can contain supporting utilities:

SKILL.md – the main skill specification

How Skills Differ from Other Config

Config	Purpose	When it runs
Skills	Specialized knowledge invoked by the model	Model chooses when relevant
Rules (AGENTS.md)	Project-wide instructions	Loaded into every conversation
Slash Commands	User-invoked macros	You type `/command` to run it