Agent Skills Specification Cheat Sheet
Quick reference for SKILL.md frontmatter, directory structure, validation rules, and platform paths.
Updated 2026-06-22
Quick reference for the agentskills.io specification.
Required frontmatter
---
name: my-skill-name
description: What it does and when the agent should use it (20-1024 chars)
---
Name rules
- Lowercase alphanumeric with hyphens only - Must match directory name - Max 64 characters
Optional directories
- `scripts/` — Python, JS, Bash executables - `references/` — Markdown, JSON, YAML docs loaded on demand - `assets/` — Templates, images, static files
FAQ
What are the required fields in SKILL.md?
Required YAML frontmatter fields are name (lowercase-hyphenated) and description (20-1024 chars explaining what the skill does and when to use it). The body contains markdown instructions.