Skills & Tools
These are two related but different things, and understanding the difference will help you get more out of your assistant.
Tools: the atomic actions
Tools are the individual actions your assistant can take. Each one does exactly one thing:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
web_search | Search the internet |
file_read | Read a file |
host_bash | Run a shell command on your machine |
browser_navigate | Open a URL in a headless browser |
memory_save | Save a fact to long-term memory |
ui_show | Display a visual surface (card, table, chart) |
document_create | Open a document editor |
app_create | Build an interactive web app |
reminder_create | Set a timed reminder |
There are dozens more. Your assistant picks the right tool for the job based on what you asked for.
Some tools are always available (like web_search and file_read on the workspace). Others require your permission before they run. Anything that touches your machine outside the sandbox (reading your files, running commands) will show an Allow / Don't Allow prompt with an explanation of what's happening.
Skills: bundles of capability
A skill is a package that combines tools, instructions, and configuration into a coherent capability. Think of it this way:
- Tool = "I can navigate to a URL"
- Skill = "I know how to check your email, which involves navigating to the right URLs, parsing the results, composing replies, and managing your inbox"
Skills give your assistant context about how to use tools for a specific purpose. The Email skill knows email workflows. The Calendar skill knows how to parse events and check availability. The DoorDash skill knows how to navigate the ordering flow.
Built-in skills
Your assistant ships with these skills ready to go:
| Skill | What it enables |
|---|---|
| Email (AgentMail) | Full email management from your assistant's own address |
| Google Calendar | Calendar viewing, event creation, availability checking |
| Weather | Forecasts and current conditions for any location |
| Image Studio | AI image generation and editing |
| Messaging | Cross-platform messaging (Slack, Gmail, Telegram) |
| Browser | Web page navigation, interaction, and content extraction |
| DoorDash | Food, grocery, and convenience item ordering |
| Start the Day | Personalized daily briefings |
| App Builder | Interactive HTML/CSS/JS app creation |
| Claude Code | AI-powered coding assistance |
| Reminders | Time-based notifications |
| Schedules | Recurring automated tasks |
| Tasks | Personal task queue management |
| Contacts | Contact and relationship tracking |
How skills load
Skills are loaded on demand. They're not all running in the background eating up resources. When you ask for the weather, the Weather skill loads. When you ask about your calendar, the Calendar skill loads. When you don't mention email for a week, the Email skill sits quietly in its folder doing nothing.
This is the “inviting” principle at work. You don't configure 14 integrations before you can do anything. You just ask, and the right skill shows up.
Custom skills
If the built-in skills don't cover what you need, you can build your own. Your assistant can even help:
"Build me a skill that monitors my favorite subreddit for new posts about TypeScript."
The workflow:
- Your assistant writes a TypeScript snippet
- It tests the snippet in a sandbox
- If it works, it saves the skill to your
skills/directory (with your permission) - The skill is now available for future use
More detail in the Building Custom Skills guide.
The difference, summarized
| Tools | Skills | |
|---|---|---|
| What | Single atomic actions | Bundles of tools + instructions |
| Example | browser_navigate | Browser skill (navigate, click, extract, screenshot) |
| Loaded | Always available or permission-gated | On demand, when relevant |
| Custom | Built into the platform | User-buildable |
| Think of it as | A single LEGO brick | A LEGO set with instructions |