Skill Management

Skill Management (skill_manager)

Manage the source skill, not a generated projection of it.

Runtime Contract

1. Built-in sources live in skills/<id>/SKILL.md; custom sources live in data/custom_skills/<id>/SKILL.md; legacy project-local sources may live in a closer .hone/skills/<id>/SKILL.md.
2. Trusted persistent Codex ACP workspaces expose enabled Hone skills as individual symlinks under <actor workspace>/.agents/skills/.
3. Codex performs native progressive disclosure: it starts with each skill's name, description, and path, then reads the complete SKILL.md only when the task activates that skill.
4. Do not copy skill bodies into each Codex user turn and do not call Hone MCP skill-loading tools merely to activate a skill.
5. Non-Codex and strict legacy runners retain Hone's discover_skills / skill_tool bridge. load_skill remains a compatibility shim only.

Frontmatter Contract

Prefer this frontmatter schema:

---
name: Human readable name
description: One-line description
when_to_use: Brief trigger guidance
allowed-tools:
  - skill_tool
user-invocable: true
model: optional model override
effort: optional effort override
context: inline
agent: optional agent hint
paths:
  - src/**/*.rs
hooks: {}
arguments: []
script: optional default script path like scripts/run.sh
shell: optional shell hint
---

Notes:

• allowed-tools replaces legacy tools as the main runtime field.
• context should usually be inline; use fork only when the skill should run in an isolated child runner.
• paths hides the skill from the default listing until the active task touches matching files.
• script declares the default executable entrypoint inside the skill directory. Native Codex may run a trusted bundled script directly; legacy Hone runners may use skill_tool(..., execute_script=true).
• Keep the Markdown body task-oriented and ready to inject as prompt text.

How To Inspect Skills

On native Codex:

1. Use the native skill list already supplied by Codex.
2. Match from name and description.
3. Read the selected skill's SKILL.md from its disclosed path.
4. Read bundled scripts or references only when the task needs them.

On a legacy Hone runner without native skill discovery:

1. Use discover_skills(query="...") to select the skill.
2. Use skill_tool(skill_name="<skill id>") to load its full prompt.

How To Create Or Update Skills

1. Collect the intended skill id, description, trigger conditions, and whether users should be able to invoke it directly with /<skill-name>.
2. Write or update the source SKILL.md; never edit the actor-workspace symlink as if it were an independent copy.
3. Keep the body concrete: trigger rules, required steps, tool usage expectations, and refusal/verification constraints.
4. Validate native discovery with Codex skills/list or a real Codex ACP turn. Validate the legacy bridge separately only when that runner remains in scope.

Strict Rules

• On native Codex, do not call discover_skills, load_skill, or skill_tool just to discover or load a skill.
• Preserve actor-owned entries in .agents/skills; Hone only owns its hone__* links.
• Do not teach the deprecated skill_tool(action="add" | "update" | "remove") CRUD workflow.
• Do not rely on load_skill as the main user-facing path.
• If a skill is path-gated, mention that it may stay hidden until matching files are involved.
• If runtime enforcement is not implemented for a field such as hooks or strict tool scoping, say so plainly instead of pretending it is active.