netdata Skill Authoring
Use skills to preserve project-specific knowledge and route each task to the instructions it needs. Loading a skill
for review or maintenance does not authorize the operational procedures it describes. Root AGENTS.md and
.agents/skills/README.md remain the owners of project authorization, SOW, delivery and skill-layout policy.
Pick Your Task
| Task | Read |
|---|---|
| Explain guidance or investigate possible rot | Relevant sections of ./authoring-rules.md#rot-signals; report evidence without implementation ceremonies |
| Review an existing skill change | ./change-method.md#review-round and the relevant rules/owners; use the supplied diff and scope |
| Correct or add a bounded rule, example, trigger or local duplicate | ./change-method.md#bounded-amendment and the affected ./authoring-rules.md#authoring-rules sections |
| Restructure, slim, split or migrate substantial knowledge | ./change-method.md#restructure-evidence, then its preservation and review sections |
| Create a skill | ./change-method.md#creating-a-skill and ./authoring-rules.md#authoring-rules |
| Locate a governing project rule | ./authoring-rules.md#where-the-rules-live |
A slimming pass over touched content does not by itself turn an amendment into a restructure. Choose by loss risk and
changed contracts, not line count. Existing user approval persists; this skill adds no options round for a fixed goal.
Non-trivial implementation still needs the project SOW gate; read-only and trivial work retain the owner's exemptions
(AGENTS.md#when-a-sow-is-required, AGENTS.md#plan-before-non-trivial-work).
What Good Looks Like
The description makes the skill discoverable; the short entry states shared constraints and routes to details. The relevant owner supports factual claims, commands are valid for their stated environment, and valid exceptions survive changes. A reviewer can assess the full assigned change without being told to run live procedures or rewrite unrelated material. Validation and review establish acceptance; shorter text alone is not proof of improvement.
Maintaining This Skill
Capture applicable lessons under AGENTS.md#knowledge-capture and the active task's artifact gate. Updating one
lesson uses the bounded amendment path unless it changes the method structurally. When the method changes, walk
through a representative amendment, restructure and read-only review, including their action boundaries, using this
skill, root AGENTS.md and the skills README. The walkthrough MAY be performed directly or included in a review;
it does not require a separate review round. Final readiness follows AGENTS.md#review.