Skills

Skills are reusable instructions you can attach to a Writing Assistant or Ask Octarine request. They are useful when you keep asking AI to work in the same way: follow a house style, summarize research with a fixed structure, critique a draft from a particular angle, or turn rough notes into a specific kind of output.

Think of a skill as a named instruction card. You write it once, then mention it when a prompt needs that behavior.

Creating Skills

Open Settings -> AI -> Skills.

Click New Skill, give it a name, and write the instructions in Markdown. The editor includes a preview tab, so longer instructions are easier to check before saving.

For example, a skill named Release Notes might say:

Write for users, not engineers.

Prefer short sections with plain headings.
Group small changes under Improvements or Fixes.
Avoid internal implementation names unless the user needs them.

Another skill named Research Synthesizer might say:

Look for recurring themes, contradictions, and concrete examples.
Separate facts from interpretation.
End with open questions worth following up on.

Using Skills

Type @ in the Writing Assistant or Ask Octarine prompt box. Skills appear in their own Skills section alongside notes and folders.

Select one or more skills, then write your prompt as usual. Octarine sends the selected skill instructions with that request, while note and folder mentions still provide source context.

For example:

• @Release Notes summarize @Changelog/v0.45 for users
• @Research Synthesizer what patterns show up in @Interviews/June?
• @Editor Critic review this selected section for clarity

Skills are not permanent for the whole chat unless you keep selecting them. They are attached to the prompt where you used them, which makes it easy to switch modes inside the same conversation.

Skills In Writing Assistant

Use skills in the Writing Assistant when you want a consistent style or editing lens for the note in front of you.

Good uses:

• Rewrite selected text in your preferred voice.
• Apply a review checklist to a draft.
• Turn rough bullets into a recurring format.
• Keep release notes, briefs, or summaries consistent across sessions.

Skills pair well with selected text. Select the passage, open the Writing Assistant, mention the skill, and ask for the edit you want.

Skills In Ask Octarine

Use skills in Ask Octarine when the answer should follow a repeatable workflow across your workspace.

Good uses:

• Synthesize a folder of research notes in the same structure every time.
• Compare project notes with a decision-making rubric.
• Extract action items using a consistent definition of "action item."
• Ask the agent to answer in a format you use for briefs, retros, or weekly summaries.

In Ask Octarine, skills can guide the agent's work while @ mentioned notes, folders, date filters, and Daily Desk ranges control the source material.

Where Skills Live

Skills are stored as Markdown files in .octarine/skills inside your workspace. That means they can travel with the workspace and are easy to inspect outside Octarine.

When you duplicate or copy a workspace through Octarine, its skills can be copied along with it.

Writing Good Skills

Keep skills specific. A skill called Better Writing will be vague; Concise Product Copy gives the assistant a clearer job.

Write instructions as rules the assistant can actually follow:

• Say what to prioritize.
• Name the format you want.
• Include a few "do" and "avoid" notes.
• Keep examples short.

Avoid stuffing a skill with source material. Use note and folder mentions for source context, and use skills for behavior.