Using Skills
Invoke a skill by name from any Mogplex surface, or let the agent find the right one on its own.
A skill in your library is more than reference text. Any agent working for you can use it, on every surface where you talk to Mogplex: Control, the workspace, Slack, agent runs started through the API or MCP, and automations.
There are two ways a skill reaches an agent.
Invoke a skill by name
Every skill has a handle made from its name. Deploy Checklist (v2) becomes
deploy-checklist-v2. The Installed tab of Agents → Skills shows each
skill's handle.
Type the handle in your message in either spelling:
| Spelling | Where it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
/handle | As the first word of a message | /deploy-checklist ship staging |
$handle | Anywhere in a message | Ship staging with $deploy-checklist |
Mogplex hands the agent that skill's full instructions for the request. Your message is sent exactly as you typed it.
A few details:
- Handles ignore case, and an underscore works as a hyphen, so
$Deploy_Checklistfindsdeploy-checklist. - A token only counts when it names one of your skills.
$HOMEin a sentence stays ordinary text. - Text inside backticks or a fenced code block never invokes a skill, so shell snippets are safe to paste.
- In a conversation, a skill you invoke stays in force for the turns that follow. You do not need to repeat it.
- If two skills would share a handle, the older one keeps it and the newer one
gets a number:
release-notes,release-notes-2.
Control and the workspace complete handles as you type. Start a message with
/, or type $ anywhere, then pick with the arrow keys and Tab or Enter.
Let the agent find a skill
You do not have to name a skill. Agents see a short index of your skills, one line each, and can search and load them:
find_skillssearches your library by what the task involves.load_skillloads one skill's full instructions.
Only the index travels with every request. A skill's instructions are loaded when the agent decides the task calls for them, so a large library does not crowd the prompt. Good names and one-line descriptions are what the agent matches against, so they are worth writing carefully.
Agents running in a sandbox through a CLI harness get the same skills as
files under .mogplex/skills/ in the checkout. That directory is ignored by
git, so skill files never end up in a commit.
Where it works
| Surface | Invoke by name | Agent finds skills |
|---|---|---|
| Control | Yes | Yes |
| Workspace chat | Yes | Yes |
| Workspace with a CLI harness | Yes | Yes, as files |
| Slack conversations | Yes, with $handle | Yes |
| Slack repo-agent runs | Yes, with $handle | Yes |
| Agent runs from the API, MCP, or the roster | Yes | Yes |
| Automation agent nodes | Yes, in the node's instructions | Yes |
GitHub @mogplex mentions | Yes, in the comment | Yes |
Two surface notes:
- Slack treats a message that starts with
/as one of its own commands, so use$handlethere. - CLI harnesses keep their own slash commands.
/compactstays the harness's command even if you have a skill named Compact.$compactalways reaches your skill.
Automations
In an automation, the agent node's instructions are where you speak to the
agent. Write $handle there and every run of that node follows the skill.
A comment that @mentions Mogplex and the prompt of a signed webhook can invoke
skills the same way. Other event content, such as a pull request description
or a diff, is treated as data and never invokes a skill.
A node that uses a roster agent also gets the skills and rules attached to that agent.
Skills from the registry
A skill installed from the skills.sh registry carries the full instructions from the skill's source repository. Skills installed before 2026-09-21 hold only an install note. Delete and reinstall them to get the instructions.
Skills for one repository
A repository can narrow your library. In the repository's settings you can exclude library skills that do not apply there and add skills that only exist for that repository. When you work in that repository, agents see the narrowed set. A repository skill takes the plain handle ahead of a library skill with the same name.
These settings belong to the repository's owner.
Skills attached to an agent
Attaching a skill to a roster agent is separate from invoking it. Attached skills always travel with that agent, whoever runs it. Your own library is what you bring to a request, with any agent or none. See Skills, Rules, and Context for how to divide work between the three.
For external agents
The Mogplex MCP exposes mogplex_list_skills and
mogplex_get_skill, and the v1 API has matching GET /api/v1/mogplex/skills
routes. A client starting a run does not need to fetch skill text first:
writing $handle in the prompt of mogplex_start_agent_run is enough.
Usage counts
The Installed tab shows how many times each skill has been used. A use is counted when you invoke the skill or when an agent loads it. Searching does not count.