---
featureId: agent-skills
title: Use agent skills
area: GitHub Copilot
thumbnailImage: ../media/agent-skill-thumbnail.png
devComUrl: https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/Add-Agent-Skills-for-Copilot/11038989?sort=newest&q=skills
description: Copilot agents in Visual Studio now automatically discover and use skills defined in your repository or user profile.

---


Copilot agents in Visual Studio can now automatically discover skills. Agent skills are reusable instruction sets that teach agents how to handle specific tasks, like running a build pipeline, generating boilerplate, or following your team's coding standards. Define a skill once to save time and keep behavior consistent across your workflow. See [awesome-copilot](https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot) for community examples.

Skills are discovered from these locations:

- **Workspace or project skills** (stored in your repository): `.github/skills/`, `.claude/skills/`, `.agents/skills/`.
- **Personal skills** (stored in your user profile): `~/.copilot/skills/`, `~/.claude/skills/`, `~/.agents/skills/`.

To create a skill:

1. Create a `.github/skills/` directory for a workspace skill or a `~/.copilot/skills/` directory for a personal skill.
2. Create a subdirectory for your skill. Give each skill its own directory (for example, `.github/skills/github-issues/`).
3. Create a `SKILL.md` file in that directory. Follow the [agentskills.io/specification](https://agentskills.io/specification) format.
4. Optionally, add scripts, examples, or other resources to the skill directory.

After you create a skill in one of these directories, the agent decides when to use it. When a skill is active, it appears in chat so you know it's being applied.

![Copilot chat showing an active skill](../media/agent-skills.png)

More user-friendly flows for browsing and creating skills in Visual Studio are coming in upcoming releases. Try Agent Skills and share your feedback.