An agent skill is a recipe your AI runs on demand.
Write your instructions once. Reuse them forever: in AskMojo, Claude, Cursor, or any agent that reads the format.
In short
An agent skill is a reusable, written recipe of instructions for an AI agent, stored as a SKILL.md file. You describe how a task should be done once, then any agent that reads the format can run it. AskMojo calls its skills magiks.
The core idea behind agent skills
Every time you prompt an AI from scratch, you lose time. You re-explain the context, re-state the tone, re-define the format. An agent skill encodes all of that once, and runs it in a single click.
A skill defines one focused workflow: write your weekly newsletter, prep a sales call, summarize a meeting. One goal, one output, repeatable. In AskMojo, skills are called magiks, but the underlying idea is the same one Anthropic ships as Agent Skills and everyone else calls skills.
The SKILL.md format
A skill lives in a simple file called SKILL.md. It has a YAML header (name plus description) and a Markdown body with your instructions. That is it: no proprietary syntax, no SDK, no lock-in.
--- name: weekly-priorities description: Extract and rank top 5 priorities from your inbox. --- # Weekly Priorities You are a productivity assistant. Read the provided emails and: 1. Identify the 5 most important action items. 2. Rank by urgency x impact. 3. Return a numbered list with one sentence per item.
Claude skills, agent skills, magiks: the same thing
The naming can be confusing, so here is the map. Anthropic released the format as Agent Skills, folders each containing a SKILL.md file, which is why people search for "Claude skills." Other agents adopted the same format under the generic name "agent skills" or "AI skills." AskMojo calls a skill stored in the app a magik. All of them are the same portable SKILL.md file underneath, which is the whole point: a skill you write once is not tied to any single tool.
Why portability matters
Most AI platforms trap your custom instructions. Your ChatGPT GPTs stay in ChatGPT. Your system prompts live wherever you wrote them. The moment a better model or tool appears, you start from zero.
SKILL.md is an open standard. A skill you build in AskMojo today runs identically in Claude, Cursor, Goose, or any agent that reads the format. Your know-how compounds instead of resetting.
- AskMojoRuns skills (magiks) via the Mojo agent, no code required.
- ClaudeDrop agent skills into your skills folder in Claude Code.
- CursorUse skills as reusable agent instructions.
- GooseLoad skill files directly into Goose sessions.
- Your own agentAny runtime that reads Markdown works.
A skill vs a lab
A magik is the atomic unit: one skill, one task. A lab is the collection. A lab groups several magiks around one topic: your newsletter workflow, your sales prospecting, your family planning. You stack magiks inside a lab, and a lab can hold one or twenty.
Frequently asked questions
- What are agent skills?
- Agent skills are reusable instruction files that tell an AI agent how to do a specific task. Each skill is a SKILL.md file with a short description and the steps to follow. Once written, any compatible agent can run it, so you define a workflow once instead of re-prompting every time.
- What are Claude skills?
- Claude skills is the popular name for Anthropic's Agent Skills: folders each containing a SKILL.md file that extends what the agent can do. They are the same open SKILL.md format used across other agents, so a skill built for Claude is not locked to Claude.
- What is the difference between a skill and a magik?
- They are the same thing. "Skill" is the format name (SKILL.md); "magik" is what AskMojo calls a skill stored in the app. A magik is a skill, and it exports back out as a plain SKILL.md file.
- Do I need to code to create an agent skill?
- No. You describe your workflow in plain language and AskMojo turns it into a SKILL.md file. No programming required. You can also copy pre-built magiks from the community and adjust them.
- Can I use my skills outside of AskMojo?
- Yes. Export any magik as a SKILL.md file in one click, then drop it into Claude, Cursor, Goose, or any agent that speaks the agentskills.io format. It runs identically.
See it in practice on AskMojo
Browse community labs, copy a magik that fits your workflow, and run it in seconds, no code required.
Browse the community labs