> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.uptiq.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.uptiq.ai/agent-builder/build/skills-and-capabilities.md).

# Skills & Capabilities

**Skills & Capabilities** lists every skill the agent currently has — the platform-supplied skills, the skills added through Apps & Services connections, the tools exposed by attached MCP Tools, and any custom skills your team has authored. The list is the agent's complete vocabulary of actions: at runtime, the planner picks from exactly this set when it decides what the agent should do next.

Manage Agent → Skill & Capabilities, listing the agent's pre-attached skills

Reach this page from **Manage Agent → Skill & Capabilities** in the left navigation.

The section header shows the total count — `Pre-attached Skills (<N>)` — where `<N>` is the number of skills currently attached.

### The skill list <a href="#the-skill-list" id="the-skill-list"></a>

Each row shows:

* The skill's icon (varies by type)
* The skill's identifier (example `display_to_user`)
* A one-line description of what the skill does
* A `⋮` overflow menu on the right for managing the row

### Platform-supplied (pre-attached) skills <a href="#platform-supplied-pre-attached-skills" id="platform-supplied-pre-attached-skills"></a>

The platform ships a set of skills attached to every agent by default. These are the basic verbs every agent needs. The ones observed during capture include:

<table><thead><tr><th width="194">Skill</th><th>What it does</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>display_to_user</code></td><td>Shows a message to the user in markdown format. Use for quick updates or progress messages — not for the final answer.</td></tr><tr><td><code>reason</code></td><td>Uses AI to think through complex topics, make decisions, or generate summaries. Useful for reasoning or language-based tasks.</td></tr><tr><td><code>web_search</code></td><td>Performs a web search using the language model with web search enabled. Useful for retrieving current information. Input: a query string and optional context.</td></tr><tr><td><code>query_knowledge</code></td><td>Searches the connected knowledge base to find relevant answers or references. Use when the information is stored in attached knowledge.</td></tr><tr><td><code>list_files</code></td><td>Shows all files uploaded in the current session along with their names, details, and upload times.</td></tr></tbody></table>

The full pre-attached set in an example agent is broader (the section header in the capture showed `Pre-attached Skills (19)`); the table above is representative rather than exhaustive.

### The row's `⋮` menu <a href="#the-rows-menu" id="the-rows-menu"></a>

The kebab menu on each row exposes per-skill actions — typically rename, configure, remove. These actions weren't exercised during capture.

> **Note — Depth gap** The exact items in the `⋮` menu for each skill row were not enumerated. The standard pattern across the platform's other tables is "view / edit / remove," but the specifics are queued for a future pass.

### Adding skills to this list <a href="#adding-skills-to-this-list" id="adding-skills-to-this-list"></a>

Skills land in this list from three places:

* **The platform** — pre-attached skills are added automatically when the agent is created.
* **The canvas `+ Add Skill` button** — see Adding a skill. Skills from the Skill Library, Custom Skills, the MCP Marketplace, and the Agents tab are added through this flow.
* **Connector configuration** — when you connect an integration in Apps & Services or an MCP server in MCP Tools, the connector registers one or more skills into this list.

The reverse direction — removing a skill — is presumably reachable through the row's `⋮` menu (above). Confirm with a small test before removing a skill from a production agent, since other parts of the agent's configuration (instructions, checklists, triggers) may reference the skill by name.

### How skills relate to the canvas <a href="#how-skills-relate-to-the-canvas" id="how-skills-relate-to-the-canvas"></a>

The Layout canvas shows skills in two forms:

* The **Pre-attached Skills** card (with a `+<N>` overflow indicator) summarizes the platform-supplied set without listing each one.
* The individual connector discs — `accountancy`, `credit-score`, `banking`, and so on — each represent one attached MCP, whose tools are registered as skills in this section.

Use Skill & Capabilities when you need to see the full, flat list. Use the canvas when you want a quick visual confirmation that the agent has, say, banking and analytics connectors attached.

### Why this matters <a href="#why-this-matters" id="why-this-matters"></a>

This list is the planner's universe. When a user sends the agent a request, the platform's planner reads the instructions, considers the input, and picks one or more skills from this list to execute. A skill that isn't in the list cannot be used, no matter what the instructions say. A skill in the list whose description doesn't match the kinds of requests users send won't be picked, no matter how capable it is. Auditing this list — does every skill the agent needs appear? does every skill that appears earn its keep? — is the single highest-value review you can do when an agent isn't behaving as expected.


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