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Your best engineers have prompts that work - ways of reviewing code, writing tests, or debugging issues that they’ve refined over time. Skills let you capture that expertise and share it with everyone. Skills are reusable prompts that the agent can discover and use proactively when relevant. They can optionally be made available as slash commands, so users can also invoke them manually by typing / in the chat.

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Why this matters

Without shared skills, quality varies. One developer’s code review catches security issues; another’s misses them. One person knows how to write tests that actually test behavior; others write tests that only hit coverage targets. With skills:
  • Expertise scales: A senior engineer’s review checklist becomes available to the whole team
  • Quality standardizes: Everyone follows the same thorough process
  • Onboarding accelerates: New team members immediately have access to proven workflows
  • Agents get smarter: Skills are discoverable by the agent, so it can apply them proactively without being asked

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What a great skill looks like

Here’s a real example - a code review skill that captures one engineer’s review philosophy: 
/review-like-mads

You are reviewing code changes with Mads Hartmann's perspective. Apply his review philosophy systematically:

## Design System First
- **Theme compatibility**: Works in light/dark AND old/new themes?
- **Semantic tokens**: Replace hardcoded colors with `border-subtle`, `surface-glass`
- **Visual evidence**: Request screenshots/videos if missing
- **Design alignment**: Matches Figma specs?

## Aggressive Cleanup
- **Remove unused**: Components, imports, files, commented code
- **Consolidate**: Similar components that could be unified
- **File organization**: Components in right locations?

## Technical Excellence
- **React patterns**: Proper `forwardRef`, `useImperativeHandle`, TypeScript
- **Component reuse**: Composing existing vs creating new
- **Accessibility**: ARIA, keyboard nav, screen readers

## Red Flags
- Hardcoded colors (`#fff`, `rgb()`)
- Duplicate patterns
- Missing visual docs
- Poor TypeScript

**Priority order**: Design system consistency → Code cleanliness → Component reusability → Technical implementation → Test coverage
Now anyone can type /review-like-mads and get a review with that level of rigor. The agent can also apply this skill on its own when it detects a code review task.

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More examples

SkillWhat it codifies
/security-reviewYour security team’s checklist for reviewing PRs
/write-testsHow your team writes tests that actually catch bugs
/explain-thisYour standard for documentation and code explanation
/debug-strategyYour senior engineer’s approach to debugging
/deploy-checklistEverything to verify before shipping

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Create your first skill

  1. Go to Settings > Agents
  2. Click New Skill
  3. Configure:
    • Name: What appears in the skill list (e.g., “Review like Mads”)
    • Description: When to use it
    • Prompt: The full prompt text
    • Available as slash command: Toggle on if you want users to invoke it with a /trigger
    • Command trigger: The slash trigger (e.g., review-like-mads). Only shown when the slash command toggle is on
  4. Click Create Skill
Ona settings interface for creating a new skill with name, description, prompt, and optional slash command trigger

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Using skills

Skills work in two ways:
  1. Proactive discovery: The agent automatically discovers skills and applies them when a task matches. No user action needed.
  2. Slash commands: For skills with a command trigger, type / in Ona Agent to see available commands. Start typing to filter, then select with arrow keys or click.
You can add context after a slash command: 
/review-like-mads

Focus especially on the authentication changes in src/auth/
Ona Agent combines the skill’s prompt with the additional context you provide.

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Migrating legacy commands

Existing slash commands created before skills were introduced appear as Legacy Commands in the settings page. They continue to work as before, but won’t be discovered proactively by the agent. To migrate a legacy command to a skill, click Edit on the command card and use the Migrate to Skill button in the banner. Migration preserves the slash command trigger while enabling proactive discovery.

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Tips for good skills

Capture real expertise: Base skills on how your best people actually work, not theoretical ideals. Be specific: “Security Review” is better than “Review”. Include the actual checklist, not “check for security issues.” Include priorities: Tell agents what matters most. “Focus on X before Y” helps them make tradeoffs. Update over time: When someone catches something your skill missed, add it to the prompt.

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Next steps