> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.warp.dev/llms.txt).
> Markdown versions of each page are available by appending .md to any URL.

# Factory skills

Skills give a factory's agents repeatable, version-controlled procedures that can be shared across every agent or scoped to just one.

A skill tells an agent what to check, how to classify results, what to produce, and when to escalate. In a factory, skills are how you extend or override the [default agents](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-agents/) without editing their prompts directly.

A factory’s agents draw on three kinds of skills:

-   **Built-in skills** - `SKILL.md` files Warp adds to the factory definition for the code host, chat tool, and issue tracker you connect, plus shared code-quality and review procedures.
-   **Custom skills** - `SKILL.md` files your team adds to the definition, available to every agent or scoped to one.
-   **Bundled Warp skills** - Skills that ship with the Warp Agent harness, such as `factory-files` for editing definitions and `factory-mcp` for working with a factory through [Factory MCP](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-mcp/).

## Built-in skills

When you create a factory, Warp writes a set of skills into the definition’s `skills/` directory so the agents know how to work with your tools before you write anything custom:

-   **Code quality, code review, and UI verification** - Every factory gets these three: the standard a code change is held to, how to review a change and write up findings, and how to capture visual proof of a UI change with [Computer Use](https://docs.warp.dev/agents/capabilities/computer-use/).
-   **Code host** - The skill for your connected code host: `github`, `gitlab`, or `azuredevops`. It covers branches, commits, draft pull requests, review comments, and CI status.
-   **Chat tool** - A `slack` or `microsoft-teams` skill when you connect that tool. The foreman’s instructions tell it to use the skill, since it’s the agent that replies in threads.
-   **Issue tracker** - A `linear` or `jira` skill when you connect that tracker. Connecting a tracker later adds its skill then.

Because these live under `skills/`, every agent in the factory can use them, including custom agents. They’re ordinary files: read them in the **Factory definition** tab of a Warp-managed factory or in the repository of a GitHub-backed one, and edit them the same way you edit any other skill. Anything you add alongside them extends the set rather than replacing it.

## Custom skills

A custom skill is a directory containing a `SKILL.md`. It’s part of the factory’s [definition](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-as-code/), not an agent’s settings, and where you place the directory decides who can use it:

```text
skills/
  repository-conventions/
    SKILL.md
agents/
  foreman/
    skills/
      incident-triage/
        SKILL.md
```

-   **`skills/<name>/SKILL.md`** - Available to every agent in the factory. Use this for procedures that apply regardless of role, such as your repository’s coding conventions or a shared escalation policy.
-   **`agents/<name>/skills/<name>/SKILL.md`** - Available only to that agent. Use this for procedures specific to one role, such as how the review agent applies your security checklist.

Both forms use the same `SKILL.md` format as skills anywhere else in Warp. See [Skills](https://docs.warp.dev/agents/capabilities/skills/) for the file format, frontmatter, and argument syntax.

### When to add a custom skill

Add a custom skill when an agent needs to do something the built-in set doesn’t cover, such as:

-   Running a specific test, lint, or validation command before a change counts as complete.
-   Following a runbook for a category of incident or request your triage agent sees repeatedly.
-   Applying a security or compliance checklist during review that goes beyond general code quality.
-   Teaching a custom agent its job. Custom agents start with the factory-wide skills but no role instructions of their own.

A skill changes what an agent knows how to do, not what it can reach. To scope access, configure the agent’s [secrets](https://docs.warp.dev/platform/secrets/) and [MCP servers](https://docs.warp.dev/platform/mcp/). See [configure agent behavior](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-agents/#configure-agent-behavior) and [credential boundaries](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/infrastructure-and-security/#credential-boundaries).

### Add or edit a skill

Where you edit a skill depends on [where the factory’s definition lives](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-as-code/#where-the-definition-lives):

-   **Warp-managed** - Add or edit `SKILL.md` files in the **Factory definition** tab of the [factory dashboard](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-dashboard/). Saving validates and commits the change in one step.
-   **GitHub-backed** - Add or edit the files in the definition repository and open a pull request. The same [pull request checks](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-as-code/#pull-request-checks) that validate the rest of the definition apply to skill files.

For a factory-wide skill and a per-agent skill side by side, see [`02-sdlc-issue-to-pr`](https://github.com/warpdotdev/warp-factory-examples/tree/main/examples/02-sdlc-issue-to-pr) in the [warp-factory-examples](https://github.com/warpdotdev/warp-factory-examples) repository.

## Bundled Warp skills

Agents on the Warp Agent harness also carry Warp’s bundled skills, which aren’t files in your definition. The ones that matter for factory work are `factory-files`, which reads the definition schema and validates a definition tree, `factory-mcp`, which sends work to a factory and takes it back through Factory MCP, and `oz-platform`, which runs and inspects cloud agents through the API and CLI. In run data, a bundled skill load carries a `bundled_skill_id`; see [skill actions in conversation data](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/api-and-sdk/#skill-actions-in-conversation-data) for the full list and how to tell bundled loads apart from your own skills.

## Skills and Self-improvement

A factory can propose changes to a skill. When [Self-improvement](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/measure-and-improve/self-improvement/) is on for a Scorer and that Scorer flags a recurring failure, the follow-up run can edit the responsible skill the same way it can edit application code. The change arrives as a pull request for your team to review, in the factory dashboard or on your Git host.

## Related pages

-   [Factory agents](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-agents/) - The agents that use a factory’s skills, and how to configure each one.
-   [Factory definition syntax](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/factory-as-code/) - The full schema for `factory.yaml`, agents, automations, and runners alongside skills.
-   [Skills](https://docs.warp.dev/agents/capabilities/skills/) - The general skill file format, shared across Warp, cloud agents, and factories.
-   [Measure and improve a factory](https://docs.warp.dev/factories/measure-and-improve/) - How Self-improvement turns repeated failures into skill and code changes.