# How to use Agent Skills in Cursor IDE? **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Tags:** skills\ **Created:** [January 25, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-use-agent-skills-in-cursor-ide/149860 "2026-01-25T18:40:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kqpro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@Kqpro](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Kqpro)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-use-agent-skills-in-cursor-ide/149860/1 "2026-01-25T18:40:56Z")
How do I use the Agent Skills described here inside my Cursor IDE? > **[Agent Skills Overview - Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io/home)** > > A standardized way to give AI agents new capabilities and expertise. ---
**Author:** ![liquefy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@liquefy](https://forum.cursor.com/u/liquefy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-use-agent-skills-in-cursor-ide/149860/3 "2026-01-25T18:43:49Z")
you type in chat `/`, maybe they can be used automatically too when you say to agent to look for some skill and you put them either in user directory in .cursor in skills `SKILL-NAME/SKILL.md` or the same in project folder easiest is to ask agent, it has a built in skill to create a new skill and can show you ---
**Author:** ![condor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/condor/32/73148_2.png) [@condor](https://forum.cursor.com/u/condor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2026, 9:57am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-use-agent-skills-in-cursor-ide/149860/4 "2026-01-31T09:57:35Z")
Once you’ve set up your skills, there are **two ways** to use them: ### 1. **Automatic** (Default) When you’re working in Agent chat, Cursor automatically presents available skills to the agent. The agent will decide when a skill is relevant based on: - Your conversation context - The skill’s `description` field (which tells the agent when to use it) You don’t need to do anything special, just chat with the agent, and it will apply relevant skills automatically. ### 2. **Manual** (Slash Command Style) You can explicitly invoke a skill by typing `/` in Agent chat followed by the skill name: ```auto /my-skill ``` This is especially useful for skills that have `disable-model-invocation: true`, which makes them behave like traditional slash commands that only activate when explicitly called. * * * ---
**Author:** ![Kqpro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@Kqpro](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Kqpro)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-use-agent-skills-in-cursor-ide/149860/5 "2026-02-01T20:25:51Z")
> [@condor](#): > > Once you’ve set up your skills Thanks for the reply. I guess my question is how to set it up in the first place? Do I run the npx skill…. command while in my project dir? ---
**Author:** ![ivnmood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/ivnmood/32/67909_2.png) [@ivnmood](https://forum.cursor.com/u/ivnmood)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2026, 9:05pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-use-agent-skills-in-cursor-ide/149860/6 "2026-02-01T21:05:41Z")
The automatic skill selection doesn’t work very well, even when the instructions are 100% suitable for use. So it’s better to manually specify the desired skill ---
**Author:** ![condor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/condor/32/73148_2.png) [@condor](https://forum.cursor.com/u/condor)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-use-agent-skills-in-cursor-ide/149860/8 "2026-02-02T14:12:51Z")
@Kqpro here are all details on how to create skills. # How to Create a Basic Skill ## Step 1: Create the Skill Folder Create a folder in one of these locations: - .cursor/skills/my-skill/ (for this project only) - ~/.cursor/skills/my-skill/ (for all your projects) The folder name should use lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only. ## Step 2: Create SKILL.md File Inside your skill folder, create a file named SKILL.md with this structure: ``` --- name: my-skill description: Short description of what this skill does and when to use it. --- # My Skill Detailed instructions for the agent. ## When to Use - Use this skill when... - This skill is helpful for... ## Instructions - Step-by-step guidance for the agent - Domain-specific conventions - Best practices and patterns - Use the ask questions tool if you need to clarify requirements with the user ``` ## Step 3: Required Fields Your frontmatter must include: - name: Must match your folder name (lowercase, numbers, hyphens only) - description: Helps the agent decide when to use this skill ## Step 4: View Your Skill 1. Open Cursor Settings (Cmd+Shift+J on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows/Linux) 2. Navigate to Rules 3. Your skill appears in the Agent Decides section ## Step 5: Use Your Skill The agent will automatically use your skill when relevant, or you can manually invoke it by typing /my-skill in Agent chat. ## Example ``` --- name: code-review description: Perform thorough code reviews focusing on best practices, security, and performance. Use when reviewing pull requests or code changes. --- # Code Review Review code changes systematically for quality, security, and maintainability. ## When to Use - Use when the user asks for a code review - Use when reviewing pull requests - Use when analyzing code quality ## Instructions 1. Review code structure and organization 2. Check for security vulnerabilities 3. Assess performance implications 4. Verify adherence to project conventions 5. Suggest improvements with explanations 6. Highlight what is done well ``` > **[Agent Skills | Cursor Docs](https://cursor.com/docs/context/skills)** > > Extend AI agents with specialized capabilities using Agent Skills, an open standard for packaging reusable knowledge and scripts. ---
**Author:** ![Tigran\_Mnjoyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tigran\_Mnjoyan](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Tigran_Mnjoyan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 12:04pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-use-agent-skills-in-cursor-ide/149860/9 "2026-03-16T12:04:04Z")
Everyone talks about how to create skills but no one talks about WHY Can anyone explain and bring a real life examples of skills that can be useful?