Learn the key terms used in Skills and Skill Builder.
Required Editions
| Available in: Lightning Experience |
| Available in: Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited Editions with the Einstein for Sales add-on. |
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To create, edit, run, and share your own skills in Skill Builder: |
AI Skill User permission set
|
| To create, edit, run, and share all skills in Skill Builder: |
AI Skill Manager permission set
|
Skill
A reusable workflow that can generate text and run agent actions as part of a repeatable task. A skill isn’t an Agentforce subagent. Skills are private by default until shared.
Skill Builder
The editor where you create, configure, and publish skills. Open it from Agentforce Studio, the App Launcher, or Coworker.
My Skills
The list of skills a user can run in Coworker. A skill is added to My Skills when the user creates it or the skill is added from Browse.
Browse
The list of skills the user can access that aren’t in My Skills. From Browse, click Add to My Skills. Removing a skill from My Skills doesn’t revoke access.
Instructions
Markdown that tells the AI model what to do, in what order, and how to use agent actions and context. The canvas uses Objective, Steps, Guidelines, Data & Tools, and Examples in the instructions.
Tools
In Skill Builder, under Resources, Tools lists agent actions a skill can run. Examples include Record Query, Record Update, Record Create, Send Email, and Send Slack Message.
Context
The reference data that grounds the skill in your org, such as a competitor list, a policy
document, or a mapping table. To add context in the instructions canvas, click
Insert Resource or type @.
Skill Version
A snapshot of the skill’s instructions and configuration. The published version is the one that runs.
Publish and Unpublish
Publish a version to run a skill. Unpublish a skill to stop the skill from being run. Unpublishing removes the skill from My Skills, but doesn’t remove access to the skill.
Standard Skill and Custom Skill
A standard skill is provided by Salesforce. A custom skill is created in the org.
Skills vs. Prompt Templates
A prompt template gathers inputs, resolves merge fields, and sends one completed prompt to the AI model. A skill reads instructions, collects inputs, can run agent actions, and returns a result.
Use a prompt template when you need one response, such as a summary, email draft, or field value. Use a skill when you need a multi-step task that can run agent actions.