Agents & tools · Glossary term

What is Skill Invocation?

The runtime-mediated process in which an eligible human, model, application, or other skill selects a skill and causes its instructions to enter the working context.

Why does Skill Invocation matter?

Explicit user access, implicit model routing, activation, argument binding, tool permission, and execution are separate decisions with different failure modes.

Skill Invocation in practice

Define actor policy, evaluate descriptions with positive and near-miss requests, record the selected package identity, and keep host-specific invocation fields in tested adapters.

What is the common confusion about Skill Invocation?

Invocation activates instructions. It does not automatically execute a command or bypass approval and sandbox policy.

Learn Skill Invocation in the course

Start with

  • Skill Invocation and Routing

    Invocation is an authority decision followed by a relevance decision. A good description helps the model choose; a good policy decides whether that choice is allowed.

    Phase 13: Tools & Protocols

Taught in Phase 13: Tools & Protocols.

  • Agent SkillA discoverable directory of procedural instructions whose entry point is `SKILL.md`, with optional references, scripts, and assets that a…
  • Skill CatalogThe compact model-visible inventory of eligible skills, usually containing routing metadata such as name, description, and an internal…
  • Approval GateA control point that blocks a consequential action until an authorized person or policy grants permission.
  • SandboxAn isolated execution environment that restricts an agent's access to files, processes, network destinations, credentials, and host…

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