Gemini Scribe

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Agent Skills ​

Agent Skills let you extend the AI agent with specialized knowledge and workflows. Skills are self-contained instruction packages that the agent can activate on demand, giving it expertise in specific domains without cluttering every conversation.

Skills follow the open agentskills.io specification.

How Skills Work ​

Skills use progressive disclosure — the agent always knows which skills are available (name and description), but only loads the full instructions when it activates a skill. This keeps conversations focused while making specialized knowledge available when needed.

  1. Discovery — Skill summaries are included in every agent session
  2. Activation — When the agent encounters a matching task, it activates the skill to load full instructions
  3. Execution — The agent follows the skill's instructions to complete the task

Getting Started ​

Where Skills Live ​

Skills are stored in your plugin state folder:

gemini-scribe/
└── skills/
    └── my-skill/
        ├── SKILL.md          # Required — skill definition
        ├── references/       # Optional — reference documents
        ├── assets/           # Optional — templates, data files
        └── scripts/          # Optional — reference scripts (read-only)

Creating a Skill ​

You can create skills in two ways:

Via the agent:

User: Create a skill called "meeting-notes" that helps me process and organize meeting notes

The agent will create the skill directory and SKILL.md file with appropriate instructions.

Manually:

  1. Create a folder in gemini-scribe/skills/ (e.g., meeting-notes/)
  2. Add a SKILL.md file with frontmatter and instructions

SKILL.md Format ​

Each skill has a simple format — YAML frontmatter with metadata, followed by markdown instructions:

yaml
---
name: meeting-notes
description: >-
  Process raw meeting notes into structured summaries with action items,
  decisions, and follow-ups.
---

# Meeting Notes Processor

When activated, follow these steps:

1. Read the meeting notes provided
2. Extract key discussion points
3. Identify action items with owners and deadlines
4. List decisions made
5. Note follow-up items
6. Format as a structured summary

Naming Rules ​

Skill names must follow these rules:

  • Lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only
  • 1–64 characters
  • No consecutive hyphens (--)
  • Cannot start or end with a hyphen

Valid: code-review, daily-planner, research-assistantInvalid: Code Review, --my-skill, my--skill-

Using Skills ​

Automatic Activation ​

The agent automatically activates relevant skills based on your request:

User: Review the code in my latest note

Agent: I'll activate the code-review skill to help with this...
[Activates code-review skill]
[Follows skill instructions to review code]

Manual Activation ​

You can also ask the agent to use a specific skill:

User: Use the meeting-notes skill to process today's standup notes

Listing Skills ​

Ask the agent what's available:

User: What skills do you have?

Agent: I have the following skills available:
- meeting-notes: Process raw meeting notes into structured summaries
- code-review: Review code for quality, patterns, and potential issues
- daily-planner: Create and manage daily plans from tasks and calendar

Accessing Skill Resources ​

Skills can include reference documents, templates, and other files. The agent can access these via the activate_skill tool:

User: Show me the style guide from the code-review skill

Agent: Let me load that resource...
[Loads references/style-guide.md from code-review skill]

Skill Design Tips ​

Keep Instructions Focused ​

Write clear, step-by-step instructions. The agent follows them literally, so be specific about what you want.

Use Resources for Reference Material ​

Put lengthy reference documents in the references/ directory rather than in the main SKILL.md. This keeps the core instructions concise while making detailed reference material available when needed.

Test Iteratively ​

Start with a simple skill and refine based on results. Ask the agent to activate the skill and observe how it interprets the instructions.

Example: Research Skill ​

yaml
---
name: research-assistant
description: >-
  Conduct structured research on a topic using web search and vault notes,
  producing a comprehensive report with citations.
---

# Research Assistant

## Process

1. **Understand the topic** — Ask clarifying questions if the research scope is unclear
2. **Search the vault** — Look for existing notes related to the topic
3. **Search the web** — Use Google Search for current information
4. **Fetch sources** — Read promising web pages for detailed content
5. **Synthesize** — Combine vault knowledge and web findings
6. **Create report** — Write a structured note with:
   - Executive summary
   - Key findings (with citations)
   - Connections to existing vault notes
   - Suggested follow-up topics

Troubleshooting ​

Skill Not Discovered ​

  • Ensure the skill folder is inside gemini-scribe/skills/
  • Check that SKILL.md exists (exact filename, case-sensitive)
  • Verify the frontmatter has both name and description fields
  • Restart the plugin if you just created the skill

Skill Not Activating ​

  • The agent may not recognize the task matches — try asking it directly: "Use the X skill"
  • Check that the skill description clearly explains when to use it
  • Ensure the skill name in the frontmatter matches the folder name

Instructions Not Followed Correctly ​

  • Simplify instructions — shorter, clearer steps work better
  • Be explicit rather than implicit in your instructions
  • Test with a specific example and iterate

Further Reading ​