Import a skill

Last updated: October 12, 2026

Bring a skill written outside Layer, as a SKILL.md file or a .zip bundle, into your workspace so the Layer agent can use it. Use it when the team keeps its skills in a repository, shares them with a coding assistant, or got one from another studio.

Before you start

  • You need a role that can edit skills: Admin, Editor, Art Director or Artist, or a custom role with Edit skills.
  • The file is either a single SKILL.md (or any .md file in that format) or a .zip with SKILL.md at its top level or one folder down. The dialog shows the largest bundle it accepts.
  • SKILL.md starts with a block that names the skill and says when to use it, followed by the instructions: 
    ---
name: sprite-export
description: Use when exporting, packing or naming sprite frames for the game build.
---
## Files
- PNG, transparent background, pivot at bottom centre.
  • From a bundle, Layer keeps SKILL.md, markdown files under references/ and images, video or audio under assets/. Anything else is left out and listed in the import report.

Steps

  1. On the Skills page, select Import skill.

  2. Drop the SKILL.md or .zip on the dialog, or click it to choose the file.

  3. Layer reads the bundle and reports what it applied, and anything it left out and why. You can close the dialog while it reads; the import carries on.

  4. Select Open skill to check the name, description and instructions.

Result

The skill is in the workspace's Skills library, named after the bundle's name (with a number added if another skill already uses it). It loads When relevant, or Manual if the bundle has no description, and applies to every agent. It is not in scope anywhere yet: turn on Enable in whole workspace, or add it to a project. See Choose where a skill applies.

Select Import details on the skill's page at any time to read the report again.

Update an imported skill

When the source changes, select Re-import on the skill's page (or right-click it on the Skills page and select Re-import from a bundle) and drop the new version. The skill keeps its name, where it applies and which agents it applies to, and its contents are replaced. If the new bundle fails, the skill keeps what it had.

Production tips

  • Keep your studio's skills in a repository as SKILL.md folders. The same files work in Claude Code, Cursor and other assistants, and re-importing after a change keeps Layer in step. See Add Layer's skills to your AI assistant.
  • Skills from coding assistants often carry scripts/ and tool permissions. Layer does not run scripts and decides itself which tools each agent may use, so move anything a script did into the instructions as steps for the agent.
  • Put the detail in references/. Instructions longer than about a page are better split: the agent loads a reference only when the instructions tell it to.
  • Import one skill per bundle. A .zip with several SKILL.md files is refused; import them one at a time.

If something goes wrong

  • "No SKILL.md in the bundle." The .zip has no SKILL.md at its top level or one folder down. Move it up and zip again.
  • "More than one skill in the bundle." Split the bundle and import each skill on its own.
  • "The bundle is too large." The bundle, or a file in it, is over the size limit. Remove large assets and add them from your library on the skill's page instead.
  • Items were left out. Open Import details: each item says why, such as Scripts are not run or Outside SKILL.md, references/ and assets/. The rest of the skill was imported.

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