

It’s actually a good question; the difference is subtle but structural. I usually frame it like this: AGENTS[.]md acts as the declarative context. You write this for every repo (and nested directories) to define the project structure, persona, and coding rules. Skills are the functional protocols. They provide the agent with modular capabilities like advanced tool-use and multi-step chaining that are dynamically discovered only when needed. If AGENTS[.]md defines the identity and environment (the body), Skills provide the specialized toolset (the capabilities) used to execute tasks autonomously.























