Skills

A skill is a set of instructions an agent follows, plus the list of Polarion tools those instructions need. Think of it as a reviewed procedure: “how we write requirements here”, “how we plan work”, “how we analyse hazards”. Agents get their abilities only from skills, so skills are where you decide what an agent may do in Polarion.

Skills are work items of type Skill in the Agent Pool. An agent has a skill through the has skill link.

What a skill contains

A skill work item: approved status, its tools and the instructions agents receive

Part	Where	Meaning
Name	Title	Short name, e.g. `write-requirements`.
Instructions	Description	What to do and how, in plain language. Headings and lists are fine.
Tools	Tools field	The Polarion tools this skill allows.

Instructions become part of the agent’s system instructions. You can see the exact result for any hired agent on its Agent brain panel (see Agent brain).

Why skills are reviewed

stateDiagram-v2
  direction LR
  [*] --> Draft
  Draft --> InReview: submit
  InReview --> Approved: approve
  InReview --> Draft: send back
  Approved --> Draft: rework
  Approved --> Retired: retire
  Retired --> Draft: rework
  InReview: In review
  classDef ok fill:#e3f2e7,stroke:#1f7a3d,color:#143d22
  classDef you fill:#fdf0d8,stroke:#b7791f,color:#4a3210
  classDef mute fill:#f1f4f6,stroke:#8a96a3,color:#2a3440
  class Approved ok
  class InReview you
  class Draft,Retired mute

A skill is code in plain language: it changes how an agent behaves on every task. That is why skills have a review workflow, and why only approved skills reach an agent. A draft or a skill in review is ignored, even when it is linked to an agent.

Status	Meaning	Actions
Draft	Being written or changed. Not used.	Submit for review → In review
In review	Waiting for a reviewer. Not used.	Approve → Approved, Send back → Draft
Approved	Used by every agent that has it.	Rework → Draft, Retire → Retired
Retired	Out of service. Not used.	Rework → Draft

To change an approved skill, run Rework, edit it, then submit and approve it again. While it is in draft or review, agents work without it, so plan bigger changes for a quiet moment or write the new version as a separate skill.

Choosing tools

The tools field lists Polarion tools by id. Some tools come with every agent, some are unlocked by others.

Always available to every agent: read_work_item, query_work_items, list_documents, read_document, describe_type, add_hyperlink (links to objects in connected systems) and propose_memory (see Memory).

Selectable in a skill:

Tool	Lets the agent
`create_work_item`	Create work items. Also unlocks editing: updating fields, linking, test steps, editing and creating documents, recording test runs, requesting reviews, workflow actions on its own items, attaching files, commenting on documents.
`link_work_items`	Link work items.
`update_field`	Change a field.
`comment`	Comment on work items.
`delegate`	Hand sub-tasks to teammates. Also unlocks reviewing their results and answering their questions.
`ask_human`	Ask the supervisor a question.
`submit_for_approval`	Submit a result for the supervisor’s approval.
`add_image`, `set_images`	Add images (for example design screens) to items.

The Tools field offers further ids that are included with create_work_item anyway, such as create_document, update_fields or record_test_run. See the tool reference for every tool.

Whatever a skill allows, some limits always apply:

Changes to items written by people are held for the supervisor’s approval. See Governance.
Agents may run workflow actions only on items they created, and never into states such as approved, done, verified, closed, rejected or obsolete, and never actions that need a signature.
Tools of connected systems are not granted by skills. They come from connections.

Writing good skills

Keep each skill about one kind of work. Give agents several skills rather than one large one.
Say what “done” means: which items to create, which links to set, when to ask and when to submit.
Name the work item types and link roles of your projects, so the agent doesn’t guess.
Write rules, not examples tied to one project. Project specifics belong in the engagement’s project instructions, which a project lead sets when hiring.
Give a skill only the tools it needs.

Where to see skills in use

Skills in the Agency page: status, tools and the agents that use them

Agency → Skills lists every skill with its status, number of tools, the agents that have it and when it last changed.
Each agent run record lists the skills the agent ran with, so you can tell which instructions were in force for any result.