Add skills to Managed Deep Agents

Skills package task-specific procedures and context into reusable directories. You can define them in markdown files, and they are picked up automatically by the agent.

Managed Deep Agents is in public beta and available on LangSmith Cloud in the US region only.

Add a skill

Create one directory per skill under skills/ in the root of the agent directory. Each directory needs a SKILL.md file with name and description frontmatter:

skills/research/SKILL.md

---
name: research
description: Gather and synthesize context before answering complex questions.
---

# Research

Use this skill when a task needs more than a direct answer.

1. Identify what information is missing.
2. Use `query_db` to look up relevant records.
3. Summarize findings before responding to the user.

A skill directory can also contain supporting scripts, reference files, and templates. Reference these files from SKILL.md so the agent knows when to use them.

How the agent uses skills

At startup, the agent sees each skill’s name and description. When a task matches a skill’s description, the agent reads the full SKILL.md and follows its instructions. Supporting files are loaded only when needed. This progressive disclosure gives the agent access to detailed procedures without adding every skill’s full contents to its context.

Syncing to Context Hub

When you run mda deploy, every UTF-8 file under skills/ is automatically synced to the agent’s Context Hub repo. You can then edit skills in the LangSmith UI and make the changes available to the agent. A later deployment syncs the project copies again and removes deployed skill files that no longer exist locally.

How skills compare to other concepts

Use instructions for behavior that should guide every run. Use memory for knowledge the agent learns and retains across threads. For skill authoring patterns and the complete format, see Skills.

Connect these docs to Claude, VSCode, and more via MCP for real-time answers.

Edit this page on GitHub or file an issue.

​Add a skill

​How the agent uses skills

​Syncing to Context Hub

​How skills compare to other concepts

Add a skill

How the agent uses skills

Syncing to Context Hub

How skills compare to other concepts