Skills are reusable packets of expertise you write once and hand to Tines 3B. Each skill bundles a set of instructions (and any supporting files) that Tines 3B can pull into context when a task calls for it.
Note: To create a skill, you need the skill creation permission for your workspace. If you don't see a way to add a skill, ask an admin to grant you access.
Create a skill from scratch
Open the skills page, select the plus button and choose create from scratch to build a new skill.
The skill opens on the Files tab with a starter SKILL.md already in place. This is where you'll do most of your work.
Note: New skills stay in a draft state until you save. If you close the modal before saving, you'll be asked whether to discard the draft.
Write the SKILL.md file
SKILL.md starts with a block of YAML frontmatter between --- lines, followed by your instructions in Markdown. An example file looks like this:
---
name: incident-summary
description: Summarize a security incident into a short, structured report. Use when someone asks for a writeup or handoff of an incident.
---
# Summarizing an incident
Pull the key facts into these sections: what happened, when, impact, and next steps. Keep it under 200 words and lead with the impact.
Two fields are required in the frontmatter:
name. Use only lowercase letters, numbers, and single hyphens, up to 64 characters (for example,
incident-summary).description. Explain, in plain language, when Tines 3B should use this skill. This is the main signal Tines 3B uses to decide whether to reach for it, so be specific. It can run up to 1,024 characters.
Everything below the frontmatter is the skill's instructions. Write them the way you'd brief a capable teammate: clear steps, concrete examples, and any rules that matter.
The name and description shown on the settings tab are read-only reflections of what's in SKILL.md. To change them, edit the frontmatter in the file.
Add supporting files
On the files tab, you can give the skill more than just SKILL.md:
Add a file. Select the plus button, type a path (for example,
references/example.md), and confirm. You can organize files into subdirectories, and they'll appear grouped by folder.Upload files. Select the plus button, then Upload files to bring in existing documents, including non-text files.
A few limits to keep in mind: a skill can hold up to 500 files, each file can be up to 5 MB, and the whole bundle can be up to 25 MB.
Choose who can use the skill
On the access tab, add members, groups, or a whole space, and choose the role each one gets. This controls who can see and manage the skill.
Learn how to give access to skills here.
Make the skill available to Tines 3B
On the settings tab, the available to AI toggle decides whether Tines 3B can use the skill. It's on by default for a new skill. Turn it off any time you want to keep a skill around without Tines 3B reaching for it, then turn it back on when you're ready.
Install a skill from Git instead
If your skill already lives in a Git repository, you don't have to recreate it by hand.
On the skills page, select the plus button, then install from Git and point Tines 3B at the repository.
Installed skills keep a link to their source, so you can select resync on the skill's settings tab to pull the latest files. Resyncing replaces every file with the current version from the repository, so any local edits are overwritten.
Built-in skills
Tines 3B comes with a library of built-in skills: ready-made packets of expertise that Tines 3B can draw on without you setting anything up. They cover common jobs like designing a workflow, calling the Claude API, building a dashboard, or writing a status update.
Built-in skills ship inside Tines 3B and are maintained by us at Tines. They aren't stored in your workspace, so they don't appear on the Skills page and you don't create, edit, or delete them. They're simply always there for Tines 3B to reach for.
A handful of the built-in skills (for calling the Claude API, building and testing MCP servers, testing web apps, writing internal comms, and authoring skills) are adapted from Anthropic's open-source skills library, licensed under Apache-2.0, and modified for Tines 3B.
How they work
Every built-in skill is part of Tines 3B's catalog from the start. Tines 3B sees each skill's name and description, and when a task matches, it loads that skill's instructions into context and follows them. If the skill has supporting files, Tines 3B can open them, and if it has scripts, it can run them.
A few things worth knowing:
The description is the trigger. Tines 3B decides whether to use a skill from its name and description alone, so it reaches for one when the task looks like a fit, even if you never name the skill.
They're always available. There's no toggle to switch a built-in skill on or off. It's part of the product.
You can see when one is in play. When Tines 3B loads a skill mid-task, it shows up in the chat as a step, so you can tell which skill it pulled in.
Skill scripts run sandboxed. A script runs in an isolated sandbox and can use only the connectors already authorized in that chat. A skill never grants new connector access on its own.
List of built in skills
building-agents. Builds Tines 3B parts of a workflow, meaning any step that calls a language model, including tool-using agents and chat UIs.claude-api. Builds, debugs, and optimizes code that calls the Claude (Anthropic) API.cross-tool-research. Finds, correlates, summarizes, and investigates information across your connectors.daily-briefing. Builds a concise briefing from calendars, tasks, tickets, pull requests, messages, and documents.dashboard-design. Builds polished, interactive analytics dashboards for any data source.frontend-design. Creates distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces.internal-comms. Writes internal communications like status reports, leadership updates, incident reports, and newsletters.mcp-builder. Builds MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that expose a service to an AI as tools.mcp-client. Calls tools on a remote MCP server over streamable HTTP.skill-creator. Helps you write and improve your own Tines 3B skills, from a reliable description to well-structured instructions.status-update. Drafts evidence-based status updates from recent work across your connectors.webapp-testing. Drives and tests web applications with Playwright.workflow-discovery. Turns an automation idea into a clear workflow brief and a practical design.workflow-operations. Adds production operating behavior like schedules, event triggers, notifications, retries, and logging.workflow-review. Explains, tests, simplifies, and improves an existing workflow.workflow-volume-design. Designs reliable workflows that store files or persist state using named volumes.