Agent Skills for Codex
Codex works best when a repeated job is written down once. A skill is that written-down job: a SKILL.md with a name, a description that tells the agent when to use it, and the steps or assets to follow. Because Codex runs in your terminal and your repo, skills become part of the project rather than a chat you have to re-explain.
Where Codex looks for skills
| Scope | Path | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| User | ~/.codex/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md | Your personal toolkit, available in every repo |
| Project | <repo>/.codex/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md | Skills a team shares through version control |
If the same name exists in both, keep one — duplicated names make behaviour unpredictable.
Install in 30 seconds
- Drop the skill folder into
~/.codex/skills/. - Verify the path ends in
/SKILL.md. - Start a new Codex session.
- Ask for the outcome ("build a pricing page for this product"), not the skill name.
Skills that hold up in real repos
| Skill | What it produces | Installs |
|---|---|---|
| Slate Admin Console | A working admin dashboard UI | 287 |
| Chalkboard Infographic | A hand-drawn explainer graphic | 267 |
| Yellow Sketchnote Deck | A sketchnote-style deck | 239 |
| Editable Visual Deck | Slides you can still edit after export | 182 |
| Beacon SaaS Landing | A SaaS marketing page | 191 |
| Activity Calendar Chart | An interactive activity heatmap | 186 |
What makes a Codex skill different from a prompt
A prompt is consumed once. A skill is discovered, reused, and versioned. That matters most for work you do weekly: release notes, changelogs, screenshot sets, landing page variants. Put the stable part in SKILL.md and the variable part in the request.
Troubleshooting
- Skill ignored: the description is too abstract. Rewrite it around the verbs a user would type.
- Skill partially applied: the body references files that aren't in the folder. Keep assets relative to the skill directory.
- Two skills fight: narrow both descriptions so only one matches a given task.
FAQ
Do skills work across repos? User-level skills do; project-level ones travel with the repo.
Can a skill run scripts? Yes, if you ship them and the agent has permission. Read a skill before installing it — that's true for every marketplace.
Where do I find more? Browse the full catalog or start from a task: landing page, pitch deck, launch video.