--- title: "Understanding and Using AI Skills" url: https://daily.dev/posts/understanding-and-using-ai-skills-pvchmqe6z source_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9n5EYoWdNk type: video:youtube source: "John Savill's Technical Training" published: 2026-05-31T07:40:24.627Z updated: 2026-05-31T07:44:56.963Z tags: ["python", "github", "llm", "ai-agents", "mcp"] reading_time: 25 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Understanding and Using AI Skills **[John Savill's Technical Training](https://daily.dev/sources/john-savill)** · 25 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary AI skills are modular, markdown-based instruction sets that give AI applications step-by-step procedures for performing specific tasks. Using a progressive disclosure pattern, an AI app initially loads only the name and description of each skill (under 100 tokens each), then fetches the full body (up to 5,000 tokens) only when the LLM determines it needs that skill. Skills can reference MCP server tools, APIs, and CLI commands to carry out their steps. A practical demo shows a skill that fetches the 10 most recent YouTube videos, executed both via a custom Python harness calling a local LLM and via GitHub Copilot in VS Code. The agentskills.io specification defines the required file structure (skill.md inside a named subdirectory) and optional metadata fields like compatibility, license, and allowed tools. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [What are Agent Skills and How Agents Use Them?](https://daily.dev/posts/what-are-agent-skills-and-how-agents-use-them--vtr9wikon) · Daily Dose of Data Science \| Avi Chawla \| Substack · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#python](https://daily.dev/tags/python), [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#llm](https://daily.dev/tags/llm), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#mcp](https://daily.dev/tags/mcp) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/understanding-and-using-ai-skills-pvchmqe6z)