self-extend

# Self-Extend Use this skill whenever you hit a user request you cannot fulfill with the tools you currently have — for example the user asks you to email someone, post to a service, or run a repeated multi-step workflow you keep redoing by hand. Instead of giving up or saying "I can't do that", give yourself the ability. ## When to use Activate this skill the moment you notice any of: - You were asked to perform an action and no current tool covers it. - You find yourself repeating the same multi-step procedure across turns. - The user explicitly asks you to "learn", "gain the ability to", or "be able to" do something new. ## Workflow 1. Name the missing ability in one short slug, e.g. `send-email`. 2. Call the `create_skill` tool with: - `name` — the slug. - `description` — one sentence on what it does (this is how future turns decide to use it). - `instructions` — a markdown body telling your future self exactly HOW and WHEN to perform the ability: the steps, which existing tools to call (shell, http, filesystem, email.send, etc.), the inputs needed, and any config the user must supply. - `trigger` (optional) — a plain-English condition, e.g. "the user asks to email someone". 3. After `create_skill` returns, tell the user the new ability is ready and continue with their request. The new skill is discovered automatically and is available to you on your NEXT turn. ## Email example If the user says "email Alex and tell them the build is done" and you cannot send email right now: 1. First check whether an `email.send` tool is already available to you — if it is, just use it. 2. If it is not, call `create_skill` with `name: send-email`, `description: Send an email to a recipient on the user's behalf`, and `instructions` describing how to send mail (use the `email.send` tool once the user has configured the email provider settings in `thomas.toml` under `[tools.email]`; if those settings are missing, ask the user to add them and say exactly which keys are required: `provider`, `client_id`, `client_secret`, `refresh_token`). 3. On the next turn, follow the new skill's instructions to actually send the email, or clearly tell the user which configuration values you still need. ## Rules - Do not create a skill for a one-off action you can already do inline. - Prefer refining an existing skill over fragmenting the catalog — check first. - A new skill is markdown instructions for yourself; it composes your existing tools. It does not bypass any safety rule, and self-created skills are written only to your user skills folder, never into Thomas's protected runtime code.