skills-reader

name	skills-reader
description	Guidelines for modifying the workspace skills reader in src/skillsReader.ts. Covers skill discovery, frontmatter parsing, and injection into the Copilot Chat system prompt.

skills-reader

skillsReader.ts discovers and reads skill files from workspace skill directories and injects them into the Copilot Chat system prompt.

Scope

• src/skillsReader.ts — skill discovery, frontmatter parsing, and formatting utilities.
• src/copilotChatParticipant.ts — consumer that injects skills into the system prompt.

Search paths

The reader scans these glob patterns across all workspace folders:

1. .claude/skills/**/*.md
2. skills/**/*.md
3. .github/skills/**/*.md
4. .ai/skills/**/*.md

Each matching file is treated as a skill. Files in node_modules are excluded.

Skill file format

Each skill file must be a markdown file with YAML frontmatter:

---
name: my-skill-name
description: Short description of what this skill covers
---

# my-skill-name

Skill content here. Rules, guidelines, conventions, etc.

• name — used as the skill heading in the system prompt.
• description — optional, shown in /skills preview.
• Body — injected verbatim after the frontmatter is stripped.

Rules

1. Auto-inject on every chat. When the participant builds the Ollama message list, it calls readWorkspaceSkills() before the system prompt is finalized. All found skills are appended with source attribution.
2. No caching. Skills are read fresh on every message so live edits take effect immediately.
3. Frontmatter parsing. parseFrontmatter() extracts name and description from the --- ... --- block. If frontmatter is missing, the directory name is used as the skill name.
4. Silent on missing files. If no skill directories exist, the chat proceeds normally.
5. Deduplication. The same file URI is never injected twice, even if it matches multiple patterns.
6. Size limits. There is no automatic truncation yet; very large skill files will consume context window.

Slash command

/skills — shows the user a list of loaded skills with names, sources, and descriptions.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting YAML frontmatter in skill files — the parser will fall back to directory name but description will be empty.
• Expecting skills to persist across VS Code restarts — they are read from disk every time.
• Adding a pattern that matches non-skill markdown files (e.g., **/*.md at root) — would pollute the system prompt.

Testing

Test by:

1. Creating .claude/skills/test-skill/SKILL.md with frontmatter and content.
2. Typing @manulai /skills and confirming the skill appears.
3. Typing @manulai hello and confirming the response follows the skill's rules.
4. Renaming the skill directory and confirming it is still found.