Attach a skill from configuration

Overview

Attaching a skill from configuration provides your AI agent with direct access to specialized tools, services, and APIs. Skills expand your agent beyond conversational prompts, enabling it to execute concrete tasks such as conducting live web searches, modifying PDF files, or accessing databases.

Configuring tool parameters accurately ensures that your agent operates with the appropriate query depth, result limits, and operational instructions. You can customize field values to tailor each skill directly to your team's workflows and adjust settings whenever requirements evolve.

Prerequisites

Before configuring and attaching skills to an agent, ensure you have:

• A Swiftask account with access to an active workspace.

• An existing custom agent or workspace permissions to create and edit agents.

• Any necessary credentials, API tokens, or project permissions required by specific integrations.

Step-by-step guide

1. Navigate to the Skills section

Open the Swiftask dashboard and select Agents from the left navigation. Click on your agent to open its editor, then select Skills from the left sidebar under Agent settings.

The main page displays your current active skills, discovery tabs, and an option to explore the catalog.

2. Select a skill to attach and configure it

Browse the available tools in the library or search by name. When you locate the tool you need, click the Add button on the skill card to open its configuration modal.

Example 1: PDF Search & Replace

To enable text substitution in PDF documents, locate PDF Search & Replace and click Add.

In the configuration modal:

• Name: Enter a recognizable label for the tool.

• Skill function: Describe what the skill does and when the agent should trigger it (for example, searching for placeholders and replacing them with specific values).

Example 2: Tavily - Web Search

To equip your agent with real-time web search capabilities, find Tavily - Web Search and click Add.

In the configuration modal:

• Name: Enter the tool name.

• Description: Add guidance on how the tool assists the agent during research.

• Search Depth: Click the dropdown menu to select between Basic (faster query execution) and Advanced (deeper, comprehensive web research).

• Max Results: Adjust the slider or type a number in the input box to define the maximum number of search results returned per query.

Note: Other tools across the catalog may require different configuration parameters and form controls, such as API authentication tokens, project selectors, or webhook URLs.

Click Save once your configuration is complete.

3. View all attached skills to the agent

Once saved, the skill appears immediately under the Active skills section of your agent settings.

Each attached skill row displays its name, icon, assigned alias, and functional summary. You can manage each skill directly using two action icons on the right:

• Eye icon: Opens the skill details drawer to inspect or update settings.

• Trash icon: Detaches the skill from this agent. Detaching a skill removes it from the agent's active tools without deleting it from your workspace.

4. View skill details and edit configuration

Click the eye icon next to any active skill in the list to open its full details drawer.

From this drawer, you can edit tool parameters such as the Name, Description, or specific options (like Search Depth and Max Results), and click Save to apply updates.

The drawer also presents operational metadata about the skill:

• Category: The functional group or toolkit classification of the skill.

• Created at: The date the skill was originally created.

• Last updated: The timestamp of the most recent configuration change.

• Created by: The workspace member who configured the skill.

5. Monitor attached agents using the skill

Scroll to the Attached agents section at the bottom of the skill details drawer to view every agent currently using this skill configuration.

The table displays the agent name, access level (Accessible), and unique slug. You can use the search bar to locate specific agents, or click the Open agent in a new tab shortcut to navigate directly to any connected agent.

6. View and manage skills in Toolkit

To view and manage all skills configured across your entire workspace, navigate to the main left navigation and click Skills under the TOOLKIT heading.

The Toolkit Skills view centralizes all tools configured by your team. You can filter between Personal and Shared with me tabs, search by name, or click Add skill to create a workspace-wide integration.

Click any skill row to open its details drawer. In addition to editing fields, you can permanently remove the skill from the entire workspace by clicking the Delete skill trash icon in the top right corner.

Practical use cases

Deep research agent

Equip a competitive analysis agent with Tavily - Web Search configured to Advanced search depth and a maximum of 12 results. The agent performs thorough web scraping to compile multi-source reports.

Dynamic document generator

Attach PDF Search & Replace to an administrative agent. When given applicant or client details, the agent searches predefined placeholder tags in template PDFs and outputs customized documents instantly.

Centralized workspace tool administration

Workspace managers inspect integrations under Toolkit > Skills to see all dependent agents in the Attached agents table. They update configurations once without having to edit every agent individually.

Tips & best practices

• Provide specific instructions in skill functions: State clear trigger criteria in the description or function fields so the LLM knows exactly when and why to invoke the tool.

• Detach vs delete: Use the trash icon in Agent settings > Skills to remove a tool from a single agent. Only use the trash icon in Toolkit > Skills when you intend to delete the skill from the workspace permanently.

• Review attached agents before deleting: Always verify the Attached agents list in Toolkit to avoid disabling active workflows across dependent agents.

• Adjust limits to balance latency and detail: Use lower numeric bounds on result sliders for faster queries, and higher values when comprehensive depth is required.

Troubleshooting

Agent does not execute an attached skill

Confirm that the skill is listed under Active skills. Review your system prompt to ensure it explicitly directs the agent to perform actions handled by that skill.

Form fields reset or do not save

Ensure all required configuration parameters (such as tool name and operational functions) are filled out before clicking Save.

Skill cannot be deleted in Toolkit

Verify that you have administrative permissions in the workspace. If the skill belongs to a shared account or is restricted, contact the skill creator or workspace owner.

Additional resources

• Browse & discover skills

• Connectivity test

• Introduction to Agents