# Writing a skill

## How do you write a skill?

A skill has a name, a description and a body.

| Part | Limit | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Name | 80 characters | How the skill is listed and mentioned |
| Description | 200 characters | What the assistant reads when it decides whether the skill applies |
| Body | 20,000 characters | The instructions themselves |

Write the description for that decision. "How we count active customers" tells the assistant when to
reach for it, and "customer stuff" doesn't. Vistazo drafts a description for you, and you can rewrite
it. The body is a full document, and links in it work. Keep it as short as the job allows, since a
skill's text is sent to the model each time it is used.

The editor saves as you type. Colleagues can edit the same skill at once, with each person's caret
labelled by name and everyone's changes merged. An archived skill is read-only for everyone.

Every new workspace starts with one example, **Explain**, written for the `[demo] Country Explorer`
dashboard it also starts with. It shows the layout to copy, with when to use it, the steps, and a
House knowledge section for what the assistant can't work out from the data. Edit it into your own
or delete it.

## How are versions kept?

A skill keeps a history under **Settings → History** on the skill. Save a version yourself, or let one
be recorded when your edits settle. Restoring a version saves the current text as a version first, so
a restore can be undone.