Skills & Plugins
Skills extend what Orient can do. They are modular capabilities that agents can use to perform specific tasks.
What Are Skills?
A skill is a packaged set of instructions and tool configurations that teaches Orient how to handle a specific type of task. Think of skills as expertise areas:
- Scheduling skill — knows how to parse dates, check calendars, create events
- Jira skill — knows how to query tickets, update status, create issues
- Mini-app skill — knows how to generate and deploy lightweight web apps
- Git skill — knows how to summarize commits, create branches, review PRs
Built-in Skills
Orient ships with several built-in skills:
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Scheduling | Create and manage scheduled messages, reminders, and recurring tasks |
| Mini-Apps | Generate custom web applications from natural language descriptions |
| Calendar | Read and manage Google Calendar events |
| Jira | Query and update Jira tickets and sprints |
| Draft and send emails via Gmail | |
| Documents | Create and edit Google Docs |
| Webhooks | Configure incoming webhook integrations |
Creating Custom Skills
Custom skills are defined as part of agent configurations. To create a skill:
1. Define the Skill
Skills are configured through the Agent Registry in the dashboard. Each skill consists of:
- Name — identifier for the skill
- Description — what the skill does (used by the agent to decide when to use it)
- System prompt additions — instructions appended to the agent's prompt when the skill is active
- Required tools — which MCP tools the skill needs access to
2. Assign to an Agent
Navigate to Dashboard → Agent Registry and edit an agent's configuration to include your custom skill.
3. Configure Tool Access
Ensure the agent has access to any tools your skill requires. Tool permissions are managed at the agent level.
Community Skills
Orient is designed to be extended by the community. Community skills can be shared as:
- Agent configuration exports
- MCP server packages
- Documentation and prompt templates
Visit the GitHub repository to browse and contribute skills.
Skill Configuration
Skills can be configured per-agent and per-platform:
Agent: "Work Assistant"
├── Skills: scheduling, jira, calendar
├── Platform: Slack
└── Tools: schedule_*, jira_*, calendar_*
Agent: "Personal Assistant"
├── Skills: scheduling, mini-apps
├── Platform: WhatsApp
└── Tools: schedule_*, mini_app_*
This allows you to have different skill sets for different contexts — your work Slack agent knows about Jira, while your personal WhatsApp agent focuses on scheduling and quick apps.
Extending with MCP Servers
Skills can leverage external MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. This means you can:
- Write a custom MCP server that exposes new tools
- Connect it to Orient through the Integrations dashboard
- Create a skill that uses those tools
See the Integrations guide for connecting MCP servers.