Skill Bodies Should Load on Demand

Short summary

The article argues that AI agent skill bodies should load on demand rather than being permanently injected into every prompt turn. APC stores durable, version-controlled skill files in the repo, while APX routes only relevant skills into the active prompt via compact slug hints and on-demand load_skill calls. This separation keeps prompts clean, reduces token costs, and prevents the model from being distracted by irrelevant instructions.

• •APC owns durable skill files in version control; APX decides what becomes active per turn
• •Skills are listed as compact slug hints — bodies load only when the model calls load_skill
• •Project skills shadow global skills, maintaining ownership while providing safe fallbacks

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.