SKILLS

docs/features/chat-features/index.mdx

@@ -26,3 +26,4 @@ Open WebUI provides a comprehensive set of chat features designed to enhance you
 - **[🧠 Reasoning & Thinking Models](./reasoning-models.mdx)**: Specialized support for models that generate internal chains of thought using thinking tags.
 
 - **[💬 Follow-Up Prompts](./follow-up-prompts.md)**: Automatic generation of suggested follow-up questions after model responses.
+- **Skill Mentions**: Use `$` in the chat input to mention and activate [Skills](/features/workspace/skills) on-the-fly, injecting their manifests into the conversation.

docs/features/plugin/tools/index.mdx

@@ -206,6 +206,8 @@ These models excel at multi-step reasoning, proper JSON formatting, and autonomo
 | `search_channel_messages` | Search for specific messages inside accessible channels. |
 | `view_channel_message` | View a specific message or its details in a channel. |
 | `view_channel_thread` | View a full message thread/replies in a channel. |
+| **Skills** | *Requires per-model "Skills" category enabled (default: on).* |
+| `view_skill` | Load the full instructions of a skill from the available skills manifest. |
 | **Time Tools** | *Requires per-model "Time & Calculation" category enabled (default: on).* |
 | `get_current_timestamp` | Get the current UTC Unix timestamp and ISO date. |
 | `calculate_timestamp` | Calculate relative timestamps (e.g., "3 days ago"). |
@@ -244,6 +246,8 @@ These models excel at multi-step reasoning, proper JSON formatting, and autonomo
 | `search_channel_messages` | `query` (required), `count` (default: 10), `start_timestamp`, `end_timestamp` | Array of `{id, channel_id, content, user_name, created_at}` |
 | `view_channel_message` | `message_id` (required) | `{id, content, user_name, created_at, reply_count}` |
 | `view_channel_thread` | `parent_message_id` (required) | Array of `{id, content, user_name, created_at}` |
+| **Skills** | | |
+| `view_skill` | `name` (required) | `{name, content}` |
 | **Time Tools** | | |
 | `get_current_timestamp` | None | `{current_timestamp, current_iso}` |
 | `calculate_timestamp` | `days_ago`, `weeks_ago`, `months_ago`, `years_ago` (all default: 0) | `{current_timestamp, current_iso, calculated_timestamp, calculated_iso}` |
@@ -314,6 +318,7 @@ When the **Builtin Tools** capability is enabled, you can further control which
 | **Notes** | `search_notes`, `view_note`, `write_note`, `replace_note_content` | Search, view, and manage user notes |
 | **Knowledge Base** | `list_knowledge_bases`, `search_knowledge_bases`, `query_knowledge_bases`, `search_knowledge_files`, `query_knowledge_files`, `view_knowledge_file` | Browse and query knowledge bases |
 | **Channels** | `search_channels`, `search_channel_messages`, `view_channel_message`, `view_channel_thread` | Search channels and channel messages |
+| **Skills** | `view_skill` | Load skill instructions on-demand from the manifest |
 
 All categories are **enabled by default**. Disabling a category prevents those specific tools from being injected, while keeping other categories active.
 

docs/features/rbac/permissions.md

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ Some permissions are **dependent** on others (e.g., you cannot import models if
 | **Tools Access** | **(Parent)** Access the **Tools** workspace to manage functions/tools. |
 | **Tools Import** | *(Requires Tools Access)* Ability to import tools. |
 | **Tools Export** | *(Requires Tools Access)* Ability to export tools. |
+| **Skills Access** | Access the **Skills** workspace to create and manage reusable instruction sets. |
 
 ### 2. Sharing Permissions
 Controls what users can share with the community or make public.
@@ -61,6 +62,8 @@ Controls what users can share with the community or make public.
 | **Public Prompts** | *(Requires Share Prompts)* Ability to make prompts public. |
 | **Share Tools** | **(Parent)** Ability to share tools. |
 | **Public Tools** | *(Requires Share Tools)* Ability to make tools public. |
+| **Share Skills** | **(Parent)** Ability to share skills. |
+| **Public Skills** | *(Requires Share Skills)* Ability to make skills public. |
 | **Share Notes** | **(Parent)** Ability to share Notes. |
 | **Public Notes** | *(Requires Share Notes)* Ability to make Notes public. |
 

docs/features/workspace/index.mdx

@@ -11,5 +11,6 @@ The Workspace in Open WebUI provides a comprehensive environment for managing yo
 - [🧠 Knowledge](./knowledge.md) - Manage your knowledge bases for retrieval augmented generation
 - [📚 Prompts](./prompts.md) - Create and organize reusable prompts
 - [📁 Files](./files.md) - Centralized management for all your uploaded documents
+- [📝 Skills](./skills.md) - Reusable markdown instruction sets for guiding model behavior
 
 Each section of the Workspace is designed to give you fine-grained control over your Open WebUI experience, allowing for customization and optimization of your AI interactions.

docs/features/workspace/models.md

@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ You can transform a generic model into a specialized agent by toggling specific
 
 - **Knowledge**: Instead of manually selecting documents for every chat, you can bind a specific knowledgebase **Collection** or **File** to this model. Whenever this model is selected, RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) is automatically active for those specific files. Click on attached items to toggle between **Focused Retrieval** (RAG chunks) and **Using Entire Document** (full content injection). See [Full Context vs Focused Retrieval](/features/workspace/knowledge#full-context-vs-focused-retrieval) for details.
 - **Tools**: Force specific tools to be enabled by default (e.g., always enable the **Calculator** tool for a "Math Bot").
+- **Skills**: Bind [Skills](/features/workspace/skills) to this model so their manifests are always injected. The model can load full skill instructions on-demand via the `view_skill` builtin tool.
 - **Filters**: Attach specific Pipelines/Filters (e.g., a Profanity Filter or PII Redaction script) to run exclusively on this model.
 - **Actions**: Attach actionable scripts like `Add to Memories` or `Button` triggers.
 - **Capabilities**: Granularly control what the model is allowed to do:

docs/features/workspace/skills.md

@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+---
+sidebar_position: 6
+title: "Skills"
+sidebar_label: "Skills"
+---
+
+Skills are reusable, markdown-based instruction sets that you can attach to models or invoke on-the-fly in chat. Unlike [Tools](/features/plugin/tools) (which are executable Python scripts), Skills are **plain-text instructions** that teach a model *how* to approach a task — such as code review guidelines, writing style rules, or troubleshooting playbooks.
+
+## How Skills Work
+
+Skills use a **lazy-loading** architecture to keep the model's context window efficient:
+
+1. **Manifest injection** — When a skill is active (either bound to a model or mentioned in chat), only a lightweight manifest containing the skill's **name** and **description** is injected into the system prompt.
+2. **On-demand loading** — The model receives a `view_skill` builtin tool. When it determines it needs a skill's full instructions, it calls `view_skill` with the skill name to load the complete content.
+
+This design means that even if dozens of skills are available, only the ones the model actually needs are loaded into context.
+
+## Creating a Skill
+
+Navigate to **Workspace → Skills** and click **+ New Skill**.
+
+| Field | Description |
+| :--- | :--- |
+| **Name** | A human-readable display name (e.g., "Code Review Guidelines"). |
+| **Skill ID** | A unique slug identifier, auto-generated from the name (e.g., `code-review-guidelines`). Editable during creation, read-only afterwards. |
+| **Description** | A short summary shown in the manifest. The model uses this to decide whether to load the full instructions. |
+| **Content** | The full skill instructions in **Markdown**. This is the content loaded by `view_skill`. |
+
+Click **Save & Create** to finalize.
+
+## Using Skills
+
+### In Chat ($ Mention)
+
+Type `$` in the chat input to open the skill picker. Select a skill, and it will be attached to the message as a **skill mention** (similar to `@` for models or `#` for knowledge). The skill manifest is injected for that conversation, and the model can call `view_skill` to load the full instructions when needed.
+
+### Bound to a Model
+
+You can permanently attach skills to a model so they are always available:
+
+1. Go to **Workspace → Models**.
+2. Edit a model and scroll to the **Skills** section.
+3. Check the skills you want this model to always have access to.
+4. Click **Save**.
+
+When a user chats with that model, the selected skills' manifests are automatically injected.
+
+## Import and Export
+
+### Importing from Markdown
+
+Click **Import** on the Skills workspace page and select a `.md` file. If the file contains YAML frontmatter with `name` and/or `description` fields, those values are auto-populated into the creation form.
+
+Example frontmatter:
+
+```yaml
+---
+name: code-review-guidelines
+description: Step-by-step instructions for thorough code reviews
+---
+
+# Code Review Guidelines
+
+1. Check for correctness...
+```
+
+### Exporting
+
+- **Single skill**: Click the ellipsis menu (**...**) on a skill and select **Export** to download it as a JSON file.
+- **Bulk export**: Click the **Export** button at the top of the Skills page to export all accessible skills as a single JSON file.
+
+## Skill Management
+
+From the Skills workspace list, you can perform the following actions via the ellipsis menu (**...**) on each skill:
+
+| Action | Description |
+| :--- | :--- |
+| **Edit** | Open the skill editor to modify content, name, or description. |
+| **Clone** | Create a copy with `-clone` appended to the ID and "(Clone)" to the name. |
+| **Export** | Download the skill as a JSON file. |
+| **Delete** | Permanently remove the skill. Also available via Shift+Click on the delete icon for quick deletion. |
+
+### Active / Inactive Toggle
+
+Each skill has an **active/inactive toggle** visible on the list page. Inactive skills are excluded from manifests and cannot be loaded by the model, even if they are bound to one or mentioned in chat.
+
+## Access Control
+
+Skills use the same [Access Control](/features/rbac) system as other workspace resources:
+
+- **Private by default**: Only the creator can see and edit a new skill.
+- **Share with users or groups**: Use the **Access** button in the skill editor to grant `read` or `write` access to specific users or groups.
+- **Read-only access**: Users with only read access can view the skill content but cannot edit it. The editor displays a "Read Only" badge.
+
+### Required Permissions
+
+- **Workspace → Skills Access**: Required to access the Skills workspace and create/manage skills.
+- **Sharing → Share Skills**: Required to share skills with individual users or groups.
+- **Sharing → Public Skills**: Required to make skills publicly accessible.
+
+See [Permissions](/features/rbac/permissions) for details on how to configure these.

docs/getting-started/env-configuration.mdx

@@ -5294,6 +5294,13 @@ For API Key creation (and the API keys themselves) to work, you need **both**:
 - Description: Enables or disables user permission to access workspace tools.
 - Persistence: This environment variable is a `PersistentConfig` variable.
 
+#### `USER_PERMISSIONS_WORKSPACE_SKILLS_ACCESS`
+
+- Type: `bool`
+- Default: `False`
+- Description: Enables or disables user permission to access workspace skills.
+- Persistence: This environment variable is a `PersistentConfig` variable.
+
 ### Sharing (Private)
 
 These settings control whether users can share workspace items with other users **privately** (non-public sharing).
@@ -5326,6 +5333,13 @@ These settings control whether users can share workspace items with other users
 - Description: Enables or disables **private sharing** of workspace tools.
 - Persistence: This environment variable is a `PersistentConfig` variable.
 
+#### `USER_PERMISSIONS_WORKSPACE_SKILLS_ALLOW_SHARING`
+
+- Type: `str`
+- Default: `False`
+- Description: Enables or disables **private sharing** of workspace skills.
+- Persistence: This environment variable is a `PersistentConfig` variable.
+
 #### `USER_PERMISSIONS_NOTES_ALLOW_SHARING`
 
 - Type: `str`
@@ -5365,6 +5379,13 @@ These settings control whether users can share workspace items **publicly**.
 - Description: Enables or disables **public sharing** of workspace tools.
 - Persistence: This environment variable is a `PersistentConfig` variable.
 
+#### `USER_PERMISSIONS_WORKSPACE_SKILLS_ALLOW_PUBLIC_SHARING`
+
+- Type: `str`
+- Default: `False`
+- Description: Enables or disables **public sharing** of workspace skills.
+- Persistence: This environment variable is a `PersistentConfig` variable.
+
 #### `USER_PERMISSIONS_NOTES_ALLOW_PUBLIC_SHARING`
 
 - Type: `str`

docs/tutorials/tips/sqlite-database.md

@@ -81,9 +81,10 @@ Here is a complete list of tables in Open-WebUI's SQLite database. The tables ar
 | 25      | oauth_session    | Manages active OAuth sessions for users                      |
 | 26      | prompt           | Stores templates and configurations for AI prompts           |
 | 27      | prompt_history   | Tracks version history and snapshots for prompts             |
-| 28      | tag              | Manages tags/labels for content categorization               |
-| 29      | tool             | Stores configurations for system tools and integrations      |
-| 30      | user             | Maintains user profiles and account information              |
+| 28      | skill            | Stores reusable markdown instruction sets (Skills)           |
+| 29      | tag              | Manages tags/labels for content categorization               |
+| 30      | tool             | Stores configurations for system tools and integrations      |
+| 31      | user             | Maintains user profiles and account information              |
 
 Note: there are two additional tables in Open-WebUI's SQLite database that are not related to Open-WebUI's core functionality, that have been excluded:
 
@@ -483,6 +484,27 @@ Access control for resources (models, knowledge bases, tools, prompts, notes, fi
 | commit_message  | Text          | nullable                       | Version commit message            |
 | created_at      | BigInteger    | NOT NULL                       | Creation timestamp                |
 
+## Skill Table
+
+| **Column Name** | **Data Type** | **Constraints** | **Description**                    |
+| --------------- | ------------- | --------------- | ---------------------------------- |
+| id              | Text          | PRIMARY KEY     | Unique identifier (UUID)           |
+| user_id         | Text          | NOT NULL        | Owner/creator of the skill         |
+| name            | Text          | NOT NULL        | Display name of the skill          |
+| description     | Text          | nullable        | Short description (used in manifest) |
+| content         | Text          | NOT NULL        | Full skill instructions (Markdown) |
+| data            | JSON          | nullable        | Additional skill data              |
+| meta            | JSON          | nullable        | Skill metadata                     |
+| is_active       | Boolean       | default=True    | Active status                      |
+| created_at      | BigInteger    | NOT NULL        | Creation timestamp                 |
+| updated_at      | BigInteger    | NOT NULL        | Last update timestamp              |
+
+Things to know about the skill table:
+
+- Uses UUID for primary key
+- Access control is managed through the `access_grant` table (resource_type `skill`)
+- `description` is injected into the system prompt as part of the manifest; `content` is loaded on-demand via the `view_skill` builtin tool
+
 ## Tag Table
 
 | **Column Name** | **Data Type** | **Constraints** | **Description**           |
@@ -555,6 +577,7 @@ erDiagram
     user ||--o{ prompt_history : "creates"
     prompt ||--o{ prompt_history : "has"
     user ||--o{ tag : "creates"
+    user ||--o{ skill : "manages"
     user ||--o{ tool : "manages"
     user ||--o{ note : "owns"
     user ||--|| oauth_session : "has"
@@ -757,6 +780,17 @@ erDiagram
         json meta
     }
 
+    skill {
+        text id PK
+        text user_id FK
+        text name
+        text description
+        text content
+        json data
+        json meta
+        boolean is_active
+    }
+
     tool {
         string id PK
         string user_id FK