Skills: teach Briks your tone, facts and conventions
A skill is a short set of instructions Briks follows on your workspace's projects whenever a task fits it. Use skills for what only you know: how you sound, the facts every page must get right and the way you name things. This page covers adding a skill each way the studio offers, switching one off, the safety read every skill gets, and three examples to copy.
What a skill is
The Skills page sums it up: “Guidance the builder follows on your workspace's projects when a task fits it: your tone, your facts, your conventions. The studio's own design and code rules always come first.”
Every skill has three parts:
| Part | What it is | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Lowercase words joined by hyphens, such as tone-of-voice | 64 characters |
| When to use it | One to three sentences saying what the skill covers. Briks picks a skill by this line, so make it specific. | 1,024 characters |
| Instructions | The rules and examples Briks follows when it uses the skill | 20,000 characters |
Skills belong to a workspace. Those that are on reach every project in that workspace and no other. Up to 25 can be on at once. Above the list, the page counts them, for example "3 of 4 on. The builder receives the ones that are on with every job in this workspace, and only here."
When a skill is used, and when it is not
| Situation | Is the skill used? |
|---|---|
| A first build or a change, for a website, an app or a dashboard | Yes, when its When to use it line fits the task |
| The skill is switched off | No |
| Replace from Media, undo or restore, Apply to the live site, publishing to production | No: nothing new is written |
| A question you ask in the studio | No: questions are answered without a build |
| A rule that disagrees with the studio's design or code rules | That part is set aside |
| A rule asking for a secret, an outside address or files outside the site | That part is set aside |
Skills add knowledge, not design. For fixed rules about the look, such as a black footer, use Rules in your own words under Settings, Preferences, which is “Kept to, build after build.”
A new or edited skill takes effect from the next build or change. Your published site does not change until then.
Who can manage skills
Owners and Admins can add, edit, switch, update and delete skills; the Admin role reads “Manages members, settings, templates and skills, and moves projects.” Editors and Viewers can open the Skills page and read the list, but its switches are greyed out and there is no Add skill button. See Members and roles.
Add a skill
Click Add skill. A box titled Add a skill offers three ways to start: “Choose how to start. You read and can edit every skill before the builder receives it.”
| Option | What the studio says | Once added | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Write your own | Name it, say when to use it, write the instructions. | Off until you turn it on, tagged Written here | Nothing |
| Draft with AI | Describe what it should do; a draft comes back for you to edit. Uses a few credits. | Off until you turn it on, tagged Drafted by AI | Holds 5 credits, charged for the work |
| Import from GitHub | Paste a link to a SKILL.md, a folder or a repository. It is pinned to the commit you read. | Off until you turn it on, tagged GitHub with the commit | Nothing |
Write your own
Open the box
Where: Skills
Click Add skill, or the button in No skills yet if this is your first.
Choose Write your own
Where: Add a skill
A box titled Write a skill opens with three fields.
Name it
Where: Write a skill
Type a name. When you leave the field, Briks tidies it into lowercase words and hyphens: “Tone of voice” becomes
tone-of-voice.Say when to use it
Where: Write a skill
Write When to use it as a sentence about the task, such as “The voice for every word on our sites. Use whenever text is written or rewritten.”
Write the instructions
Where: Write a skill
Fill in Instructions with rules and examples. A counter under the box shows how much of the 20,000 characters you have used.
Save it
Where: Write a skill
Click Add skill. The studio confirms with “tone-of-voice added. It stays off until you turn it on.”
Turn it on
Where: Skills
Flip the switch on the skill's right to On. Briks uses it from your next build or change.
Draft with AI
In Draft a skill with AI, describe in What the skill should do what Briks should know or always do, in 20 to 4,000 characters. Click Draft it; the studio notes it is “Usually under a minute.” The draft opens in Review the drafted skill for you to read and edit. After Add skill, it reads “added. It stays off until you turn it on.”
Import from GitHub
In Import a skill from GitHub, paste a GitHub link to a public repository's SKILL.md, a folder or the whole repository, and click Read it. If the link holds several skills, choose one from the list and click Read this one. Review the imported skill shows it in full with its commit: “Read it all: the builder follows it as written.” Up to 30 imports can be read an hour.
An imported skill stays pinned to the commit you read. To pick up a newer one, open the skill's menu and choose Check for update. Either it is up to date, or the newer version opens for you to review before you save it.
The safety read
Every skill is read as you type it and again when it is saved. If something looks risky, a panel titled Read these before adding it lists what was found, and Add skill waits until you tick “I have read the instructions and they are safe to follow.” The skill then carries a Read before use tag in the list, with the same notes. What it looks for:
- “It asks the builder to set earlier rules or instructions aside.”
- “It tries to change who the builder is or what its system says.”
- “It mentions keys, secrets or credentials.”
- “It asks for requests to other addresses.”
- “It adds a script from another address to pages.”
- “It asks for code that runs text as code or sets raw HTML.”
- Any web addresses it names, counted.
Switch off, edit or delete
Each skill has a switch on its right, and a menu with Edit, Check for update for imported skills, and Delete. Every new skill starts off, so you read it before Briks uses it. Switching off keeps the skill for later. When 25 are on, the switches of the others are greyed out until you turn one off. Deleting asks first: “The builder stops receiving it from the next change on.”
Three skills to copy
When to use it: The voice for every word on Hollin & Hart's sites: headings, body text, buttons, form labels and messages. Use whenever text is written or rewritten. Instructions: Write as the firm, using we and our. Use plain words a worried parent understands, and explain any legal term the first time it appears. Stay calm: never use fight, battle or win. Keep sentences short and use no exclamation marks. Buttons say what happens next, such as Book a free 20 minute call, never Submit.
New pages and changes come back in that voice. A request to “add a page about mediation” returns copy that explains what mediation is before it sells anything.
When to use it: The facts every Oakline Joinery page must get right: where we work, what we make, lead times, prices, contact details and hours. Use whenever a page mentions any of them. Instructions: Our workshop is in Sheffield and we fit within 30 miles. Every kitchen is made to measure in solid oak or walnut; never mention MDF. Lead time is 10 to 12 weeks from final drawings. Kitchens start at £18,000 including fitting; never quote any other price. Phone 0114 496 0321. We are closed on Saturdays.
A change such as “add an FAQ section” answers lead time and price questions with these figures instead of guessing.
When to use it: How Kettle & Leaf names its teas and infusions on pages, cards, menus and buttons. Use for any product list, product page or price. Instructions: Full names follow origin, garden, grade, then harvest, as in Darjeeling, Castleton, FTGFOP1, second flush 2026. Cards use origin and garden only. Prices are per 100 g. Rooibos and chamomile are infusions, never teas.
A new shop page lists every product the same way, with prices per 100 g, and keeps infusions in their own group.
Writing a skill that works
- Make When to use it name the task, such as “any menu page or dish list”. A vague line means Briks may not reach for the skill.
- Write rules as things to do, with the reason where it is not obvious.
- Give an example of right and wrong. One good example often does more than five rules.
- Keep facts current. When a price or an address changes, edit the skill, then ask for a change so the live site picks it up.
- Keep one subject a skill. A tone skill and a facts skill are easier to switch and update than one long skill holding both.
Does a new skill change my live site straight away?
No. It is used from the next build or change. Ask for a change, such as “Rewrite the About page in our house tone”, to apply it to pages that already exist.
Do skills cost anything?
Writing and importing are free. Draft with AI holds 5 credits and is charged for the work it took. A skill in use is read as part of a build, which is charged as usual.
Can one project skip a skill?
Skills reach every project in the workspace. Switch one off while you work on a project it does not suit, or keep that client in a workspace of its own.