Universal Best Practices

These product-neutral guides keep three authoring surfaces separate because they solve different problems. Skills define reusable workflows, CLI skills route agents to installed commands, and instructions define the always-loaded contract.

The guides below are evidence-backed and citation-heavy. They do not define Agent Layer-specific skill names, memory files, artifact paths, or bundled workflow doctrine. For Agent Layer's own skill library and workflow model, see Skills.

Guides​

Skill Design Guide​

Write focused agent skills that activate reliably, conserve context, and guide multi-step work with measurable success criteria.

CLI Skill Design Guide​

Design skills for installed command-line tools without copying stale manuals or wrapping ordinary CLI workflows in MCP unnecessarily.

Instruction Design Guide​

Write concise, durable agent instructions that avoid duplicated rules and preserve context for the task itself.