Technology Radar
Agent Skills, curated shared instructions and many other context engineering techniques appear throughout this edition of the Radar. One use case we want to highlight in the coding context is the use of skills as executable onboarding documentation. This technique applies at multiple levels. Within a codebase, a /_setup skill can take on the role of a go.sh script and a README file, combining scripting with LLM-executed semantics for steps that cannot be scripted. It can also go beyond what a script can do by dynamically taking the current state of the codebase and environment into account. Secondly, library and API creators can provide skills for their consumers as part of their documentation through internal or external skill registries like Tessl. And thirdly, we’ve found this useful for onboarding teams to internal platforms to lower the barrier to using a key technology or reduce friction when adopting a design system. So far, our experience with this has relied heavily on MCP servers but is now shifting toward skills.
As with other forms of documentation, the challenge of keeping this up to date doesn’t go away. However, unlike static documentation, executable documentation can help you notice staleness much earlier.
