# Use skills in the AI assistant > Type / in the assistant or click Skills to run a saved instruction such as /doc, /image, or /moodboard; open Manage skills to create your own skills, edit the built-in ones for yourself, or share a skill with the room. Category: AI and integrations Web page: https://www.pactto.com/help/assistant-skills All guides: https://www.pactto.com/help.md ## What a skill is A skill is a saved set of instructions that the assistant follows when you call it by its slash command. Pactto includes three built-in skills, and you can write your own. - **/doc** creates a Pactto Doc on the canvas, for example a meeting summary or a brief. - **/image** creates a new image. When you start from an image on the canvas, the original stays untouched. - **/moodboard** creates moodboard images from your direction and the references you select. When the assistant panel is empty, it shows up to three built-in skills as buttons, such as **Create a doc**, **Create an image**, and **Create a moodboard**. Clicking one adds the skill to the text box; nothing runs until you send. ## Run a skill 1. Select any items on the canvas you want the skill to use. 2. In the assistant, type **/** at the start of the text box, or click **Skills** next to **+**. A list of skills opens. Typing after the **/** filters the list. 3. Pick a skill with a click, or with the arrow keys and **Enter** or **Tab**. The skill appears as a tag at the top of the text box. 4. Add a direction if you like, for example "keep it warm, film grain". The text box shows **Add direction (optional)**, or **Add direction** when the skill needs one. 5. Press **Enter** to send. While the skill runs, the panel shows each step. When it finishes, a result line takes you to what it made on the canvas. Image skills first show the generation card so you can check the cost and click **Confirm** (see [Use the AI assistant in a room](https://www.pactto.com/help/ai-assistant.md)). To remove the skill before sending, click the **×** on its tag, or press **Backspace** in the empty text box. You do not always need the **/**: when a plain request matches a skill, the assistant can pick that skill by itself, and the reply shows its name. Everything a skill adds to the canvas is one undo step: **Cmd+Z** (Mac) or **Ctrl+Z** (Windows) removes the whole result. ## Create your own skill 1. Type **/** or click **Skills**, then click **New skill** (or click **Manage skills** and then **+**). 2. An **Untitled skill** opens with its name selected. Type a name. 3. Set the **Slash command** (filled in from the name until you change it) and add a description if you want. 4. Under **Creates**, choose what the skill makes: **Answer**, **Document**, **Image**, or **Sticky notes**. 5. Choose **Who can use it**: - **Only me**: only you can see and run it, in every room. - **Room**: everyone in this room can run it. Needs **Can edit** access. 6. Write the **Instructions** in Markdown. To start from a file, click **Import .md**. The file must be Markdown (.md) and under 50 KB; its text fills the form, and nothing is saved until you click **Save**. 7. Click **Save**. The slash command must be unique among the skills you can see; otherwise the field shows **/name is already used by** and the other skill's name. A yellow dot on a skill in the list means it has unsaved changes. **Cancel** undoes them, and switching skills or closing the dialog asks **Save changes to** (the skill name) first, with **Cancel** and **Save**. ## Manage skills Click **Manage skills** at the bottom of the skills list. The dialog lists the built-in skills under **Pactto** and your own skills, plus the room's skills, under **Yours**. Use **Search** to filter by name, slash command, or description. Click a skill to read its instructions; click the text (or **Edit**) to change it. Hover over a skill and click **•••** for more options: - **Rename** and **Edit**. - **Turn off** or **Turn on** (**Turn off for me** for a room skill you cannot edit). A skill that is off stays in the list but leaves the **/** menu. - **Duplicate** creates an editable copy. - **Reset to default** (on a built-in skill you changed) goes back to the original. - **Delete** (your own skills) asks for confirmation first. Deleting a **Room** skill removes it for everyone in the room. Editing a built-in skill saves a personal copy. Other people keep the original. ## Who can do what - Skills that only answer in the chat run for anyone who can use the assistant. - Skills that add to the canvas (**Document**, **Image**, **Sticky notes**, moodboard) need **Can edit** access. Without it they do not appear in the **/** list. - A **Room** skill can be edited, turned off for everyone, or deleted by its creator and by people with **Can edit** access. ## If something goes wrong - **Select references first** next to the skill tag: the skill needs selected items. Select them on the canvas and send again; your text is kept. - **Add a direction for this skill.**: type what you want before sending. - **This skill is no longer available.**: it was turned off or deleted. - **No matching skills**: nothing matches what you typed after **/**. - A run that fails shows **FAILED** with **Try again**. If only placing the result on the canvas failed, **Try placing again** adds the saved result without running the skill again. ## Related guides - [Use the AI assistant in a room](https://www.pactto.com/help/ai-assistant.md): Click the AI Assistant button (sparkle icon, bottom right of the room), then type, dictate, or pick a skill with /; the assistant answers from the room's content, asks follow-up questions when it needs to, and can create docs, images, notes, comments, and more on the canvas. - [Find, rename, and delete assistant chats](https://www.pactto.com/help/assistant-chat-history.md): Your AI assistant conversations are saved per room: click the chat title in the assistant header to open an earlier chat, click + (New chat) to start fresh, and use ••• to rename or delete a chat. - [Edit images with AI](https://www.pactto.com/help/edit-images-with-ai.md): Select an image and click its AI button to open the image AI bar: describe a change and click Apply edit, or use Edit area, Erase, Remove background, Resize, or Upscale; each tool shows its credit cost before you use it. - [Create a Pactto doc for shared notes](https://www.pactto.com/help/create-pactto-doc.md): Click Doc in the toolbar or press D to add a document to the canvas that everyone in the room can write in at the same time. - [Room roles and permissions (Owner, Can edit, Can review, Can view)](https://www.pactto.com/help/roles-and-permissions.md): Every room has one Owner and members with Can edit, Can review or Can view; the owner and editors change roles and remove people from the Share dialog.