> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.tellius.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.tellius.com/tellius-6.4/kaiya/kaiya-skills/managing-skills-in-the-conversation.md).
# Managing skills in the conversation
In Tellius 6.4, you can learn about, create, change and share skills without leaving Kaiya chat. You tell Kaiya what you want in your own words, or you type a short request such as `/skills`. Kaiya finds the skill, drafts the change, checks it, shows it to you and saves it only after you approve.
The skills you manage in the chat are the same skills you see under **Context → Skills**. A change you make in one place shows in the other. To work with skills on that page instead, see [How to create a new Skill](https://help.tellius.com/kaiya/kaiya-skills/how-to-create-a-new-skill).
{% hint style="info" %}
**Chat or the Skills page?** Use the chat when you notice, in the middle of an analysis, that Kaiya should follow a rule. You can fix it in the same place and ask your question again. Kaiya also helps you word the skill and checks it for problems. Use the Skills page when you want to read or edit a skill's full text yourself, or change its labels.
{% endhint %}
### Three kinds of skill
The chat works with three kinds of skill. The chat calls a **User** skill a **personal** skill.
| Kind | Who it reaches | Who can create or change it |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Personal skill** | Only you. Its detail shows **Applies to: Only you**. | You, if your role has Full Access to the **Context** module. |
| **Global skill** | Everyone in your organization. Its detail shows **Applies to: Everyone in your organization**. | Skill admins: Super Users, Admins and Content Admins, and custom roles with Full Access to **Manage workspace** or any access to **Content management**. |
| **Domain skill** | Everyone who asks about the Business Views that use it, and only in those Business Views. | Super users. |
A skill admin can change every skill: their own, other people's personal skills and the global ones. Everyone else manages only their own personal skills. See [Who can manage skills](https://help.tellius.com/kaiya/kaiya-skills#who-can-manage-skills).
Kaiya's built-in skills are not part of this list. You can't see or change them from the chat.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Personal, global or domain?** Start with a **personal** skill when the rule is your own preference, or when you want to try a rule without changing anyone else's answers. Ask a skill admin to make it **global** once it works well and everyone should follow it, such as a house report format. Choose a **domain** skill when the rule only makes sense for one set of data, such as how weeks are counted in one Business View. A domain skill stays silent in every other Business View.
{% endhint %}
### Short requests you can type
Kaiya understands a few short requests that start with a slash, such as `/skills` or `/skill new …`. Type one at the start of a message and send it like any other message. Kaiya reads it and replies. There is no command menu: typing `/` doesn't open a list. Plain words work the same way, for example "help me create a skill" or "unpublish my revenue rule".
| Request | What it does |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `/skills` | Lists every skill you can see in the **Custom skills** panel beside the chat, and asks what you would like to do. This is the starting point for editing, publishing or unpublishing, deleting, promoting and demoting. |
| `/skill` | Starts guided creation. Kaiya asks one question at a time. |
| `/skill new …` | Creates a skill from the rule you type after the command, and skips the questions. For example, `/skill new always show revenue in USD millions, one decimal`. Kaiya drafts the skill, checks that its description will load, and shows the draft for you to approve. |
| `/skill edit` | Asks which skill to change, shows the change as before and after, and saves only after you approve. |
| `/skill test` | Checks whether a skill would load for a question. Name the skill and a realistic question. Kaiya tells you whether the question shares the words the skill's description relies on, which words matched, and how to fix the description if it would not load. |
| `/skill promote` | Makes a personal skill global. Skill admins only. |
| `/skill demote` | Makes a global skill personal again, for a user the skill admin picks, or for themselves. Everyone else stops receiving it. Skill admins only. |
{% hint style="info" %}
`/skill test` is the quickest way to find out why a skill doesn't seem to work. Most skills that never apply have a description that doesn't use the words people actually type.
{% endhint %}
### Find out why a skill doesn't work
You can ask Kaiya in the chat why a skill isn't working, such as "Why didn't my fiscal calendar skill apply?". Kaiya looks for one of two problems:
* **The skill doesn't load.** The description has gaps, so Kaiya doesn't match it to the question. Kaiya points out what the description is missing.
* **The skill loads but has no effect.** The description is fine, but the instructions miss something. Kaiya points out the missing pieces.
Because you are already in the chat, you can ask Kaiya to apply the fix right away, without copying anything to the Skills page.
### Answering Kaiya's question cards
When Kaiya needs a decision, it shows a question card in the conversation. A card has a short title, a question, and numbered options, each with a line that explains it.
* **Pick an option.** Select it, or press its number key. Then select **Submit**, or press Enter. **Submit** becomes available once you pick an option.
* **Or type your own…** Write an answer in your own words when no option fits. The field has its own send arrow.
* **Skip.** Move on without answering. Kaiya continues with what it has.
* **While a card is open,** the conversation shows **Waiting for your answer**, and the chat box reads **Answer above to continue**. Select the stop button in the chat box to stop the turn.
* **After you answer,** the card folds into a single **Answered** line that lists each question and your answer. Expand it to see the cards again.
{% hint style="info" %}
Kaiya writes each card for your request, so the titles, questions and options you see can differ a little from the examples on this page.
{% endhint %}
### Create a skill
#### Guided creation
Send `/skill`, or describe what you need, such as "I'm new, help me create a skill for my use case". Kaiya opens with a **What to do** card:
| Option | What happens next |
| -------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Teach Kaiya a new rule** | Kaiya starts the interview for a new skill. |
| **Manage existing skills** | Kaiya lists your skills and asks what to change. See [Change, unpublish or delete a skill](#change-unpublish-or-delete-a-skill). |
| **Find a skill that's already shared** | Kaiya lists the skills available to you, including your organization's global skills. |
| **Show me some examples first** | Kaiya shows an **Example skills** card with the kinds of rules people write most often. |
The **Example skills** card offers four common kinds of skill, each with a sample description:
* **Follow our fiscal calendar,** for example a fiscal year that starts in February.
* **Use our definition of a term,** for example what counts as an active customer.
* **Show numbers a certain way,** for example money in USD millions with one decimal.
* **Write answers a certain way,** for example the headline number first, then the two biggest drivers, then the risk.
Pick the closest one, or type your own. You can also ask how skills work. Kaiya explains what a skill is, how it decides to use one and who each kind reaches.
The interview is short. Kaiya asks what the rule is, when it applies and who it is for. It then drafts the skill and shows it to you. Nothing is saved until you approve.
#### Create a skill from one sentence
If you already know the rule, send `/skill new` followed by the rule, or just say it, such as "Always show revenue in USD millions". Kaiya turns the sentence into a full skill, checks that its description will load, and shows the draft for you to approve.
#### Write a description that loads
At the start of every turn, Kaiya sees only each skill's **name** and **description**, not its instructions. It loads a skill only when your question matches the description. A clear rule behind a vague description never applies.
{% hint style="info" %}
**How to write a good description.** Start it with "Use when…" and name the words, abbreviations and column names people really type.
* Good: "Use when a question mentions FY, fiscal quarter or YTD."
* Good: "Use when showing revenue, sales or cost."
* Too vague: "Revenue stuff." or "What this skill does."
Kaiya stops a description that doesn't say when to load the skill, and asks whether you want to fix it yourself or have Kaiya rewrite it. The platform refuses to save a skill whose description doesn't say when it applies, and tells you nothing was saved. Then send `/skill test` with a real question, or ask in plain words, to check the result.
{% endhint %}
### See your skills: the Custom skills panel
Send `/skills`, or ask Kaiya to list your skills. Kaiya posts a summary card in the conversation with the number of skills, such as **163 skills · 154 global · 5 yours · 4 from others**, and the **Custom skills** panel opens beside the chat. Select the card to open the panel again later. The card shows on the latest answer only: once you send a new message, it goes away and the panel closes with it.
* **Tabs.** **Yours** lists your personal skills, **Global** the skills that apply to everyone in your organization, and **Others** other people's personal skills. **Others** appears for skill admins, who can change those skills. Each tab shows how many skills it holds, and the panel opens on the first tab that has skills. Select a tab to switch to it.
* **Search.** When the list has more than eight skills, a search box finds a skill by its name, description or owner. The number beside it shows how many skills there are, or how many match while you search.
* **Rows.** Each row shows the skill's name, whether it is **Live** or a **Draft** (an amber dot), and the first line of its description. Hover over the description to read all of it. Rows on the **Global** tab say who made the skill, such as **by Alex Morgan**, and rows on the **Others** tab name whose skill it is. Select anywhere on a row, or its arrow, to open the skill.
* **The switch.** A row's switch shows whether the skill is live. Turning it asks Kaiya to publish or unpublish the skill, and the switch moves once you approve and the change is saved. You see a switch only on skills you can change.
* **No personal skills yet.** If you have none, the **Yours** list says so and invites you to ask Kaiya to add one.
#### An opened skill
Opening a skill shows it on its own in the panel. Select the back arrow in the header to return to the list, with the tab and search you left.
* **Header.** The skill's name, with **Custom skill** and whose it is: **Global**, **Personal** or the owner's name.
* **Header icons.** Hover over an icon to see its name.
* **Edit with Kaiya** (pencil) asks Kaiya to change the skill. Kaiya asks what to change and shows the change before it saves anything.
* **Open in Skills** opens the **Context** page in a new browser tab, where you can read or edit the full text and change the skill's labels.
* **More** (three dots) holds **Make global**, for a personal skill when you are a skill admin, and **Delete**, shown in red and kept last.
* **Live or Draft.** A box says whether Kaiya uses the skill. A live skill loads whenever a question matches it: for everyone if it is global, or only in its owner's conversations if it is personal. A draft never loads until it is published. The switch at the end of the box publishes or unpublishes the skill. On a skill you can't change, the box shows **View only** instead.
* **Applies to and date.** Chips show who receives the skill and the date it last changed.
* **When Kaiya loads it.** The skill's description, the text Kaiya matches against each question. A long description is folded: select **Show more** to read all of it.
* **Instructions.** What Kaiya does when the skill loads. Select **Show all instructions** to see the full text, or the copy icon to copy it.
Live and Draft match **Publish skill** and **Revert to draft** on the Skills page.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Every icon and switch is a request to Kaiya.** Selecting one sends a message such as **Publish the "Weekly recap" skill** or **Delete the "Weekly recap" skill**, exactly as if you had typed it. The change then goes through the same checks and waits for your approval. The icons and switches are unavailable while Kaiya is still answering, while a question or approval waits above, or when your Kaiya usage limit is reached. In a conversation someone shared with you, the panel shows no actions, only **Open in Skills**.
{% endhint %}
#### Skills Kaiya used in an answer
When Kaiya reads or lists skills while it answers, the answer ends with a skills card. The card names what Kaiya looked at, such as **7 skills · 7 global** with **Custom skills**, and shows **+ Domain skills** when Kaiya also read domain skills. Select the card to open the skills in the panel.
When an answer read both kinds of skill, the panel is titled **Skills in this answer**. A **Custom skills** and **Domain skills** switch at the top shows one kind at a time, each with its count. Rows and opened skills work as described above.
### Change, unpublish or delete a skill
After you send `/skills`, Kaiya shows a **Manage skills** card:
| Option | What it does |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Edit a skill** | Changes a skill's name, its description (when it loads) or its instructions. Kaiya shows the change as before and after. |
| **Switch a skill on or off** | Publishes a skill so it loads, or unpublishes it back to Draft so it never loads. You can publish it again at any time. |
| **Delete a skill** | Removes the skill for good. |
| **Make a personal skill global** | Skill admins only. Gives one of your skills to everyone in the organization. See [Share a skill](#share-a-skill-promote-and-demote). |
| **Make a global skill personal** | Skill admins only. Takes a global skill back to one person. |
You can also skip the card and say what you want, such as "Make my revenue rule leave out returns" or "Unpublish my old revenue rules". If you don't name a skill, Kaiya asks which one.
#### Approve or deny a change
When a change is ready, Kaiya waits for you. A **Waiting for your OK** bar appears under the skill's card in the conversation, and again at the foot of the panel. It names the change, such as **Save "Weekly recap"**, and nothing changes until you answer. Open the card to read the whole change first.
* **Approve** saves the change. For a delete, this button reads **Delete skill** and is red, so a delete is never one quick click away.
* **Deny** leaves the skill as it was. Kaiya says what it left unchanged and doesn't ask the same thing again. In the answer's steps, that step reads **Not changed**.
You can answer in either place; both bars answer the same request.
Every change shows in the panel beside the chat. When a change is saved, the panel and the result card in the conversation say what happened, such as **Changes saved**, **Published**, **Unpublished**, **Now global** or **Deleted**, and when it takes effect. Select the card to open the skill.
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Unpublish or delete?** Unpublish a skill when you might want it again, when you are not sure who relies on it, or when you want to test answers without it. An unpublished skill goes back to Draft, keeps everything, and you can publish it again. Delete only a skill you are sure nobody needs. Deleting is permanent. Kaiya's cards and replies sometimes call unpublishing "switching off".
{% endhint %}
### Share a skill: promote and demote
Only skill admins can promote or demote a skill. Skill admins are Super Users, Admins and Content Admins, and custom roles with Full Access to **Manage workspace** or any access to **Content management**. Before you approve, Kaiya says exactly who gains or loses the skill.
* **Promote** (`/skill promote`) makes a personal skill global. Kaiya first checks the live global skills for conflicts. If other skills decide the same thing differently, for example two skills that each set the default chart type, Kaiya lists them under **Active now** and asks what to do: unpublish them, change your skill, or go ahead anyway. Draft skills that conflict are listed under **Drafts** as a warning only, because they don't apply now. A promoted skill applies to everyone from their next question.
* **Demote** (`/skill demote`) makes a global skill personal again. The skill admin chooses who keeps it: any user, or themselves. Everyone else stops receiving it from their next question.
{% hint style="info" %}
Demoting a global skill that people rely on changes their answers without warning. Check who uses it first. If you only want to stop it for now, unpublish it instead.
{% endhint %}
### Domain skills in the conversation
A domain skill is a name that groups several skills together. It belongs to a Business View and applies only to questions about that Business View's data, for everyone who uses it. It is silent in every other Business View. Each Business View uses at most one domain skill, and one domain skill can serve many Business Views. Only super users can create or change domain skills. Other users don't see domain skills.
Ask Kaiya to list or create domain skills, such as "Help me create a domain skill". The **Domain skills** panel opens beside the chat.
* **Search** by name, Business View or skill.
* **Rows** show the domain skill's name, **Live** or **Draft**, how many Business Views it reaches, its description and its switch. A live domain skill says **Used by** a number of Business Views. A draft says **Set for** the Business Views it will apply to once it is published, or **No Business View uses it**. Select a row to open the domain skill.
An opened domain skill works like an opened custom skill:
* **Header icons.** **Edit with Kaiya** asks Kaiya to change it, **Change Business Views** asks Kaiya to change which Business Views use it, and **More** (three dots) holds **Delete**.
* **Live or Draft.** A live domain skill is used for questions on the Business Views it applies to. A draft is used by no Business View until it is published. The switch publishes or unpublishes it.
* **When Kaiya loads it.** Its description, folded behind **Show more** when it is long.
* **Applies to.** The Business Views that use it. Select **+ more** to see them all, and **Show fewer** to fold them again.
* **Skills.** The skills inside it, with their count. Select a skill to expand it, or **Expand all**.
#### Create a domain skill
1. **Pick the Business View.** If the conversation isn't on a Business View yet, Kaiya asks which one with a **Which view** card.
2. **Describe the rules.** Tell Kaiya what the domain skill should hold, such as how measures, brands or weeks are handled in that Business View. Kaiya can ground the rules in the Business View's own columns.
3. **Decide what happens to existing global skills.** If you ask Kaiya to include global skills, it asks how with a **Move in or copy** card. The options are described below.
4. **Approve.** Kaiya saves the domain skill and links it to the Business View. The conversation shows a result card with the name, **Domain skill** and **Created**.
The **Move in or copy** card offers these choices:
| Option | What happens |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Move them in** | The skills leave the global list and apply only when that Business View is used. Nobody gets them elsewhere. |
| **Add copies instead** | The originals keep applying everywhere. The domain skill gets copies under new names. |
| **Leave them out** | A global skill already applies in this Business View, so nothing needs to move in. |
| **Pick different skills** | You name the global skills you want in the domain skill. |
If a save is refused, for example because a skill inside it has a description that doesn't say when it applies, Kaiya tells you that nothing was saved and offers choices. These can include writing real rules instead, creating the domain skill empty and adding rules later, or not creating it.
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Moving is not neutral.** Moving a global skill into a domain skill stops it in every other Business View, for everyone. Choose **Add copies instead** when other Business Views still need the rule.
{% endhint %}
You can also link a domain skill to a Business View from the Business View itself. See [Link a Business View to a domain skill](https://help.tellius.com/kaiya/kaiya-skills/how-to-create-a-new-skill#link-a-business-view-to-a-domain-skill).
#### Delete a domain skill
When you ask Kaiya to delete a domain skill, it asks how with a **Delete it how** card. Only the first option is permanent.
| Option | What happens |
| ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Delete it and its skills** | Removes the domain skill and the skills inside it. This can't be undone from the chat. |
| **Switch it to Draft instead** | Keeps the domain skill and its skills, but no Business View uses it, so it stops affecting answers. |
| **Take it off its views** | Keeps the domain skill and its skills, but the Business View is left with no domain skill. |
| **Delete it, keep its skills** | Removes the domain skill. Its skills become global custom skills and apply in every Business View for everyone. |
{% hint style="info" %}
Not sure? Choose **Switch it to Draft instead**. You can bring the domain skill back later, and nothing is lost.
{% endhint %}
### Approvals and guardrails
* **Every change needs your approval.** Kaiya shows the whole change before saving, with a **Waiting for your OK** bar. Nothing is saved until you select **Approve**, or **Delete skill** for a delete.
* **Changes apply from the next question.** A saved change applies from your next question. A change to a global or domain skill applies to other people from their next question.
* **Vague descriptions are stopped.** A skill whose description doesn't say when to load it is refused. Kaiya offers to rewrite the description, or lets you fix it.
* **Conflicts are checked before a promotion.** Kaiya compares the skill with the live global skills and lists any that decide the same thing differently.
* **Skill-admin actions stay with skill admins.** Promote, demote, other people's skills and global skills need a skill admin. Everyone else manages only their own personal skills. Domain skills need a super user.
* **Kaiya can push back on risky requests.** For example, if you ask it to pick a skill at random for a change that affects other people, it can explain the impact and suggest a safer choice.
### When skills disagree
When two instructions disagree, this order decides:
1. What you ask in the conversation itself.
2. Your organization's skills.
3. Kaiya's built-in defaults.
Where a personal skill and a global skill disagree, the personal skill wins for that person. For how domain and custom skills layer, see [How skills are layered and prioritized](https://help.tellius.com/kaiya/kaiya-skills#how-skills-are-layered-and-prioritized).
{% hint style="info" %}
**Skill or memory?** A skill sets how Kaiya works, such as a report format or the steps to follow. A memory sets what a term means or which metric to use. See [Kaiya's persistent memory](https://help.tellius.com/kaiya/kaiyas-persistent-memory).
{% endhint %}
---
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## Querying This Documentation
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```
GET https://help.tellius.com/tellius-6.4/kaiya/kaiya-skills/managing-skills-in-the-conversation.md?ask=&goal=
```
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Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
