# Skills

> The twelve skills that come with Formats, starting a request from the library, and using your own skills.

Formats Studio docs · Agents · https://formats.app/docs/skills · Updated 2026-09-27

## What a skill is

A skill is a written playbook your agent follows for one kind of video: what to ask first, how to find the good moments, how to pace, frame, caption and deliver. Formats ships twelve of them with the app and loads them in every approval mode, so your agent knows how the editor works without being told.

## The built-in skills

| Skill | For |
| --- | --- |
| `formats-video` | Any edit: cleanup, structure and pacing, framing, captions, mix, color and delivery |
| `formats-talking-head` | Talking heads, interviews and vlogs to camera: punch-ins, B-roll, name titles and captions |
| `formats-podcast-clips` | Several standalone clips from one long conversation |
| `formats-social-shorts` | Vertical Shorts, Reels and TikToks with a hook and bold captions |
| `formats-caption-polish` | Fast cleanup and readable captions, keeping all of the footage |
| `formats-motion` | Titles, lower thirds, callouts, kinetic type, charts, logo stings and end cards |
| `formats-product-demo` | Product, app and launch videos from recordings, screenshots or a website |
| `formats-promo` | Short ads and sponsored videos: hook, problem, benefit, proof and a call to action |
| `formats-explainer` | Narrated explainers from a topic, article or script |
| `formats-tutorial` | Screen-recorded tutorials and walkthroughs: cut waits, zoom to the action, step titles |
| `formats-montage` | Music-driven montages, highlight reels and event recaps cut to the beat |
| `formats-rough-cut` | A first assembly from a folder of clips, in story order |

> **Tip:** You rarely need to name a skill. Describe the video and your agent picks the one that fits; to be sure, mention it, as in “use formats-podcast-clips”.

## Start from the library

1. In the **AI** panel, choose a card under **What do you want to create today?**, or open the full library with **More** or the book button in the composer.
2. Search the **Skills** tab, for example for “podcast”, and choose a card.
3. The composer fills with a starter request routed to that skill. Nothing is sent yet: edit any word, then send.

Cards marked **Beta** are newer workflows, **New** is the latest addition, and **Creator** needs that plan. **AI avatar video** opens the avatar studio instead of starting a chat.

## Use your own skills

- Keep your own skill as a folder with a `SKILL.md`, in the place your agent already reads skills from: for Claude Code, for example, your personal skills folder or the project's.
- Switch the approval mode to **Full access**. In that mode your agent also discovers the personal and project skills it already knows, alongside the built-in ones.
- Ask as usual. The activity shows each skill as it loads, in a **Load skill** row.

> **Note:** A house-style skill is the easiest win: your fonts, colors, lower thirds and end card written down once, so every run follows them.

## Related

- [Work with your agent](https://formats.app/docs/agent): Choose Claude Code, Codex or GitHub Copilot, ask for edits in plain words, and review, apply or undo what it does.
- [Getting started](https://formats.app/docs/getting-started): Your first video: start from Home, let your agent make the first cut, then refine and export it.