---
title: Agent skill
description: Give an agent the Stormbuffer workflow while keeping memory changes visible.
section: Reference
group: Agent setup
order: 7
---

<script>
  import CopySkill from '$lib/components/CopySkill.svelte';
</script>

The Stormbuffer skill teaches a coding agent when to retrieve memory, how to cite
what it used, and when one sourced memory candidate is worth human review.

## Install the skill

Choose the skill directory used by your agent, then run:

```sh
sbuf skill install --directory .agents/skills
```

This creates `.agents/skills/stormbuffer-global-memory/SKILL.md`. The skill selects
the global store explicitly, so it is suitable for cross-project preferences,
decisions, conventions, and procedures. It uses the same decision policy as the
project variant.

Where you install the skill and which store it reads are separate choices. You
can put this global-memory skill in a repository's local skill directory; only
that repository will load it, but it will still read the global store.

To install the project variant instead, select project scope:

```sh
sbuf --project skill install --directory .agents/skills
```

That creates `.agents/skills/stormbuffer-memory/SKILL.md` with commands that select
the nearest project store explicitly. The directory you choose determines which
agent or repository loads either skill; `sbuf` does not edit agent configuration.
Pass a different user-level or vendor-specific skill directory when that is what
your agent discovers; Stormbuffer does not guess among multiple valid locations.

Installation is offline: the skill is carried inside `sbuf`. Reinstalling the
same version is safe. If the destination contains different content, Stormbuffer
preserves it and exits with an error. Use `--force` only when you intend to
replace that file; replacement is atomic.

## Copy the project skill from this site

The copy below comes from the canonical project skill shipped in this
repository.

<CopySkill />

Place the copied `SKILL.md` in the skill directory used by your agent.

The skill expects `sbuf` to be installed and a store to be initialized.

The downloadable skill uses `--project` to select the nearest `.sbuf/` store.
Install it only for repositories where the agent should use project memory.

## Verification

From the project where the agent will run:

```sh
sbuf --project init
sbuf --project status
sbuf --project search "project conventions" --json
```

`status` should identify the intended project store. The search should return an
empty JSON array without prompting when the store has no matching memories.