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A skill is a saved recipe that Ask Vista runs on demand. Instead of typing the same long instructions every time you write in a client's voice, format a weekly report or audit a profile, you save the steps once and run them by typing / in the chat box.
Skills keep your team's best work consistent. Everyone gets the same report format, the same caption rules and the same checklist, no matter who runs it.
What can a skill do?
A skill can do anything you could ask Ask Vista to do in a chat, step by step and the same way every time. Some ideas:
- /brand-voice-acme: Writes captions in Acme's voice, with their words to use and avoid, emoji rules and hashtag set.
- /weekly-recap: Pulls last week's numbers for the selected profiles and formats them as a 5-bullet summary with a table.
- /content-audit: Reviews the last 30 days of posts, finds the best and worst formats and suggests three changes.
- /repurpose-blog: Turns a blog link into a LinkedIn post, an Instagram carousel outline and three X posts.
- /inbox-triage: Sorts unanswered messages into leads, questions, complaints and praise, and drafts replies for questions.
- /client-onboarding: Asks for the new client's goals, profiles and voice, then sets up a profile group, a Brain and a first content plan.
How to run a skill
- Open Ask Vista by pressing X on your keyboard.
- Type / in the chat box. A list of your skills opens.
- Start typing to filter, use the arrow keys to choose, and press Enter.
- Add any details, such as the profile or the date range, and send.
While a skill is running, you see an Active skill label above the chat box. Click Stop to go back to a normal chat.
You can also just describe the task. If one of your skills fits, Ask Vista can pick it up on its own.
How to create a skill
You don't need to write a skill by hand. There are three ways to make one:
Save a chat that went well. After Ask Vista does something exactly the way you like, ask:
- "Save what we just did as a skill called weekly-recap."
- "Turn this into a skill I can reuse for every client."
Build it with AI. Open Skills in the Ask Vista sidebar and click Build with AI, or type /skill-creator in any chat. Describe what the skill should do and Ask Vista writes it for you to review.
Write it yourself. Open Skills and click + New skill. Then fill in:
-
Name: lowercase words joined by dashes, 3 to 60 characters, like
brand-voice-acme. This is what you type after the /. - Instructions: the steps Ask Vista should follow. Start with one sentence about when to use the skill, then list the steps.
Click Save. Ask Vista writes a short description from your instructions and updates it every time you save.
Tip To improve a skill later, run it, tell Ask Vista what to change, and say "update the skill with that." |
Manage your skills
Open Skills in the Ask Vista sidebar to see every skill you can use.
- System skills are built in, available to everyone and read-only. /skill-creator is one of them. Another is /build-automation, which walks you through setting up an inbox automation. See How to build automations with Ask Vista.
- Disable a skill to hide it from the / list without deleting it. Enable brings it back.
- Share a skill so everyone in your workspace can use it. Only you can edit or delete it. Click Make private to stop sharing.
- Delete removes a skill for good.
How many skills you can create depends on your plan. If you reach the limit, delete a skill you no longer use or upgrade your plan. Built-in and shared skills don't count toward your limit.
Use a skill in a Slack channel
If you use Ask Vista in Slack, you can attach a skill to a channel. Ask Vista then follows that skill for every message in the channel. For example, attach /inbox-triage to a #social-inbox channel, or a client's brand voice skill to that client's channel.
A skill only you can see still works for the whole channel once you pick it.
Skills, agents and Brain
- Skill: A task you run yourself, the same way every time. Example: "/weekly-recap for the Acme group"
- Agent: A task Ask Vista runs on its own, on a schedule. Example: "Every Monday at 9 AM, send me the weekly recap"
- Brain: Facts and rules about a brand that every chat and agent should know. Example: Products, prices, FAQs, brand voice
Skills and agents work well together. Perfect the steps as a skill first, then when you want them to happen without you, ask Ask Vista to create an agent that does the same job on a schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I run a skill?
A: Type / in the Ask Vista chat box, choose the skill and press Enter.
Q: Do I need to know how to write prompts to create a skill?
A: No. Ask Vista can write the skill for you. Use Build with AI, type /skill-creator, or ask it to save a chat as a skill.
Q: Can my teammates use my skills?
A: Only if you share them. Click Share on the skill, and everyone in your workspace can use it. Only you can edit or delete it.
Q: Why can't I edit a skill?
A: Built-in skills marked System are read-only, and skills someone else shared with you can only be edited by their owner.
Q: How many skills can I create?
A: It depends on your plan. Built-in skills and skills shared with you don't count toward your limit.
Q: What is the difference between a skill and an agent?
A: You run a skill yourself, in a chat. An agent runs on its own on a schedule and reports back.
Need help?
Reach out to our support team, and we are happy to help.
Related Reading:
Getting started with Ask Vista
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