Extend Rovo Dev CLI with Agent Skills
Agent Skills are reusable instruction sets that teach Rovo Dev how to perform specific types of tasks. A skill is a markdown file with a short YAML header that tells Rovo Dev when and how to use it. Once a skill is in place, Rovo Dev loads its instructions whenever the task matches, giving it the knowledge to act consistently without you having to re-explain the context each time. Agent Skills follow the open Agent Skills protocol.
Where do skills live?
Where you store a skill determines who can use it. When skills share the same name across levels, higher-priority locations win: built-in > user > project.
Location | Path | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
Built-in | Shipped with Rovo Dev | All users |
User |
| All your projects |
Project |
| This project only |
In simplest form, each skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md file as its entry point. Optional supporting files — scripts, reference docs, templates — can be placed alongside it and referenced from the main file for more advanced skills. Refer to the Agent Skills protocol for details on using scripts, resources, and other agent skills features.
Manage skills in interactive mode
In the Rovo Dev TUI, use /skills to open the interactive skills menu. From there, you can:
View all available skills across built-in, user, and project scopes, along with their descriptions, allowed tools, and file location.
Create a new skill by stepping through a short wizard: choose whether it's a user-level or project-level skill, then enter a name, description, and instructions.
Edit an existing skill's description or instructions (built-in skills cannot be edited).
Delete a user or project skill (built-in skills cannot be deleted).
Create a skill manually
To create a skill manually, create a directory and a SKILL.md file in the appropriate location. For example, for a project-level skill:
.rovodev/skills/code-review/SKILL.md
A SKILL.md file has two parts: a YAML frontmatter block (between --- markers) and a markdown body containing the instructions Rovo Dev will follow when the skill is invoked.
---
name: code-review
description: Reviews code changes and provides feedback on code quality, best practices, and potential issues.
allowed-tools:
- open_files
- expand_code_chunks
- grep
- bash
---
You are an expert code reviewer. When reviewing code:
1. Focus on correctness, maintainability, and adherence to best practices
2. Look for potential bugs, security issues, and performance problems
3. Suggest improvements with clear explanations
4. Be constructive and educational in your feedbackFrontmatter fields
Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Required | The skill name. Use lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens (max 64 characters). Must match the directory name. |
| Required | What the skill does and when to use it. Rovo Dev uses this to decide when to load the skill automatically. |
| Optional | A list of tools the skill is pre-approved to use. |
| Optional | License information for the skill. |
| Optional | Compatibility information for the skill. |
| Optional | Arbitrary key-value metadata. |
Invoke skills
Rovo Dev can load and use skills in two ways:
Automatically — Rovo Dev reads every skill's `description` field at the start of a session and loads the matching skill's instructions when the task at hand fits. Write clear, specific descriptions with keywords that make selection obvious.
Explicitly — Ask Rovo Dev to use a specific skill by name in your prompt. For example:
Use the code-review skill to review my latest changes
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