3. Explicit Skill Activation

You can activate a skill directly from your message using /skill-name notation:

/bug-fix there is a null pointer error in this function: …
use /git-commit to push my changes
/docx write a report summarising the findings

Any token matching /[a-z][a-z0-9._-]* (regex) is treated as an explicit activation. The preprocessor resolves it before the request reaches the model:

• The matching SKILL.md body is expanded inline into a <skill_context> block - the model does not need to call read_skill_file for it.
• The named skill is treated as the highest-priority context; all other message text is secondary task payload.
• Quoted strings, code snippets, globs, and command-looking text in the message are passed through to the skill untouched.
• If the name does not match any installed skill, the model is instructed to call list_skills with that name as a query before proceeding.

Multiple activations in one message are supported (/skill-a and /skill-b are both expanded). Explicit activation takes priority over auto-inject; the <available_skills> block is not appended on the same turn.

4. Persistent Settings

LM Studio does not save plugin settings across new chats. This plugin solves that by writing settings to ~/.lmstudio/plugin-data/lms-skills/settings.json - the skills path and all configuration survive chat resets when only skillsPath field set as default.

Skill Directory Structure

A skill is any subdirectory inside your skills folder that contains a SKILL.md file.

~/.lmstudio/skills/          <- default skills directory
├── docx/
│   ├── SKILL.md             <- entry point (required)
│   ├── scripts/
│   │   └── helper.py
│   └── templates/
│       └── base.docx
├── pptx/
│   ├── SKILL.md
│   └── editing.md
└── my-custom-skill/
    ├── SKILL.md
    └── skill.json           <- optional: override name/description

skill.json (optional)

Place a skill.json in any skill directory to override its display name and description:

{
  "name": "My Custom Skill",
  "description": "Use this skill when the user asks to do X, Y, or Z.",
  "tags": [
    "data analysis",
    "csv",
    "statistics",
    "charts",
    "visualisation",
    "pandas",
    "trends",
    "dataset"
  ]
}

If absent, the plugin uses the directory name and extracts the description from the first paragraph of SKILL.md.

Settings

Skills Directory Path

• Empty - uses the last saved path (or ~/.lmstudio/skills on first run)
• default - resets the saved path back to ~/.lmstudio/skills
• Any absolute path - saves that path and uses it immediately

Settings (including the skills path) are written to disk and survive new chat sessions.

Local Development

cd lms-plugin-skills
bun install
lms dev

Default Skills Path by Platform

The default path ~/.lmstudio/skills resolves to:

Model Workflow

Auto-inject (default)

• User sends a message
• Preprocessor fires - scans skills dir, injects <available_skills> block
• Model reads the block and recognises a relevant skill
• Model calls read_skill_file("skill-name") → receives full SKILL.md content
• SKILL.md may reference other files → model calls list_skill_files then read_skill_file with specific path
• Model follows the skill's instructions to produce high-quality output

Explicit activation (/skill-name)

• User includes /skill-name anywhere in their message (prompt)
• Preprocessor detects the tokens, resolves the skill, and expands its SKILL.md into a <skill_context> block - no tool call needed
• Model receives the expanded skill body as highest-priority context alongside the user's task payload
• If the skill name is not found, the model calls list_skills to locate it before proceeding
• Model follows the skill's instructions to produce high-quality output

Default Skills — Data Analysis Scripts

The data-analysis skill ships with three Python scripts in scripts/ that use only the Python standard library (no pandas dependency):

For larger datasets (>100k rows), pandas is recommended for better performance.

License

• Apache 2.0

License