# AI skills

Give AI extra context with reusable, attachable skills.

> ✅ **Pro feature** — included in the Pro plan.


## AI skills

Skills are reusable blocks of instructions and knowledge you give to AI. Write them once, attach them to a message when you need them, and share them across your workspace.

> ℹ️ **Pro feature**
> <p>
>     AI Skills comes with Pro and Business. The gate is on the <strong>workspace owner's</strong> plan: when the owner has Pro or Business,
>     every member of that workspace can create and use skills, with no subscription of their own. See{' '}
>     <a href="/subscription-billing/plans-pricing">plans & pricing</a>.
>   </p>

<h2 id="what-are-skills">What are skills?</h2>
<p>
  A skill is a set of instructions that AI follows when you attach it to a message. Think of it as giving AI a specific role, domain
  knowledge, or communication style for that request.
</p>
<p>
  Skills are optional. AI works without them. But when you need AI to understand your industry, ask the right questions, or write in a
  specific tone — skills make that repeatable without re-explaining every time.
</p>

<h2 id="when-to-use">When to use skills</h2>

<h3 id="domain-knowledge">Domain knowledge</h3>
<p>
  If your forms deal with a specific field — healthcare, legal, education, real estate — teach AI the terminology, regulations, and
  practices it should follow. A medical intake skill can name the consent language you always need; a real estate skill can list disclosure
  requirements by region.
</p>

<h3 id="form-generation">Better form generation</h3>
<p>
  Write down your house rules so every form AI builds follows them: always include a consent checkbox, split anything over 10 fields across
  pages, use 5-point Likert scales, start with contact info.
</p>

<h3 id="asking-questions">Guiding AI questions</h3>
<p>
  When AI asks clarifying questions before building a form, a skill can steer what it asks about — event type, audience size, dietary needs
  and budget before a registration form, say.
</p>

<h3 id="tone-style">Tone and writing style</h3>
<p>
  Control how AI writes labels, descriptions, and help text: friendly ("What's your email?"), formal ("Please provide your date of birth"),
  or bilingual with both English and Spanish on every label.
</p>

<h3 id="analysis">Smarter analysis</h3>
<p>
  When you use AI to analyze submissions, a skill can tell it what matters: your NPS scoring tiers, or what makes a lead hot rather than
  cold.
</p>

<h2 id="creating-skills">Creating a skill</h2>

<p>
  Changes save automatically as you type — the drawer says so under its title. Click <strong>Close</strong> when you're done.
</p>

> 💡 **Be specific in your instructions**
> <p>
>     The more concrete your skill, the better AI follows it. Instead of "be professional", write "use formal labels like 'Full Name' not
>     'What's your name?', always include placeholder text, and add validation messages."
>   </p>

<h2 id="activating-skills">Attaching skills in chat</h2>

> ⚠️ **Skills apply to one message**
> <p>
>     Attached skills are sent with the message you write next, and the picker clears afterwards. They are not switched on for the rest of the
>     conversation. If a follow-up needs the same skill, attach it again before sending.
>   </p>

<h2 id="skill-fields">Skill fields</h2>

<h2 id="examples">Example skills</h2>

<h3 id="example-healthcare">Healthcare intake specialist</h3>
<p>
  <strong>Short description:</strong> Use when building patient intake or medical history forms.
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Full description:</strong>
</p>
<ul>
  <li>Always include fields for: full legal name, date of birth, insurance provider, policy number, primary care physician</li>
  <li>Add a consent checkbox referencing HIPAA privacy practices</li>
  <li>Use multi-page layout: demographics → medical history → insurance → consent</li>
  <li>Include "Prefer not to answer" option for sensitive questions</li>
  <li>Use formal labels. Add help text explaining why information is collected.</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="example-startup">Startup feedback collector</h3>
<p>
  <strong>Short description:</strong> Use for quick user research and product feedback forms.
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Full description:</strong>
</p>
<ul>
  <li>Keep forms under 8 fields. Short = more completions.</li>
  <li>Use conversational labels ("What frustrated you?" not "Describe friction points")</li>
  <li>Always include one open-ended text area for unexpected insights</li>
  <li>Use star rating (1-5) for satisfaction, not NPS unless asked</li>
  <li>Ask me about the feature or release this feedback is for before generating</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="example-lead">Lead qualification analyst</h3>
<p>
  <strong>Short description:</strong> Use when analyzing lead capture form submissions.
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Full description:</strong>
</p>
<ul>
  <li>Hot lead: company size &gt; 50, budget field filled, timeline under 3 months</li>
  <li>Warm lead: responded to follow-up questions, company size 10-50</li>
  <li>Cold lead: personal email, no budget, "just browsing" in intent field</li>
  <li>When summarizing submissions, group by qualification tier and highlight hot leads first</li>
  <li>Flag incomplete submissions that look like hot leads — suggest follow-up</li>
</ul>

<h2 id="workspace-sharing">Workspace sharing</h2>
<p>
  Skills belong to the workspace, not to you. Any member can create, edit, or delete any skill, and any member can attach skills in their
  own AI chat. Each skill shows who created it. Set them up once and the whole team benefits.
</p>
<p>
  Skills do not follow you between workspaces — each workspace keeps its own set — and deleting a workspace deletes its skills with it.
  Deleting a skill takes it away from everyone immediately.
</p>

> ℹ️ **Not available over MCP**
> <p>
>     Workspace skills are a feature of the built-in AI chat. An AI tool connected through the <a href="/developers/mcp-server">MCP server</a>{' '}
>     cannot read them — the "skills" it can load there are formbase's own built-in reference guides.
>   </p>

<h2 id="tips">Tips for writing good skills</h2>
<ul>
  <li>
    <strong>Be specific</strong> — "Use 5-point Likert scale" beats "use rating questions"
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Include examples</strong> — show AI what good output looks like
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Set boundaries</strong> — tell AI what NOT to do ("never use jargon", "don't add more than 12 fields")
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Keep each one focused</strong> — one skill, one job, then attach several together when you need them
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Iterate</strong> — try the skill in a conversation, refine based on what AI gets wrong
  </li>
</ul>

<h2 id="next-steps">Next steps</h2>
<div class="not-prose grid gap-3 sm:grid-cols-2">
  - [AI credits & usage](/ai/ai-credits-usage) — How credits work and pricing
  - [Connect an AI agent](/guides/ai-agents/connect) — Use formbase from Claude, Cursor, and other agents
  - [AI form generation](/ai/ai-form-generation) — See how skills improve the forms AI builds for you
  - [Plans & pricing](/subscription-billing/plans-pricing) — See which plans include AI Skills
</div>