If you build an AI agent, its instructions tend to grow. First it is two lines, then it is your refund rules, your shipping rules, your tone of voice, and a pile of examples. Every request sends all of it to the model, whether the question needs it or not. Laravel AI SDK 1.1, released on 5 October 2026, adds agent skills to fix exactly that: you split the instructions into small folders, and the model loads a folder only when the question calls for it.

What a skill is

A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file in it. The file has a short description at the top and the full instructions below. The agent always sees the list of names and descriptions. It reads the full text only when it decides a skill is relevant. Think of a table of contents that the model can open chapter by chapter.

Set it up in four steps

1.…