What are skills?
Skills are reusable instructions that tell your agent how to behave in a specific situation. Each skill has:
- Name: a short label (e.g. “Returns & Exchanges”).
- When to use: the trigger that tells the agent when this skill applies (e.g. “When a customer wants to return or exchange a product”).
- Instructions: what the agent should do when the situation occurs.
When a conversation matches a skill’s when to use, the agent follows that skill’s instructions. This lets you shape behavior precisely (handling returns, upselling, troubleshooting) without rewriting your whole system prompt.
Skill categories
Skills are organized into categories so they’re easy to manage:
- Sales: consultative selling, upsell & cross-sell, objection handling, product comparison.
- Customer support: troubleshooting, complaint handling.
- Returns: returns, exchanges, order modifications.
- Catalog: product/catalog assistance.
- Custom: anything specific to your business.
The skill library
Totebot ships a library of prebuilt skills you can add to your agent in one click. Each library skill comes with a sensible when to use and instructions that you can keep as-is or edit.
To add a library skill:
- Open Settings → AI and scroll to the Skills section.
- Click Browse to open the skill library.
- Browse by category and click Add on any skill. Skills already on your agent are marked as added.
Adding a custom skill
If the library doesn’t cover your need, create your own:
- In the Skills section, click Add skill.
- Fill in:
- Name: what the skill is called.
- When to use: describe the situation that should trigger it. Be specific (“When a customer asks about delivery times” rather than “shipping”).
- Instructions: exactly what the agent should do or say.
- Category: pick the closest fit (or Custom).
- Save. The skill takes effect immediately on the next message.
Editing, enabling, and removing
- Edit: update a skill’s name, when-to-use, instructions, or category at any time.
- Enable / disable: toggle a skill off to pause it without deleting. A disabled skill is kept but no longer applied.
- Delete: permanently remove a skill you no longer need.
Writing effective skills
The when to use field is what makes a skill trigger at the right moment, and the instructions are what it actually does. Keep them tightly matched.
- Make when to use describe a clear, recognizable situation.
- Keep instructions actionable and concrete: steps, rules, or phrasing the agent should follow.
- Prefer several focused skills over one giant skill; the agent applies whichever matches the conversation.
- Skills work alongside your agent’s knowledge base and instructions: use skills for behavior, the knowledge base for facts.
Example
Name: Returns & Exchanges
When to use: When a customer wants to return or exchange a product, or asks about the return policy.
Instructions: Confirm the order and item, check it’s within the 30-day window, and explain the steps to start a return. If the item is outside the window or final sale, apologize and offer alternatives. Never promise a refund amount you can’t confirm; defer to the return policy.
