Skillsets

Skillsets are instructions to your chatbot that are defined in natural language. They allow your chatbot to understand user intent and propose a suitable action based on the conversation. For example, if a user asks your chatbot to fetch the weather forecast for a specific location, the skillset instruction will tell the chatbot how to extract the location from the conversation and use it to search for the weather forecast.

To access a skillset, you must specify the skillset id when starting a conversation with a chatbot. There is only one skillset allowed per conversation. The number of skillset you can have is determined by your monthly membership or subscription plan. If you need more skillsets, you can upgrade your plan or contact customer service for more information.

Understanding Abilities and Actions

Skillsets are made of abilities. Each ability has a number of fields which define the name, the purpose of the ability as well as how the ability will be used during the conversation:

• name - a single short but descriptive name for this ability
• description - a short description for this ability
• instruction - specific instructions how to apply the ability

Both the name and description fields are used during the intent detection stage of the conversation, i.e. when your bot is trying to figure out what it needs to do to serve the end user. The instruction field is only used once this specific ability is selected. The instruction is applied with the conversation in mind to fulfil the end user request.

It is essential to keep the name and description fields descriptive but not too long as they will be used during every stage of the conversation, thus consuming tokens. The instruction field can be much longer. It will be used only once per user request but still contributes to the total token usage.

Understanding Actions

A key component to an ability is to perform an action, such as perform a web request. The action needs to be specified in markdown-style code block (fenced code block) with triple backtick notation. You must specify the action name after the first 3 backticks. This is similar to how you use fenced code blocks with language identifiers. For example:

```fetch
POST https://some/url HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "param": "value"
}
```

The action can be mixed with free-form text instructions. These instructions define how the action need to be applied. It is recommended to be as descriptive as possible to ensure the action is applied as consistently as possible.

Example Fetching Pages

Consider the following skillset ability instruction that allows your chatbot to fetch and display web pages when requested by the user:

When the user asks the bot to read, fetch, or pull a web page, the bot must only output the URL of the root webpage as a markdown code block, with the language specified as "fetch". For example:

```fetch/format=markdown
URL of the webpage, e.g https://... or HTTP request
```

This Skillset instruction tells the chatbot to listen for user requests to fetch web pages. When the chatbot detects such a request, it will output the URL of the requested web page in a markdown code block, using the identifier specified as fetch. If the user asks a question that is not related to fetching a web page, the chatbot will reply with a message indicating that it is unable to fulfil the request.

Example Retrieving the Weather Forecast

Consider the following skillset ability instruction that allows your chatbot to fetch the latest weather forecast given a location:

To get the weather you need to perform the following request:

```fetch
GET https://wttr.in/{location}?format=4 HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.61.1
```

The {location} parameter could be any city. For example:

```fetch
GET https://wttr.in/London?format=4 HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.61.1
```

Multiple locations can be requested like this:

```fetch
GET https://wttr.in/{London,Paris}?format=4 HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.61.1
```

The response is a text document with weather information.

Notice that we have described multiple examples how to fetch the weather based on the user-supplied input. The weather forecast will be obtained in accordance to these instructions.

How to create a Skillset

Follow these instructions to create a new skillset.

1. Got to "Skillsets" from the navigation bar.
2. Click "Create Skillset" button.
3. Name your skillset and provide description.
4. Save the skillset by clicking on the "Create" button.

Now you have an empty skillset but you do not have any abilities. Creating abilities is also very easy.

1. With your skillset selected, click on the "Create Ability" button.
2. Specify the ability name and description.
3. Specify the ability instruction, be aware of the total token count.
4. Save the new skillset ability by clicking on the "Create" button.

Limits

The following limits apply.

Ability Size

The maximum instruction size can be ~200 tokens. You will not be blocked if you decide to exceed this limit but your instruction may fail to apply correctly. As you approach this limit you will see the token count turning from amber to red. It is advisable to keep individual abilities abilities small and contextual. We reserve the right to make changes to this limit in the future.

Summary

Overall, Skillsets are a powerful tool for customizing your chatbot's abilities and improving its performance. They allow you to define specific instructions for your chatbot in natural language, allowing it to better understand and respond to user requests. By creating and managing Skillsets, you can ensure that your chatbot is always ready to meet the needs of your users.