> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://panopticon-cli.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skills System

> Universal reusable workflows and best practices

export const ThemedImage = ({light, dark, alt = ""}) => <>
    <img src={light} alt={alt} className="block dark:hidden" />
    <img src={dark ?? light} alt={alt} className="hidden dark:block" />
  </>;

# Skills System

Overdeck's skills system provides reusable workflows and best practices for AI agents.

The dashboard's **Skills** page lists every skill side by side per harness — here `Overdeck (108)` and `Claude (123)` — with each skill's on-disk path, internal `name`, and a sync indicator linking to its `SKILL.md`. It's the quickest way to confirm a skill landed where the agent (or the conversation you're driving) can invoke it.

<ThemedImage light="/images/dashboard/skills-light.png" dark="/images/dashboard/skills-dark.png" alt="Skills page: per-harness columns (Overdeck and Claude) listing each skill's path, name, and SKILL.md sync status, with an activity feed on the right" />

## What Are Skills

Skills are reusable, shareable workflows that encode best practices for common development tasks. They are:

* **Universal** - Work across all AI coding tools (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Google Antigravity)
* **Shareable** - Distribute via `pan sync` to sync to all connected AI tools
* **Contextual** - Invoked with `/skill-name` in AI tool prompts
* **Best-practice-driven** - Encode proven workflows and checklists

Skills eliminate the need to repeatedly explain how to do common tasks. Instead of telling an agent "please review this code for security issues", you invoke `/code-review-security` and the agent follows the established workflow.

## Built-In Skills

Overdeck ships with 70+ built-in skills organized by category:

### Development Workflows

| Skill                     | Description                              |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| `feature-work`            | Standard feature implementation workflow |
| `bug-fix`                 | Systematic bug investigation and fixing  |
| `refactor`                | Safe refactoring with tests first        |
| `code-review`             | Comprehensive code review checklist      |
| `code-review-security`    | OWASP Top 10 security analysis           |
| `code-review-performance` | Algorithm and resource optimization      |
| `release`                 | Step-by-step release process             |
| `dependency-update`       | Safe dependency updates                  |
| `incident-response`       | Production incident handling             |
| `onboard-codebase`        | Understanding new codebases              |
| `work-complete`           | Checklist for completing agent work      |

### AI Self-Monitoring

| Skill               | Description                                           |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| `knowledge-capture` | Captures learnings when AI gets confused or corrected |
| `refactor-radar`    | Detects systemic issues causing AI confusion          |
| `session-health`    | Detect and clean up stuck sessions                    |

### Overdeck Operations (pan-\*)

| Skill                  | Description                                                |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| `pan-help`             | Show all Overdeck commands                                 |
| `pan-up`               | Start dashboard and services                               |
| `pan-down`             | Stop dashboard and services                                |
| `pan-status`           | Show running agents                                        |
| `pan-issue`            | Spawn agent for an issue                                   |
| `pan-plan`             | Create execution plan for issue                            |
| `pan-tell`             | Send message to running agent                              |
| `pan-kill`             | Kill a running agent                                       |
| `pan-approve`          | Approve agent work and merge                               |
| `pan-health`           | Check system health                                        |
| `pan-sync`             | Sync skills to AI tools                                    |
| `pan-install`          | Install prerequisites                                      |
| `pan-setup`            | Initial setup wizard                                       |
| `pan-quickstart`       | Quick start guide                                          |
| `pan-projects`         | Manage registered projects                                 |
| `pan-tracker`          | Issue tracker operations                                   |
| `pan-logs`             | View agent logs                                            |
| `pan-rescue`           | Recover crashed agents                                     |
| `pan-diagnose`         | Diagnose agent issues                                      |
| `pan-docker`           | Docker operations                                          |
| `pan-network`          | Network diagnostics                                        |
| `pan-config`           | Configuration management                                   |
| `pan-restart`          | Safely restart Overdeck dashboard and services             |
| `pan-code-review`      | Orchestrate parallel code review (3 reviewers + synthesis) |
| `pan-convoy-synthesis` | Synthesize convoy coordination                             |
| `pan-subagent-creator` | Create specialized subagents                               |
| `pan-skill-creator`    | Create new skills (guided)                                 |
| `pan-reopen`           | Reopen completed issue for re-work                         |
| `pan-oversee`          | Supervise agent through full work lifecycle                |
| `pan-sync-main`        | Sync latest main into workspace feature branch             |
| `pan-docs`             | Search Overdeck documentation                              |
| `pan-tldr`             | Token-efficient codebase analysis                          |

### Utilities

| Skill                   | Description                                                  |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `beads`                 | Git-backed issue tracking with dependencies                  |
| `skill-creator`         | Guide for creating new skills                                |
| `web-design-guidelines` | UI/UX review checklist                                       |
| `clear-writing`         | Proven rules for clearer prose in docs, commits, and UI text |
| `crash-investigation`   | Investigate system crashes, OOM kills, and freezes           |
| `opus-plan`             | Opus-driven planning with PRD, STATE.md, and beads           |
| `spec-readiness`        | Evaluate issue requirements readiness (scored 0-100)         |
| `check-merged`          | Verify if a feature branch has been merged into main         |
| `react-best-practices`  | React/Next.js performance optimization from Vercel           |
| `stitch-design-md`      | Synthesize Stitch designs into DESIGN.md files               |

## Using Skills

Skills are invoked via slash commands in any AI coding tool:

```
# In Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, etc:
/feature-work
/code-review-security
/bug-fix
/pan-help
```

When you invoke a skill, the AI tool injects the skill's prompt into the conversation, giving the agent detailed instructions on how to proceed.

## Creating Custom Skills

Skills are markdown files stored in `~/.overdeck/skills/`. Create your own with:

```bash theme={null}
# Use the guided skill creator
/pan-skill-creator

# Or manually create a skill
mkdir -p ~/.overdeck/skills/my-custom-skill
cat > ~/.overdeck/skills/my-custom-skill/skill.md <<'EOF'
# My Custom Skill

Brief description of what this skill does.

## When to Use

Describe when this skill should be invoked.

## Steps

1. Step 1 description
2. Step 2 description
3. Step 3 description

## Best Practices

- Tip 1
- Tip 2
EOF

# Sync to all AI tools
pan sync
```

**Skill anatomy:**

```markdown theme={null}
# Skill Title

One-line description.

## When to Use

When to invoke this skill (triggers).

## Steps

1. Detailed step-by-step instructions
2. With specific commands or patterns
3. And expected outcomes

## Checklist

- [ ] Item 1
- [ ] Item 2
- [ ] Item 3

## Examples

\`\`\`bash
# Example command
\`\`\`

## Related Skills

- /other-skill - When to use instead
- /complementary-skill - Use together with this
```

See the [skill-creator skill](/cli/core-commands) or use `/pan-skill-creator` for guided creation.

## Skill Distribution

Skills can be distributed via:

1. **Project-specific** - Store in `.overdeck/skills/` in your repo
2. **User-specific** - Store in `~/.overdeck/skills/` (synced to AI tools)
3. **Team-shared** - Commit to version control and share via git
4. **Public packages** - Distribute via npm or GitHub

### Syncing Skills

```bash theme={null}
# Sync all skills to AI tools (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.)
pan sync

# Only sync skills (skip agents, hooks)
pan sync --skills-only

# Verify sync status
pan sync --dry-run
```

The `pan sync` command:

* Copies skills from `~/.overdeck/skills/` to each AI tool's config directory
* Updates existing skills if versions differ
* Preserves local customizations (doesn't overwrite modified files)

## Subagents

Overdeck includes specialized subagent templates for common development tasks. Subagents are invoked via the Task tool or convoy orchestration for parallel execution.

### Code Review Subagents

| Subagent                  | Model  | Focus                                     | Output                                       |
| ------------------------- | ------ | ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `code-review-correctness` | haiku  | Logic errors, edge cases, type safety     | `.claude/reviews/<timestamp>-correctness.md` |
| `code-review-security`    | sonnet | OWASP Top 10, vulnerabilities             | `.claude/reviews/<timestamp>-security.md`    |
| `code-review-performance` | haiku  | Algorithms, N+1 queries, memory           | `.claude/reviews/<timestamp>-performance.md` |
| `code-review-synthesis`   | sonnet | Combines all findings into unified report | `.claude/reviews/<timestamp>-synthesis.md`   |

**Usage Example:**

```bash theme={null}
/pan-code-review --files "src/auth/*.ts"
```

This spawns all three reviewers in parallel, then synthesizes their findings into a prioritized report.

### Planning & Exploration Subagents

| Subagent            | Model  | Focus                                        | Permission Mode    |
| ------------------- | ------ | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| `planning-agent`    | sonnet | Codebase research, execution planning        | `plan` (read-only) |
| `codebase-explorer` | haiku  | Fast architecture discovery, pattern finding | `plan` (read-only) |
| `triage-agent`      | haiku  | Issue categorization, complexity estimation  | default            |
| `health-monitor`    | haiku  | Agent stuck detection, log analysis          | default            |

**Usage Examples:**

```bash theme={null}
# Explore codebase architecture
Task(subagent_type='codebase-explorer', prompt='Map out the authentication system')

# Triage an issue
Task(subagent_type='triage-agent', prompt='Categorize and estimate ISSUE-123')

# Check agent health
Task(subagent_type='health-monitor', prompt='Check status of all running agents')
```

## Best Practices

**When creating skills:**

* **Be specific** - Include exact commands, not just concepts
* **Include examples** - Show concrete usage patterns
* **Add checklists** - Help agents verify completion
* **Cross-reference** - Link to related skills and guides
* **Test thoroughly** - Verify skills work end-to-end

**When using skills:**

* **Invoke early** - Start with a skill, don't switch mid-task
* **Follow fully** - Don't skip steps or customize on-the-fly
* **Report issues** - If a skill doesn't work, improve it
* **Combine wisely** - Some skills complement each other, others conflict

## Related Guides

* [Creating Skills](/cli/core-commands#pan-skill-creator) - Detailed skill creation guide
* [Convoys](/features/convoys) - Parallel subagent execution
* [Subagents](/cli/core-commands#pan-subagent-creator) - Custom subagent templates