Microsoft Skills: Open‑Source Toolkit for AI Coding Agents
Microsoft Skills: An Open‑Source Toolkit for AI Coding Agents
When building AI‑powered applications on Azure, you often need to glue together a handful of SDK calls, FastAPI routes, or even custom MCP servers. Instead of re‑implementing these building blocks every time, Microsoft released https://github.com/microsoft/skills, a living repository of reusable skills that power Copilot, Azure AI Foundry, and any other agent‑driven workflow.
What Are Skills?
Skills are small, self‑contained modules that encapsulate patterns for a particular Azure service or developer task. Each skill lives in .github/skills/ as a set of files (code, tests, YAML front matter, and docs). They are organized by language suffix (-py, -dotnet, -ts, -java, -rust) and category (foundry, data, messaging, monitoring, entra, integration, compute, m365, general). A typical skill file looks like:
azure-ai-projects-py
│ ├─ SKILL.md
│ ├─ references/acceptance‑criteria.md
│ └─ tests/...
When a skill is consumed, the agent pulls in the relevant code snippets, sets up imports, and injects context‑specific variables—letting the LLM surface the correct API patterns.
Main Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Over 125 skills | Covers Azure SDKs, Foundry, FastAPI, Cosmos DB, Search, Speech, Vision, and more across five programming languages. |
| Auto‑install | npx skills add microsoft/skills installs selected skills into your project with a single wizard. |
| MCP Server Configs | Pre‑configured MCP (Model‑Based Programming) servers for docs, GitHub, and automated testing. |
| Agent Personas | The repo ships with role‑specific agent persona files (backend.agent.md, frontend.agent.md, etc.) that tailor the agent’s behavior. |
| Prompt Templates | Reusable prompt files (scaffold-foundry-app.prompt.md, code-review.prompt.md, etc.) streamline repetitive tasks. |
| CI‑driven Docs | Every push updates llms.txt/llms-full.txt, giving LLM‑friendly documentation that is automatically published on GitHub Pages. |
| Testing Harness | A test harness (pnpm harness) validates that the generated code meets strict acceptance criteria. |
Quick Start
# 1️⃣ Install the CLI
npm install -g @microsoft/skills
# 2️⃣ Add the repo and pick a skill set
npx skills add microsoft/skills
# → Choose core, data, or whatever you need
# 3️⃣ Run tests (optional but recommended)
cd tests
pnpm install
pnpm harness azure-ai-projects-py --mock
The skill will be symlinked into .<agent>/skills/, so you can share or share‑link across multiple projects.
How to Contribute
- Fork the repo.
- Create a new skill directory under
github/skills/<skill‑name>/SKILL.md. - Add acceptance criteria, tests, and ensure the skill is correctly categorized.
- Open a PR – the CI will run all harness tests.
- Merge once everything passes.
All contributions use the MIT license, so feel free to adapt the skills to your own workflows.
Beyond Coding
Even though the repo is aimed at developers, its structure can be leveraged by non‑technical stakeholders:
- Doc generation –
llms.txtcan be consumed by chat‑bots for instant FAQs. - MCP servers – Run a lightweight local MCP server to quickly prototype new features.
- Skill explorer –
context7.com/microsoft/skillsoffers a UI for browsing and installing skills in one click.
Bottom Line
Microsoft’s Skills repository transforms how we write AI‑centric code. By abstracting service patterns into reusable components, it turns complex Azure integrations into plug‑and‑play snippets, dramatically cutting cognitive load for developers. Whether you’re building a FastAPI microservice, scripting a new Copilot CLI command, or provisioning infrastructure with Bicep, the skills set has a module for you.
Give it a spin: clone the repo, try the quick start wizard, and start adding your own skills today. Happy coding!