%PDF-1.4 %âãÏÓ 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Pages 2 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Count 3 /Kids [5 0 R 7 0 R 9 0 R] >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /BaseFont /Helvetica >> endobj 4 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold >> endobj 5 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 2 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 595.28 841.89] /Resources << /Font << /F1 3 0 R /F2 4 0 R >> >> /Contents 6 0 R >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Length 5364 >> stream BT /F2 22 Tf 0.06 0.08 0.12 rg 1 0 0 1 46 789.89 Tm (Does SKILL.md Actually Work in Antigravity? What) Tj ET BT /F2 22 Tf 0.06 0.08 0.12 rg 1 0 0 1 46 762.89 Tm (Claude Code Users Know That Gemini Users Don't) Tj ET BT /F2 11 Tf 0.72 0.14 0.18 rg 1 0 0 1 46 725.89 Tm (TechRounder PDF Edition) Tj ET BT /F1 9.5 Tf 0.36 0.39 0.46 rg 1 0 0 1 46 709.89 Tm (Live article:) Tj ET BT /F1 9.5 Tf 0.36 0.39 0.46 rg 1 0 0 1 46 697.39 Tm (https://www.techrounder.com/ai/does-skill-md-actually-work-in-antigravity-what-claude-code-users-know-that-gemi) Tj ET BT /F1 9.5 Tf 0.36 0.39 0.46 rg 1 0 0 1 46 684.89 Tm (ni-users-dont/) Tj ET q 0.82 0.85 0.9 RG 1 w 46 666.39 m 549.28 666.39 l S Q BT /F1 10 Tf 0.24 0.27 0.32 rg 1 0 0 1 46 654.39 Tm (By Vipin PG | Published July 30, 2026 | Updated July 30, 2026 | Format: Analysis | 5 min read) Tj ET BT /F2 13 Tf 0.72 0.14 0.18 rg 1 0 0 1 46 631.39 Tm (In brief) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 611.39 Tm (Yes, SKILL.md works in both Claude Code and Antigravity - it's an open standard now, not a) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 596.39 Tm (Claude-only feature. But Antigravity checks several different folder locations depending on whether) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 581.39 Tm (you're using the main app, the IDE, or the CLI, and developers have documented real cases \(including a) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 566.39 Tm (symlink bug\) where valid skill files simply don't get picked up. Claude Code's setup is much simpler:) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 551.39 Tm (two folders, automatic discovery, no flavor-specific quirks. If you use both tools, save yourself the) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 536.39 Tm (headache by testing that a skill actually loaded before assuming it's working.) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 511.39 Tm (If you've started using skill files in an AI coding tool, you've probably run into a moment where you) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 496.39 Tm (write a perfectly good SKILL.md, the agent doesn't use it, and you're left wondering if the feature is) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 481.39 Tm (broken or if you set it up wrong. This comes up a lot with Google Antigravity, and the short answer is:) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 466.39 Tm (it's not really "broken," but it is genuinely more confusing to set up correctly than in Claude Code,) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 451.39 Tm (where the same idea originated.) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 429.39 Tm (Here's what's actually going on, based on Google's own documentation, a real bug report from) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 414.39 Tm (developers, and independent testing of where each tool actually looks for these files.) Tj ET BT /F2 15 Tf 0.08 0.1 0.14 rg 1 0 0 1 46 386.39 Tm (1. What SKILL.md Actually Is) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 362.39 Tm (A skill is just a folder with a file called SKILL.md inside it, containing plain instructions the agent should) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 347.39 Tm (follow for a specific kind of task - things like "here's how our database schema works" or "here's) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 332.39 Tm (our code review checklist." The idea started with Claude Code, and Anthropic later opened up the) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 317.39 Tm (format so other tools could use it too. That's why you'll now see the same SKILL.md structure) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 302.39 Tm (supported across Claude Code, Google Antigravity, and OpenAI's Codex, among others.) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 280.39 Tm (This matters because it means you can, in theory, write one skill file and reuse it across tools instead) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 265.39 Tm (of maintaining separate versions for each one. In practice, whether that skill actually gets picked up) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 250.39 Tm (depends heavily on which tool you're using.) Tj ET BT /F2 15 Tf 0.08 0.1 0.14 rg 1 0 0 1 46 222.39 Tm (2. How Skill Loading Is Supposed to Work) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 198.39 Tm (Both Claude Code and Antigravity describe the same basic three-step process:) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 176.39 Tm (- Discovery - when you start a session, the agent sees a short list of available skills \(just their names and) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 162.59 Tm (descriptions, not the full content\)) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 145.79 Tm (- Activation - if your request looks related to one of those descriptions, the agent reads the full SKILL.md) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 131.99 Tm (file) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 115.19 Tm (- Execution - the agent follows those instructions while doing the task) Tj ET q 0.86 0.88 0.92 RG 1 w 46 42 m 549.28 42 l S Q BT /F1 8.4 Tf 0.42 0.45 0.5 rg 1 0 0 1 46 30 Tm (TechRounder | Page 1 of 3) Tj ET BT /F1 7.2 Tf 0.42 0.45 0.5 rg 1 0 0 1 46 19 Tm (https://www.techrounder.com/pdf/blog/does-skill-md-actually-work-in-antigravity-what-claude-code-users-know-that-gemini-users-dont.pdf) Tj ET endstream endobj 7 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 2 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 595.28 841.89] /Resources << /Font << /F1 3 0 R /F2 4 0 R >> >> /Contents 8 0 R >> endobj 8 0 obj << /Length 6191 >> stream BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 789.89 Tm (This "load only when needed" design is what makes skills lighter than pasting a giant set of) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 774.89 Tm (instructions into every prompt - the agent isn't carrying information it doesn't need for the current) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 759.89 Tm (task. The catch is that this whole process depends on the agent actually finding the skill folder in the) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 744.89 Tm (first place. That's where the two tools start to diverge.) Tj ET BT /F2 15 Tf 0.08 0.1 0.14 rg 1 0 0 1 46 716.89 Tm (3. Where Claude Code Looks for Skills) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 692.89 Tm (Claude Code keeps this simple. There are two locations:) Tj ET BT /F1 10 Tf 0.18 0.2 0.24 rg 1 0 0 1 46 670.89 Tm (Scope: Personal \(all projects\) | Folder: `~/.claude/skills/`) Tj ET BT /F1 10 Tf 0.18 0.2 0.24 rg 1 0 0 1 46 653.89 Tm (Scope: Project-specific | Folder: `.claude/skills/`) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 636.89 Tm (Drop a properly formatted skill folder in either location and Claude Code discovers it automatically at) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 621.89 Tm (startup. There's no separate CLI-versus-app distinction to worry about - it's one consistent behavior.) Tj ET BT /F2 15 Tf 0.08 0.1 0.14 rg 1 0 0 1 46 593.89 Tm (4. Where Antigravity Looks for Skills \(and Why It Gets Messy\)) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 569.89 Tm (Antigravity isn't one product - it's three: the main Antigravity app, Antigravity IDE, and Antigravity CLI.) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 554.89 Tm (Each of these has, at various points, checked slightly different folders for skills, and Google's own) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 539.89 Tm (documentation on this has lagged behind what the software actually does.) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 517.89 Tm (One developer who tested this directly - checking four commonly cited folder locations against all) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 502.89 Tm (three Antigravity variants - found that only one location was reliably recognized by all three:) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 487.89 Tm (`~/.gemini/config/skills/`. Other commonly recommended paths, like `~/.gemini/antigravity/skills/` or) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 472.89 Tm (`.agents/skills/`, worked for some variants but not others, depending on which one you were running) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 457.89 Tm (and how it was installed.) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 435.89 Tm (On top of that, there's a confirmed bug: when skills are installed globally and then symlinked into) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 420.89 Tm (Antigravity's expected folder \(a common setup when you're sharing skills across multiple tools\),) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 405.89 Tm (Antigravity IDE silently ignores the symlinked ones. The files are valid, the content loads fine if you) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 390.89 Tm (open them manually, and other tools like Claude Code have no problem following the same symlink - but) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 375.89 Tm (Antigravity IDE's skill list simply doesn't include them. It's not that the instructions get read and) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 360.89 Tm (ignored; the agent never sees them as an option in the first place.) Tj ET BT /F2 15 Tf 0.08 0.1 0.14 rg 1 0 0 1 46 332.89 Tm (5. Two Different Problems: "Not Found" vs. "Not Followed") Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 308.89 Tm (This is the distinction that gets lost in most discussions about skills not working, so it's worth being) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 293.89 Tm (precise about it. There are two separate failure modes, and they need different fixes:) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 271.89 Tm (- The skill was never discovered. This is a folder/path problem - the agent's discovery step never found) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 258.09 Tm (your SKILL.md file, so it was never even a candidate. This is what's happening in the documented) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 244.29 Tm (Antigravity path and symlink issues above.) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 227.49 Tm (- The skill was found but not followed closely. This is a different issue entirely - the agent saw the) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 213.69 Tm (instructions and made a judgment call to deviate from them anyway. This shows up more as a) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 199.89 Tm (model-behavior complaint than a configuration bug, and it's harder to pin down with a clean) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 186.09 Tm (before-and-after test.) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 169.29 Tm (The documented evidence - the GitHub bug report, the folder-path testing - points clearly at the first) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 154.29 Tm (problem in Antigravity. The second, "the model just doesn't follow it as reliably," is something) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 139.29 Tm (individual developers report anecdotally more often about Gemini-based tools, but it's not something) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 124.29 Tm (that's been rigorously tested the way the folder-discovery issue has. Worth keeping in mind before) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 109.29 Tm (you assume a skill "isn't working" - check discovery first, because that's the more common and) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 94.29 Tm (more fixable cause.) Tj ET q 0.86 0.88 0.92 RG 1 w 46 42 m 549.28 42 l S Q BT /F1 8.4 Tf 0.42 0.45 0.5 rg 1 0 0 1 46 30 Tm (TechRounder | Page 2 of 3) Tj ET BT /F1 7.2 Tf 0.42 0.45 0.5 rg 1 0 0 1 46 19 Tm (https://www.techrounder.com/pdf/blog/does-skill-md-actually-work-in-antigravity-what-claude-code-users-know-that-gemini-users-dont.pdf) Tj ET endstream endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 2 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 595.28 841.89] /Resources << /Font << /F1 3 0 R /F2 4 0 R >> >> /Contents 10 0 R >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Length 4375 >> stream BT /F2 15 Tf 0.08 0.1 0.14 rg 1 0 0 1 46 789.89 Tm (6. Why the Model Underneath Also Matters) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 765.89 Tm (There's a technical wrinkle specific to Antigravity worth knowing: because it can run tasks through) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 750.89 Tm (different underlying models, a skill you write might end up executed by a Gemini model rather than a) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 735.89 Tm (Claude model, even if you originally tested it with one and assumed the other. Skill authors working) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 720.89 Tm (across tools are increasingly advised to keep instructions model-agnostic - avoid writing steps that) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 705.89 Tm (assume a specific model's exact output format, token limits, or reasoning habits. A skill written with) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 690.89 Tm (Claude-specific assumptions baked in may behave differently once Antigravity routes the task) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 675.89 Tm (elsewhere.) Tj ET BT /F2 15 Tf 0.08 0.1 0.14 rg 1 0 0 1 46 647.89 Tm (7. A Quick Checklist Before You Blame the Skill) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 623.89 Tm (If a skill doesn't seem to be working, work through this in order rather than rewriting the whole file:) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 601.89 Tm (1. Confirm the folder structure is right - a directory containing a SKILL.md file with proper YAML) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 588.09 Tm (frontmatter \(name and description fields at minimum\).) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 571.29 Tm (2. Double-check the path for the specific tool and variant you're using - don't assume the Antigravity IDE) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 557.49 Tm (path and the Antigravity CLI path are the same.) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 540.69 Tm (3. Ask the agent directly: "What skills are available to you right now?" This is a built-in sanity check both) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 526.89 Tm (Claude Code and Antigravity support, and it tells you immediately whether discovery worked before you) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 513.09 Tm (waste time debugging the instructions themselves.) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 496.29 Tm (4. If you're using symlinks in Antigravity IDE, be aware of the known bug - copying the skill folder directly,) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 482.49 Tm (instead of symlinking it, is the current workaround.) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 465.69 Tm (5. If the skill is discovered but not being followed well, mention it by name explicitly in your prompt rather) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 451.89 Tm (than relying on automatic matching - this removes any ambiguity about whether the description field) Tj ET BT /F1 10.5 Tf 0.2 0.23 0.28 rg 1 0 0 1 46 438.09 Tm (triggered correctly.) Tj ET BT /F2 15 Tf 0.08 0.1 0.14 rg 1 0 0 1 46 415.29 Tm (Bottom Line) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 391.29 Tm (SKILL.md isn't a Claude-only trick anymore - it's a shared standard, and Antigravity genuinely) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 376.29 Tm (supports it. But "supports it" and "reliably finds it" aren't the same thing yet. Claude Code's) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 361.29 Tm (two-folder setup is straightforward and well-documented. Antigravity's three-product structure) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 346.29 Tm (means the same skill that works perfectly in one Antigravity variant might be invisible in another, and) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 331.29 Tm (the fastest way to know which situation you're in is to just ask the agent what it sees - before you) Tj ET BT /F1 11 Tf 0.14 0.16 0.2 rg 1 0 0 1 46 316.29 Tm (start second-guessing your SKILL.md content.) Tj ET q 0.86 0.88 0.92 RG 1 w 46 42 m 549.28 42 l S Q BT /F1 8.4 Tf 0.42 0.45 0.5 rg 1 0 0 1 46 30 Tm (TechRounder | Page 3 of 3) Tj ET BT /F1 7.2 Tf 0.42 0.45 0.5 rg 1 0 0 1 46 19 Tm (https://www.techrounder.com/pdf/blog/does-skill-md-actually-work-in-antigravity-what-claude-code-users-know-that-gemini-users-dont.pdf) Tj ET endstream endobj xref 0 11 0000000000 65535 f 0000000015 00000 n 0000000064 00000 n 0000000133 00000 n 0000000203 00000 n 0000000278 00000 n 0000000420 00000 n 0000005835 00000 n 0000005977 00000 n 0000012219 00000 n 0000012362 00000 n trailer << /Size 11 /Root 1 0 R >> startxref 16789 %%EOF