***
title: Skills
slug: /reference/typescript/agents/skills
description: Built-in skills catalog with configuration parameters and usage patterns.
max-toc-depth: 3
---------------------
For a complete index of all SignalWire documentation pages, fetch https://signalwire.com/docs/llms.txt
[add-skill]: /docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/agent-base/add-skill
[sw-search]: /docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/cli/sw-search
[infogathereragent]: /docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/prefabs#infogathereragent
[skillbase]: /docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skill-base
[ref-datamap]: /docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/data-map
Skills are pluggable capabilities that add tools to your agent. Import a skill class,
instantiate it with optional configuration, and pass the instance to
[`addSkill()`][add-skill]. Each skill registers
one or more SWAIG functions automatically and injects prompt sections, hints, and
global data.
```typescript {8,11-14}
import { AgentBase, DateTimeSkill, WebSearchSkill } from '@signalwire/sdk';
const agent = new AgentBase({ name: 'my-agent', route: '/' });
agent.setPromptText('You are a helpful assistant.');
// No-config skill
await agent.addSkill(new DateTimeSkill());
// Skill with parameters
await agent.addSkill(new WebSearchSkill({
max_results: 5,
safe_search: 'high',
}));
agent.run();
```
## Skills Summary
| Skill | Class | Tools | Env Vars Required | Multi-Instance |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | ------- | ----------------- | -------------- |
| [`datetime`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/datetime) | `DateTimeSkill` | 1 | No | No |
| [`math`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/math) | `MathSkill` | 1 | No | No |
| [`joke`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/joke) | `JokeSkill` | 1 | No | No |
| [`weather_api`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/weather-api) | `WeatherApiSkill` | 1 | Yes | No |
| [`web_search`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/web-search) | `WebSearchSkill` | 1 | Yes | No |
| [`wikipedia_search`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/wikipedia-search) | `WikipediaSearchSkill` | 1 | No | No |
| [`google_maps`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/google-maps) | `GoogleMapsSkill` | 2 | Yes | No |
| [`play_background_file`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/play-background-file) | `PlayBackgroundFileSkill` | 2 | No | No |
| [`swml_transfer`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/swml-transfer) | `SwmlTransferSkill` | 1-2 | No | No |
| [`datasphere`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/datasphere) | `DataSphereSkill` | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| [`datasphere_serverless`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/datasphere-serverless) | `DataSphereServerlessSkill` | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| [`native_vector_search`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/native-vector-search) | `NativeVectorSearchSkill` | 1 | No | Yes |
| [`info_gatherer`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/info-gatherer) | `InfoGathererSkill` | 2 | No | No |
| [`api_ninjas_trivia`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/api-ninjas-trivia) | `ApiNinjasTriviaSkill` | 1 | Yes | No |
| [`spider`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/spider) | `SpiderSkill` | 1 | Yes | No |
| [`ask_claude`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/ask-claude) | `AskClaudeSkill` | 1 | Yes | No |
| [`claude_skills`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/claude-skills) | `ClaudeSkillsSkill` | Dynamic | No | Yes |
| [`custom_skills`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/custom-skills) | `CustomSkillsSkill` | Dynamic | No | No |
| [`mcp_gateway`](/docs/server-sdks/reference/typescript/agents/skills/mcp-gateway) | `McpGatewaySkill` | 1 | No | No |
## Configuration
All skills accept configuration via a config object passed to the skill constructor.
Skills with an `env_var` fallback on a parameter read from `process.env` when the
parameter is not provided directly.
```typescript {4}
import { WebSearchSkill } from '@signalwire/sdk';
// Direct configuration
const skill = new WebSearchSkill({ max_results: 5, safe_search: 'high' });
// Environment variable fallback (api_key falls back to GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_KEY,
// search_engine_id falls back to GOOGLE_SEARCH_CX)
process.env.GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_KEY = 'YOUR_KEY';
process.env.GOOGLE_SEARCH_CX = 'YOUR_ENGINE_ID';
const skillWithEnv = new WebSearchSkill({ max_results: 5 });
```
### SWAIG Field Overrides
Override SWAIG function metadata for any skill by including a `swaig_fields` key:
```typescript {6-11}
import { AgentBase, DateTimeSkill } from '@signalwire/sdk';
const agent = new AgentBase({ name: 'assistant', route: '/assistant' });
agent.setPromptText('You are a helpful assistant.');
await agent.addSkill(new DateTimeSkill({
swaig_fields: {
fillers: { 'en-US': ['Let me check the time...', 'One moment...'] },
secure: false,
},
}));
agent.run();
```
### Multi-Instance Skills
Skills that support multiple instances (`SUPPORTS_MULTIPLE_INSTANCES = true`)
can be added to the same agent more than once with different `tool_name` values:
```typescript {6-9,10-13}
import { AgentBase, DataSphereSkill } from '@signalwire/sdk';
const agent = new AgentBase({ name: 'assistant', route: '/assistant' });
agent.setPromptText('You are a helpful assistant.');
await agent.addSkill(new DataSphereSkill({
tool_name: 'search_products',
max_results: 3,
}));
await agent.addSkill(new DataSphereSkill({
tool_name: 'search_policies',
max_results: 5,
}));
agent.run();
```
### Base Parameters
Every skill inherits these parameters from `SkillBase`:
Additional SWAIG fields to merge into each tool definition provided by this skill
(e.g., `fillers`, `secure`).
When `true`, suppress all prompt sections from this skill.
***
## Extending SkillBase
Create custom skills by extending [`SkillBase`][skillbase] and registering
them with the `SkillRegistry`.
### Defining a Custom Skill
```typescript {10}
import { SkillBase, FunctionResult } from '@signalwire/sdk';
import type {
SkillManifest,
SkillToolDefinition,
SkillPromptSection,
SkillConfig,
ParameterSchemaEntry,
} from '@signalwire/sdk';
export class StockPriceSkill extends SkillBase {
constructor(config?: SkillConfig) {
super('stock_price', config);
}
static override getParameterSchema(): Record {
return {
...super.getParameterSchema(),
api_key: {
type: 'string',
description: 'Stock API key.',
hidden: true,
env_var: 'STOCK_API_KEY',
required: true,
},
};
}
getManifest(): SkillManifest {
return {
name: 'stock_price',
description: 'Look up current stock prices.',
version: '1.0.0',
requiredEnvVars: ['STOCK_API_KEY'],
};
}
getTools(): SkillToolDefinition[] {
return [
{
name: 'get_stock_price',
description: 'Get the current price of a stock by ticker symbol.',
parameters: {
symbol: {
type: 'string',
description: 'Stock ticker symbol (e.g., "AAPL", "GOOG").',
},
},
required: ['symbol'],
handler: async (args: Record) => {
const symbol = args.symbol as string;
// Your implementation here
return new FunctionResult(
'The current price of ' + symbol + ' is $150.00.',
);
},
},
];
}
protected override _getPromptSections(): SkillPromptSection[] {
return [
{
title: 'Stock Prices',
body: 'You can look up current stock prices.',
bullets: [
'Use the get_stock_price tool when the user asks about a stock price.',
'Provide the stock ticker symbol (e.g., AAPL for Apple).',
],
},
];
}
}
```
### Registering with SkillRegistry
```typescript {4-5}
import { SkillRegistry } from '@signalwire/sdk';
import { StockPriceSkill } from './stock-price-skill.js';
const registry = SkillRegistry.getInstance();
registry.register('stock_price', (config) => new StockPriceSkill(config));
```
### Using a Custom Skill
```typescript {7}
import { AgentBase } from '@signalwire/sdk';
import { StockPriceSkill } from './stock-price-skill.js';
const agent = new AgentBase({ name: 'finance-bot', route: '/' });
agent.setPromptText('You are a financial assistant.');
await agent.addSkill(new StockPriceSkill());
agent.run();
```
For more details on the skill base class, see [`SkillBase`][skillbase].
***
## All Skills
Get the current date and time with optional timezone support.
Evaluate mathematical expressions safely.
Tell jokes from a built-in collection.
Get current weather conditions using OpenWeatherMap.
Search the web using Google Custom Search.
Search Wikipedia for article summaries.
Get directions and search for places using Google Maps.
Control background audio playback during calls.
Transfer calls using SWML transfer actions.
Search SignalWire DataSphere documents.
Search DataSphere documents serverlessly.
In-memory document search using word overlap scoring.
Collect structured information from the user.
Fetch trivia questions from API Ninjas.
Scrape webpage content using the Spider API.
Send prompts to Anthropic's Claude AI.
Load Claude Code-style SKILL.md files as tools.
Register user-defined tools from configuration.
Model Context Protocol server integration.