> ## Documentation index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://haarness.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Create agents, commands and skills Three ways to stop repeating yourself: - A **slash command** is a prompt you reuse: `/audit src/billing`. - An **agent** is a role with its own instructions, model, tools and permissions, such as a reviewer that may not edit files. - A **skill** is a set of instructions the model can pick up by itself when a task calls for it. Each one is a Markdown file. Create them with the commands below or write the files by hand. ## Make a slash command ```sh haarness command create audit \ --description 'Audit a folder for security problems' \ --template 'Audit $ARGUMENTS for security problems' \ --argument-hint '' ``` Then type `/audit src/billing` in the terminal UI or Desktop, or run it from a script: ```sh haarness run --command audit "src/billing" ``` `$ARGUMENTS` is replaced by everything after the command name. `$1`, `$2` and so on take single words, and the highest one you use takes the rest of the line. A template with neither gets the arguments added at the end. `--agent` and `--model` make the command always run with that agent or model. Use `--file prompt.md` instead of `--template` for a longer prompt. The command is saved as `~/.config/haarness/commands/audit.md`: ```markdown --- description: Audit a folder for security problems argument-hint: --- Audit $ARGUMENTS for security problems ``` Write `@path/to/file` in a template to send that file's contents with the command, or `@folder/` to send a listing of the folder. ## Make a custom agent ```sh haarness agent create reviewer \ --description 'Reviews changes without editing' \ --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-5-5 \ --tool bash=false \ --permission 'edit:*=deny' \ --prompt 'Review the change for correctness and missing tests.' ``` Switch to it in the terminal UI with `/agents` (or `Alt+A`, or `Tab` to cycle), in Desktop with the agent menu in the message box, or use it in a script with `haarness run --agent reviewer "…"`. | Flag | Does | | --- | --- | | `--description` | What the agent is for (required) | | `--prompt` or `--file` | Its instructions, inline or from a file (one is required) | | `--model` | Always use this `provider/model` | | `--tool NAME=BOOL` | Allow or remove a tool (repeatable) | | `--permission 'PATTERN=allow\|ask\|deny'` | A permission rule for this agent (repeatable) | | `--mode` | `primary`, `subagent` or `all`: where the agent can be used | Your instructions are added to Haarness's own; they do not replace its safety rules. See [Permissions](https://haarness.ai/docs/security/permissions.md) for the patterns `--permission` accepts. Haarness ships five agents: `build` (the default), `plan`, `review`, `explore` and `general`. `haarness agents` lists them with yours. A chat that is running keeps the agent definition it started with; your edits apply from its next message. ## Add a skill ```sh haarness skill create release-check \ --description 'Check a release is ready: build, tests and artefacts' \ --instructions 'Run the build and tests, then check the changelog and version.' ``` This creates `~/.config/haarness/skills/release-check/SKILL.md`. The model sees each skill's name and description and loads the instructions when a task matches, so write the description as "when to use this". Use `--file` for longer instructions. `/skills` in the terminal UI lists them. ## Share them with your project Add `--project` to any `create` or `remove` command. The file then goes under `.haarness/` in the project, so you can commit it and your team gets it too. | Kind | Yours | Project | | --- | --- | --- | | Commands | `~/.config/haarness/commands/` | `.haarness/commands/` | | Agents | `~/.config/haarness/agents/` | `.haarness/agents/` | | Skills | `~/.config/haarness/skills/` | `.haarness/skills/` | If a project file and one of yours have the same name, the project's wins. Haarness picks up new and changed files without a restart. ## See, change or remove them ```sh haarness command list # also: agent list, skill list haarness command get audit haarness command remove audit ``` To change one, edit its file, or run `create` again with `--force` to replace it. You can also ask the agent: "create a command called audit that…". It writes the same files. ## Change Haarness's built-in instructions The built-in agents and a few helpers (chat titles, summaries of long chats, Auto's reviewer) use prompts that ship with Haarness. A prompt file replaces one of them, or adds text before or after it: ```sh haarness prompt customize plan # writes ~/.config/haarness/prompts/plan.md to edit haarness prompt show plan # the prompt as Haarness now sends it ``` A file without front matter is added after the built-in prompt, so it keeps working when Haarness improves that prompt: ```markdown Write the plan as a numbered list, and name the tests that prove each step. ``` A file that `haarness prompt customize` writes starts with `mode: replace`; `prepend` and `append` are the other modes. The names are `system`, `plan`, `review`, `explore`, `compaction`, `title`, `preview`, `ultracode`, `max-steps`, `goal` and `auto-review`; `haarness prompt list` shows them with the files that change them. The next message uses your change. Prompt files are read only from your configuration folder (or a [team system folder](https://haarness.ai/docs/cli/configuration.md#give-your-team-a-shared-starting-setup)), never from a project, so a repository you clone cannot rewrite them. A replaced prompt keeps Haarness's safety lines, and no prompt changes what the agent is allowed to do. When an update changes a built-in prompt you replaced, `haarness prompt list` marks your file `stale` and `haarness prompt diff` shows what changed. For one project's rules, use [`AGENTS.md`](https://haarness.ai/docs/cli/configuration.md#give-the-agent-project-instructions) instead. ## Related - [Install a plugin](https://haarness.ai/docs/cli/plugins.md) to get commands, agents and skills that others packaged - [Configure Haarness](https://haarness.ai/docs/cli/configuration.md) - [Slash commands](https://haarness.ai/docs/tui/slash-commands.md)