How I deleted 95% of my agent skills and got better results — Nick Nisi, WorkOS
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AI Engineer
Author
AI Engineer
Date
Terms in this piece · Glossary
eval — A repeatable test for AI quality — a set of tasks plus scoring — used the way software teams use test suites, because model output is too variable to judge by eyeballing.
AI agent — An AI system that doesn't just answer once but works toward a goal in a loop — taking actions, reading the results, and deciding what to do next.
agent skill — A reusable instruction file that teaches an agent how to do one job well — the procedure, the tools, and what counts as done.
Why it matters
Two transferable rules: verify AI agentAn AI system that doesn't just answer once but works toward a goal in a loop — taking actions, reading the results, and deciding what to do next.Full definition → work cryptographically instead of trusting the report, and stop pouring docs into skills — the model can already code, it needs the landmines, and evalA repeatable test for AI quality — a set of tasks plus scoring — used the way software teams use test suites, because model output is too variable to judge by eyeballing.Full definition → will show which agent skillA reusable instruction file that teaches an agent how to do one job well — the procedure, the tools, and what counts as done.Full definition → is hurting.