5adfff5952* docs: point README and AGENTS.md at the released spec and official docs SEP-2640 is Final and the extension ships from specification/stable/skills.mdx, so the README now leads with a Specification section linking the spec file, the official docs page (modelcontextprotocol.io/extensions/skills/overview), the published SEP, and the client matrix. The experimental banner is replaced with a note that docs/ holds working documents; the charter, pulls, and issues links move off the redirecting experimental-ext-skills / charter URLs. AGENTS.md no longer names the SEP PR as the source of truth; it points agents at the stable spec page and describes the decision-log flow against that file. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: accepted spec changes land in a draft revision, not the stable file The stable specification is a released snapshot. README and AGENTS.md now say accepted decision-log proposals go into a draft revision that ships as a new release, matching the ext-tasks specification layout. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: move pre-release design documents to docs/archive SEP-2640 is Final, so docs/ now holds only living working documents. Eight historical documents move to docs/archive with an index explaining what each was and what superseded it: the SEP baseline copy, why-and-when, use-cases, approaches, skill-uri-scheme, glossary, client-mcp-support (superseded by the official client matrix), and agent-plugins-analysis. Files the published SEP links to by path (decisions, experimental-findings, open-questions, problem-statement, rationale, related-work, skill-meta-keys) stay in place so those links keep working. Cross-links are rewritten and verified; the README contents table is trimmed to match. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: archive open-questions and skill-meta-keys Both are pre-release documents whose outcomes live in the decision log and the specification. The published SEP links to them by path; a companion change in modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol repoints those links. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: fix sibling links inside archived open-questions and skill-meta-keys Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: keep only the decision log and rationale in docs/ threat-model, experimental-findings, findings-template, problem-statement, and related-work move to docs/archive with index rows. The candidates tracker and the archived client-support survey are removed in favor of the official extension client matrix, and links to them are repointed there. README drops the Why and Problem Statement sections, which duplicate the SEP's Motivation and the official overview page. CONTRIBUTING routes new implementation findings to GitHub issues. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: fix sibling links inside newly archived documents Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: add a concise implementations list One table each for servers/SDKs and hosts, one line per entry, replacing the retired candidates tracker and the related-work implementation tables. Seeded from those plus PR #141 and issue #144. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: put tracking links in the Status column of the implementations list Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: add a vendor/community category to the implementations list Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: replace the interim reference package with the TypeScript SDK row The @olaservo/ext-skills package is retired in favor of first-class skills APIs in the TypeScript SDK (typescript-sdk#2798, phase 1 in #2818). The archived related-work page now points at implementations.md for current information. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: drop pre-SEP rows from the implementations list They are already recorded in the archived related-work page; the list now points there instead. FastMCP stays because its row tracks the migration to v1. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: add official SDK progress, Tachyon, and Inspector 2.6.0 to implementations From the WG Discord channel and the SDK repos as of 2026-09-15: Go, TypeScript, Python, and C# SDKs all have open SEP-2640 PRs (Go passes conformance); the conformance suite merged; Inspector 2.6.0 shipped skills verification; Tachyon reports a server implementation. Adds an "in progress" status for open PRs. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: track Goose host support via the official issue Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: only tag community rows in the implementations list Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: tag MCP-project rows as official in the implementations list Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: split the implementations list into SDKs, servers, and hosts Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * docs: add MCPJam Inspector to hosts Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> * Revise implementations table format and content Updated the implementations table to include language and status columns. Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> * Correct links and clarify documentation references Updated links to SEP-2640 and clarified document references. Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> --------- Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> Co-authored-by: Sambhav Kothari <sambhavs.email@gmail.com> Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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Problem Statement
Agent Skills support in AI applications demonstrates demand for rich workflow instructions, but there's no convention for exposing equivalent functionality through MCP primitives.
Current Limitations
- Server instructions load only at initialization — new or updated skills require re-initializing the server
- Complex workflows exceed practical instruction size — some skills require hundreds of lines of markdown with references to bundled files, scripts, and examples
- No discovery mechanism — users installing MCP servers from a registry don't know if there's a corresponding skill they should also install
- Multi-server orchestration — skills may need to coordinate tools from multiple servers, which doesn't fit the single-server instruction model
Broader Context
Skills discoverability is a specific instance of a more general MCP challenge: context-as-resources discoverability and standardization of client host behavior around non-tool primitives. The ecosystem has largely optimized for tools, and patterns for how clients discover and consume other forms of context — including skills — remain underdeveloped. Solutions in this space are likely to have implications beyond skills alone.
MCP's value for skills goes beyond distribution; it provides an interaction model. MCP defines app, human, and assistant roles, giving skills a built-in framework for control model decisions (who sees the content, who decides when it loads). This makes MCP a natural complement to skills as a delivery channel for workflow instructions.
Key Use Cases
See use-cases.md for detailed use cases and community input. In summary:
- Complex Workflow Orchestration — Multi-step workflows requiring 875+ lines of instruction (e.g., mcpGraph)
- Conditional Workflows — Branching instructions dynamically loaded based on context
- Multi-Server Composition — Skills leveraging tools from multiple off-the-shelf servers
- Progressive Disclosure — Skills broken into linked file sets, loaded on demand
Open Questions
See open-questions.md for the full list of unresolved questions with community input.
For the value proposition and a guide on when MCP distribution applies, see why-and-when.md.