Skills Code MCP Server

This folder contains a Code MCP server template implementing the conversational agent skills pattern in SAS Retrieval Agent Manager (RAM).

Instead of injecting the full content of procedural instructions, step-by-step guides, or whatever context you include in the skill into the agent’s system prompt, this server exposes an invoke_skill tool. Only the names and descriptions of all included skills are in the agent’s context.

When the agent determines a task requires a specific skill, it invokes that skill with the skill name to dynamically load the full content of the skill. This is often referred to as progressive disclosure.

For more information see: Anthropic Skills

Users can add, customize, or remove skills simply by uploading or modifying Markdown files in the code template without changing Python code.

Template Files

run.py: MCP tool implementation and dynamic skill discovery.
example_skills/: Sample markdown skill files demonstrating YAML frontmatter headers.
- table_formatter.md: Instructions for converting raw data into clean Markdown tables.
- text_summarizer.md: Guidelines for summarizing articles and transcripts into executive summaries.
- support_ticket_analyzer.md: Steps for extracting category, sentiment, and priority from support inquiries.

Tools

`invoke_skill(skill_name: str) -> str`

Loads and returns the procedural instructions for a skill by name.

Input: skill_name (string, case-insensitive)
Output: The markdown body of the requested skill instructions
Tool description: Dynamically generated on startup containing the XML catalog of all discovered skills:

<available_skills>
  <skill>
    <name>support_ticket_analyzer</name>
    <description>Analyzes customer support inquiries to extract issue category, customer sentiment, and priority level.</description>
  </skill>
  <skill>
    <name>table_formatter</name>
    <description>Formats unorganized text, data records, or raw lists into clean Markdown tables.</description>
  </skill>
  <skill>
    <name>text_summarizer</name>
    <description>Summarizes lengthy articles, transcripts, or reports into structured executive briefings.</description>
  </skill>
</available_skills>

Creating and Adding Skills

Skills are regular Markdown (.md) files placed in the template directory alongside run.py or in subdirectories.

Skill Format with Frontmatter

To specify a custom skill name and description, add a YAML frontmatter block at the top of the file:

---
name: my_custom_skill
description: Explains how to complete a specific task.
---
# My Custom Skill

Step-by-step instructions for the agent follow here.

Skill Format without Frontmatter

If frontmatter is omitted, the server uses the filename stem (without .md) as the skill name, leaves the description empty, and treats the entire file as the skill body.

Rules and Conventions

Skill names are case-insensitive when invoked.
README.md is automatically ignored during file scanning.
Hidden files and folders (names starting with .) are ignored.
Duplicate skill names will cause an error on startup to prevent ambiguous tool lookups.

Environment Variables (Optional)

No environment variables are required for this example.

How to add skills

On the Code Templates page in RAM, create a new Code MCP Server.
On the Code tab:
- Hit + and add run.py
- Copy the content of run.py into the editor’s run.py.
- Upload new files for your skills with the “Browse” button (for example, upload files from example_skills/).
Save it and add it to a custom MCP Tool Server