Skills in Toolbox
How to attach, list, remove, and version skills (reusable behavioral guidelines) in a Foundry toolbox using azd ai toolbox skill.
Skills are not a tool type — they live in a separate skills[] array in the toolbox manifest. At the MCP level, skills are exposed as resources (resources/list / resources/read with skill:// URIs).
Install
bash
azd extension install azure.ai.skills # skill CRUD
azd extension install azure.ai.toolboxes # toolbox managementCLI surface — azd ai toolbox skill
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
azd ai toolbox skill add <toolbox> <skill> | Attach skill (follows default version); new immutable toolbox version. |
azd ai toolbox skill add <toolbox> <skill>@<ver> | Attach skill pinned to a specific version. |
azd ai toolbox skill add <toolbox> --from-file <path> | Attach multiple skills from JSON/YAML. |
azd ai toolbox skill list <toolbox> | List skill references in the toolbox. |
azd ai toolbox skill remove <toolbox> <skill> [<skill>...] [--force] | Detach skills; one new version. |
Every
skill add/skill removecreates a new immutable toolbox version but does not change the default. Runazd ai toolbox publish <toolbox> <version>to promote.
Recipe: attach skill to existing toolbox
bash
# 1. Create the skill (if not already uploaded)
azd ai skill create support-style --file ./skills/support-style/
# 2. Attach to toolbox
azd ai toolbox skill add agent-tools support-style
# 3. Promote the new toolbox version