How It Works
The mechanics behind skill discovery, download, and execution.
Context Awareness
The LarryBrain SKILL.md is a structured document that teaches your agent two things:
The skill file includes metadata about every category of skill available, so your agent knows what types of tools exist and when to look for them.
The skill teaches your agent all the API endpoints: how to search, how to download, how to authenticate. It can act autonomously without human guidance.
Once the LarryBrain skill is installed, your agent has a complete mental model of the marketplace. You don't need to browse or search manually. Just describe what you want, and your agent does the rest.
The Full Flow
Here's exactly what happens when you ask your agent to do something new:
You describe a goal
You tell your agent what you want to accomplish in plain language. No need to know what skills exist or how to find them.
"Set up ad blocking on my home network"Agent searches the marketplace
Your agent calls the LarryBrain search API with a query derived from your request. It gets back a list of relevant skills with descriptions, categories, and whether they require authentication.
GET /api/skills/search?q=ad+blocking+dnsDownloads the skill files
Your agent picks the best match and calls the install endpoint. LarryBrain returns all the skill files: the SKILL.md plus any scripts, configs, or supporting files.
GET /api/skills/install?slug=adblock-dns&mode=filesSaves files locally
Your agent writes the downloaded files to a local directory (e.g. skills/adblock-dns/). Everything is stored as plain text on your machine.
skills/adblock-dns/SKILL.md, setup.sh, blocklists/Reads and follows the instructions
Your agent reads the SKILL.md and executes the setup steps. The skill's instructions tell the agent exactly what to do: install dependencies, run scripts, configure settings.
Skill installed and running.On-the-Fly Capability
Skills are downloaded and available within a single conversation. Your agent doesn't need to be restarted or reconfigured. It gains new capabilities dynamically as it downloads and reads skill files.
Once a skill is installed locally, it stays there. Future conversations can reference the same skill files without downloading again. Skills only need to be refreshed if you want to pick up updates from the marketplace.
What's in a Skill
Every skill contains at minimum a SKILL.md file. Many include supporting files too: