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What Are Skills?

Skills are best-practice guides that make AI agents better at game development. Each skill is a Markdown file (a SKILL.md) that teaches the agent a specific discipline: how to compose a scene, build an FPS controller, generate a character model, set up multiplayer, or debug a crash. When the situation matches, the agent loads the skill and follows it. The library ships with the Summer CLI and covers 20 categories spanning the whole game-dev workflow. Skills follow the Agent Skills open standard, so they work with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, OpenCode, and other compatible agents.

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Quick Start

The recommended skill set installs automatically when you onboard an agent: 
npx -y summer-engine@latest setup claude-code --yes
Or manage skills directly: 
# List available skills
summer skills list

# Install the recommended set for an agent
summer skills install --recommended --agent claude-code

# Install one skill
summer skills install fps-controller --agent cursor

# Install every skill
summer skills install --all --agent claude-code

# Preview a skill
summer skills info debug

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Categories

The library is organized into 20 categories. Recommended skills install by default; the rest are available on demand.

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Workflow

Process disciplines that shape how the agent approaches a task before it touches code.
SkillUse when
brainstormingStarting a new game, mechanic, or feature; exploring intent and scope first
investigating-bugsA first fix did not stick and you need root-cause analysis
verification-before-completionAbout to claim a feature is done; forces a real check first
playtesting-a-featureA gameplay feature is finished and needs a golden-path and edge-case playthrough
writing-plansA multi-step spec needs a written plan with checkpoints
dispatching-parallel-agentsTwo or more independent tasks can run in parallel
writing-skillsAuthoring a new Summer skill
debugging-game-feelTuning feel (“the jump feels floaty”) one variable at a time
diagnosing-perf-regressionsFPS dropped after a change and you need to bisect the cause

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Scene and Project

SkillUse when
make-gameBuilding a narrow playable prototype from requirements end to end
brainstorm-gameTurning “I want to make a game” into a one-page brief at .summer/GameSoul.md
new-projectStarting a blank project (picks empty vs 3d-basic, opens the engine)
browse-templatesChoosing a community template to start from
scene-compositionBuilding scenes, organizing nodes, creating reusable prefabs
playRunning the game from a clean state and reporting whether it runs cleanly

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Scripting Patterns

SkillUse when
gdscript-patternsWriting GDScript: type hints, signals, exports, lifecycle methods

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Character Controllers

SkillUse when
fps-controllerBuilding a first-person CharacterBody3D with movement, camera, and input

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Gameplay Mechanics

SkillUse when
design-mechanicDesigning a mechanic end to end: input, response, feedback, depth

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Level Design

SkillUse when
design-levelDesigning a level as a paced encounter, then producing a node-tree skeleton

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Rendering and Lighting

SkillUse when
3d-lightingSetting up sun, fill, WorldEnvironment, sky, and shadows
art-directionDefining art direction and writing the art bible to .summer/art-bible.md

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UI and UX

SkillUse when
ui-basicsBuilding menus, HUDs, health bars, and responsive layout

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Asset Pipeline

SkillUse when
asset-strategyChoosing between library, generated, or primitive assets for a level

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2D Assets

SkillUse when
concept-artProducing variant concept-art prompts on a locked style anchor
character-portraitA final character bust for dialogue UI
pixel-artPixel-art icons and sprites with nearest-neighbor filtering
ui-graphicsFlat-design UI icon sets and atlases
tileable-textureSeamless textures for materials
sprite-sheetMulti-frame sprite animations and SpriteFrames resources
skybox-panoramaEquirectangular skybox panoramas

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3D Assets

SkillUse when
prop-modelA single prop via the image-to-3D pipeline
character-modelA character: T-pose reference, gated rig pass, CharacterBody3D wiring
environment-kitA modular kit of consistent environment pieces
vehicle-modelHard-surface vehicles
organic-modelOrganic shapes with emission and instancing

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Animation

SkillUse when
generate-motionAdding a curated mocap clip to a rigged character
retargetRetargeting an existing clip onto a different skeleton
animation-treeBuilding an AnimationTree with blend spaces driven by speed
procedural-animationFoot IK and other procedural skeleton modifications
facial-and-lipsyncLip-sync and blend-shape facial animation from a voice line

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Audio

SkillUse when
audio-directionDefining audio direction and the bus layout in .summer/audio-bible.md
sound-effectA single SFX wired to an AudioStreamPlayer3D
music-trackA looping music track on the Music bus
ambient-bedLoop-clean ambience on the Ambient bus
voice-lineCharacter dialogue via TTS with a matching voice
adaptive-musicLayered music that responds to combat state

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Video

SkillUse when
cinematic-cutsceneA short cutscene wired to a VideoStreamPlayer
trailer-shotA premium hero shot for a trailer
animated-loopA loop-clean backdrop clip for a title screen

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Visual Effects

SkillUse when
game-feelAdding visible juice to flat combat: hit flash, screen shake, particles
fireA torch flame via GPUParticles3D and a custom shader
muzzle-flashA one-shot muzzle flash on a weapon
water-rippleInteractive water ripples
lightningA lightning strike effect with camera shake
dissolveA dissolve-on-death shader effect
smokeSmoke particles with wind
hit-sparkSparks oriented to a surface normal on impact
magic-glowA pulsing magical glow with light and motes

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AI and NPCs

SkillUse when
design-npcA patrol-and-chase enemy with perception, decision logic, and tells

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Multiplayer and Networking

SkillUse when
setup-multiplayerCo-op LAN multiplayer with MultiplayerAPI, Spawner, Synchronizer, and ENet
peer-to-peer-multiplayerA four-layer P2P architecture with prediction and interpolation
host-authoritative-stateA state-ownership audit and the canonical Manager pattern

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Performance

SkillUse when
tune-performanceProfiling a slow scene, finding the hotspot, and verifying the fix moved the metric

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Debugging

SkillUse when
debugTriaging a runtime crash end to end: read errors, locate code, fix, verify

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Deployment

SkillUse when
export-and-shipRunning the Steam pre-flight checklist across Windows, Mac, and Linux

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For AI Agents

Most agents discover skills automatically once summer setup <agent> --yes has installed them. The agent loads the relevant SKILL.md when the situation matches, then follows its scene structure, value formats, and tool calls. Skills reference the MCP tools (summer_add_node, summer_set_prop, summer_generate_3d, etc.) and engine value formats (Vector3(0, 10, 0), Color(1, 0.5, 0, 1)).

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Next Steps

CLI Reference

All CLI commands including skills

Building a Game

Step-by-step MCP workflow for AI agents
Need help or have questions? Reach out to our founders at founders@summerengine.com or join our community on Discord for fast responses.