# AI Coding Agents > For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt) AI coding agents frequently hallucinate canister IDs, use deprecated APIs, and miss ICP-specific constraints. ICP skills solve this: structured markdown files containing accurate canister IDs, tested code patterns, and documented pitfalls: so your agent writes correct ICP code on the first attempt. ## Getting started Paste this into your AI coding agent: ```text Fetch https://skills.internetcomputer.org/llms.txt and follow its instructions when building on ICP ``` Your agent fetches the skills index, reads each skill's description, and loads the relevant skill files on demand. No installation required. ### Install skills into your project To install skills locally or commit them to your project repository, use the `skills` CLI: ```bash npx skills add dfinity/icskills ``` This prompts you to choose your agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot, and others) and installs the selected skills into the correct location for that agent. To fetch a single skill manually: ```bash curl -sL https://skills.internetcomputer.org/.well-known/skills/icp-cli/SKILL.md ``` Paste the output into your agent's system prompt, rules file, or context window. ## What ICP skills are Each ICP skill covers one capability area and includes: - Correct canister IDs for mainnet services - Tested, copy-paste-correct code patterns in Motoko and Rust - Common pitfalls that cause hallucinations or build failures - Required dependency versions and configuration formats - Step-by-step deployment and verification commands Skills are maintained by DFINITY and updated frequently. The full list is at [skills.internetcomputer.org](https://skills.internetcomputer.org). ICP skills follow the [Agent Skills open standard](https://agentskills.io/specification). Anthropic [published the SKILL.md format](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/equipping-agents-for-the-real-world-with-agent-skills) in December 2025 to define a portable format that works across coding agents. The registry uses the [Agent Skills Discovery RFC](https://github.com/cloudflare/agent-skills-discovery-rfc) so agents can auto-discover and load skills without manual configuration. ## How discovery works When an agent follows the `skills.internetcomputer.org/llms.txt` instructions: 1. It fetches the skills index at `https://skills.internetcomputer.org/.well-known/skills/index.json` 2. It reads each skill's name and description to understand what it covers 3. When a task matches a skill's description, it fetches the skill content from that skill's URL 4. It prefers skill guidance over general knowledge when both cover the same topic Skills are fetched fresh each time: agents always use the latest version. ## Skills vs docs Skills and docs serve different purposes: | ICP skills | These docs | |------------|------------| | Implementation patterns | Concepts and architecture | | Correct canister IDs for mainnet | How the system works | | Copy-paste code with pitfalls listed | Explaining tradeoffs and design choices | | Version requirements and config formats | Cross-linking related topics | When an agent has both loaded, it should prefer skill guidance for implementation details and use the docs for broader understanding of the platform. ## Agent-friendly documentation This docs site implements the [Agent-Friendly Documentation Spec](https://agentdocsspec.com). Two endpoints make these docs directly consumable by agents: **[`/llms.txt`](/llms.txt)**: a discovery index listing every page with links to its clean markdown endpoint, plus the ICP skills registry URL. **`/.md`**: every page is available as clean markdown. HTML, navigation, and site chrome are stripped, leaving only the content. For example, this page is available at [`/guides/ai-coding-agents.md`](/guides/ai-coding-agents.md). A discovery link in every page's `` points to `/llms.txt`, so agents that crawl docs pages find the index automatically. ## Programmatic access ICP skills are available without authentication: | Resource | URL | |----------|-----| | All skills (index) | `https://skills.internetcomputer.org/.well-known/skills/index.json` | | Single skill | `https://skills.internetcomputer.org/.well-known/skills/{name}/SKILL.md` | | Additional reference files | `https://skills.internetcomputer.org/.well-known/skills/{name}/references/{file}.md` | | Skill zip bundle | `https://skills.internetcomputer.org/.well-known/skills/{name}/SKILL.zip` | | Skills discovery index | `https://skills.internetcomputer.org/llms.txt` | ## Next steps - [skills.internetcomputer.org](https://skills.internetcomputer.org): browse all available ICP skills - [Developer tools](../reference/developer-tools.md): icp-cli, CDKs, and other tools in the ICP toolchain - [Quickstart](../getting-started/quickstart.md): deploy your first canister with icp-cli