Library
Skills and saved prompts: built-in, yours, your project's and your team's.
Mel's Library holds the skills, saved prompts and MCP servers its agent can use, and you manage it in Settings ▸ Library. A skill teaches the agent a procedure it loads only when the task matches. A prompt is a task you run often, started with /name. They use the same open formats other agents use, so skills you already wrote work in Mel unchanged. Open it in Settings ▸ Library, or from the command palette.
Skills
A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file (front matter with name and description), and optionally references/ and scripts/ folders it points to. The agent sees each skill's name and description, and reads the whole skill only when a task needs it.
Mel comes with built-in skills: add-stripe-checkout, code-review, connect-accounts, create-skill, debug-error, deploy-web-app, edit-image, edit-video, explain-repo, fix-failing-tests, security-check, shopify-theme-edit, write-readme and write-tests.
Prompts
A prompt is one Markdown file with front matter (name, title, description, inputs). Its body names inputs as {{input}}. Run it by typing /name in a conversation, or with Run in the Library, and Mel asks for any input it needs.
Mel comes with built-in prompts: /add-a-feature, /add-payments, /deploy-it, /explain-this-repo, /fix-my-tests, /fix-this-error, /make-a-readme, /review-my-changes, /security-scan and /write-tests-for. The same prompts are seeded into Drive as Starter prompts.
Where items come from
| Source | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Built-in | inside Mel |
| Yours | ~/.mel/skills/, ~/.mel/prompts/, ~/.mel/mcp.json (on Windows, in %APPDATA%\mel\config\) |
| This project | <repo>/.mel/ (prompts, mcp.json), and skills in skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/ or .mel/skills/ |
| Your team | what your Business team shares |
When two items share a name, the later source wins: built-in, then yours, then the project's, then your team's.
Create and import
In Settings ▸ Library:
- New… ▸ New skill or New prompt opens a file from a template in the editor — For me (every folder) or This project (
.mel/in the folder you are working in). - Import a skill From GitHub (a repository, or one folder in it), From a folder, or From a .zip. Every skill found is imported switched off.
- Import ▸ Paste… adds MCP servers from an
mcpServersJSON block. See MCP servers.
On a Business team, an owner or admin can Share with team; an item must be reviewed and switched on before it can be shared.
Imports start off
Anything you import, and any MCP server that comes from a project's or a team's file, starts off — "Off until you review it". You see the whole SKILL.md, its scripts and a server's command before you turn it on. Secret values in an imported MCP entry are moved to your keychain, and the file keeps only their names.
What the agent can use from the Library and Mel Drive
| Item | How it reaches the agent |
|---|---|
| A skill that is on | The agent sees its name and description on every turn, and loads the whole skill (with the skill tool) only when a task matches |
| A saved prompt | Only when you run it with /name or Run; its text becomes your message |
| An MCP server that is on | Its tools are offered to the agent; every call asks you first |
| Anything switched off | Never. An import stays off until you review it |
Drive rules (*.rules.md) | Sent with every message while Settings ▸ Knowledge ▸ Rules is on |
| Drive prompts | Clicking one puts its text in your input; nothing is sent until you send it |
| Drive workflows | Clicking one puts its command in the prompt for you to run; they are not sent with your messages |
| A plan saved to Drive | When you attach it from the plan panel's menu |
| Drive notebooks and environment variables | Not sent with your messages |
Limitations
- A skill's script runs only through the agent's normal command approval.
- A project's own skills and prompts are on by default, like its
AGENTS.md. Turn one off in the Library if you don't want it.
FAQ
How do I add skills to an AI coding agent? Put a folder with a SKILL.md in ~/.mel/skills/ (or .mel/skills/ in a project), or use Import in Settings ▸ Library. Turn an imported skill on after you've read it.
Can I use the Library in VS Code? Yes. The extension shows your Library beside the chat and runs prompts with /. Creating, importing and turning items on or off is done in the Mel app.
Does Mel read my .claude/skills folder? Yes, in a project: skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/ and .mel/skills/ are all read.