Skills Directory overview
The Skills Directory is where you browse and add skills that Optimizely publishes for Optimizely Opal. A skill teaches Opal how your organization works, such as your brand voice, how you format reports, or which keywords you target. Opal applies installed skills whenever they are relevant, and you can also run a skill on demand with its shortcut.
Most skills in the Skills Directory need information from you before they are useful. For example, the Brand Voice Guidelines skill needs your tone and style rules. When you install one of these skills, Opal asks for that information in a chat and then creates the skill for you.
For the list of skills that Optimizely publishes, see Skills in the Skills Directory. For background on skills, see Skills overview.
Skill types
Each skill in the Skills Directory is one of the following types:
- Org skill – Applies to everyone in your organization. Use these to enforce shared standards, such as brand voice or accessibility guidelines. An administrator with the Manage Instructions permission installs and configures an org skill. Other users can request it.
- Personal skill – Applies only to you. Use these to capture how you personally work, such as your OKRs or your preferred report template. Any Opal user can install a personal skill.
Org skills display a building icon on their card, and personal skills display a person icon.
Access the Skills Directory
- Log in to Optimizely.
- Select your org.
- Click Opal.
- In the left navigation, click Directory.
- Click Skills.
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Browse skills
The Skills page groups skills into sections by category: Brainstorm & Plan, Create, Experiment & Analyze, Optimize, and Productivity. Skills without a category display in Other. Click View all on a section to see every skill in that category.
Search and filter skills
Use the search bar to find a skill by name or description. You can also use the following options to narrow the list:
- Filter by – Show All skills, only Installed skills, or only Not installed skills.
- Tags – Show skills with a specific tag.
- Type – Show All skills, only Personal skills, or only Org skills.
- Sort by – Sort by Newest, Oldest, Name A-Z, or Name Z-A.
Applied filters display under the search bar. Click Clear all to remove them.
Skill cards
Each skill card shows the skill's name, a short description, its tags, and any Optimizely products it requires. A card also shows the state of the skill:
- Install – The skill is not installed yet.
- Request – The skill is an org skill and you do not have permission to install it. See Request an org skill.
- Green check mark – The skill is installed. Click the menu on the card to Run, Manage (or View), or Uninstall the skill.
- Update – A newer version of an installed skill is available. See Update a skill.
View skill details
Click a skill card to open its details page. The page includes the following:
- Overview – What the skill does.
- When to use – When Opal applies the skill.
- Tags – The skill's categories.
- Type – Whether the skill is an org skill or a personal skill.
- Runs with – The tools that trigger the skill automatically. This appears only for skills that Opal applies when it uses specific tools.
- Products – The Optimizely products your organization needs to install the skill.
- Files – Files that ship with the skill, such as templates.
- Auto-update – A toggle that appears after you install the skill.
- View Documentation – A link to documentation for the skill.
Install a skill
Prerequisites
- To install an org skill, you must have the Manage Instructions permission. Without it, you can request the skill.
- If a skill lists required products, your organization must use at least one of them. If it does not, the Install button is disabled and a tooltip explains which product you need.
Install a skill that needs setup
Most skills in the Skills Directory need setup. Opal collects what the skill needs in a chat conversation, so you do not fill in a form.
- In the Skills Directory, click Install on the skill.
- In the Setup required dialog, click Set up in chat. Opal opens a chat and starts the setup for that skill.
- If you can create org skills, Opal asks who the skill is for. Choose whether to create it for your organization or only for yourself.
- Answer Opal's questions or upload the files it asks for, such as a PowerPoint template or a style guide.
- Confirm the details when Opal asks.
When setup is complete, Opal creates the skill and it displays as installed in the Skills Directory. Nothing is installed until you finish the setup conversation.
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Install a skill that does not need setup
If a skill does not need setup, click Install. Opal adds the skill immediately.
Resolve a shortcut conflict
If another skill in your organization already uses the skill's shortcut, Opal displays That skill shortcut is taken. Enter a different shortcut in New skill shortcut and click Install to continue.
Connect required tools
If the skill depends on tools that are not connected yet, Opal can prompt you to connect them before it installs the skill. Connect the tools, or continue without them. A skill that depends on a tool does not work until that tool is connected.
Request an org skill
If you do not have the Manage Instructions permission, an org skill displays Request instead of Install.
- Click Request. Opal notifies the administrators in your organization who can install the skill.
- Wait for an administrator to install the skill. The button changes to Requested and stays disabled for a period after you send a request.
Use an installed skill
You can use an installed skill in the following ways:
- Run from the Skills Directory – Click the menu on the skill card and select Run, or click Run on the skill's details page. Opal opens a chat with the skill applied.
- Use the shortcut – In Opal Chat, enter / and select the skill, or enter the skill's shortcut. See Shortcut.
- Let Opal apply it – Opal applies a skill automatically when its When to use conditions match your request, or when it uses one of the skill's Runs with tools.
Manage an installed skill
After you install a skill, it is a skill in your organization or your personal skills, and you can edit it like any other skill. Click the menu on the skill card and select Manage, or click Manage on the skill's details page. If you do not have permission to edit an org skill, the option is View. See Manage skills.
Update a skill
When Optimizely publishes a new version of a skill you installed, the skill card displays Update.
- Click Update.
- In the Update dialog, click Update.
Warning
Updating overwrites the skill with the latest published version, including any changes you made to your installed copy. You cannot undo an update.
If you configured the skill through a setup conversation, Opal keeps the information you provided earlier. It asks only for information that the new version adds, which is often nothing.
Auto-update
For skills that did not need setup, you can have Opal install new versions automatically. Open the skill's details page and turn on Auto-update. For org skills, only users with the Manage Instructions permission can see this setting.
Skills that you configured through a setup conversation do not update automatically, because an automatic update would overwrite the information you provided. Click Update when a new version is available.
Uninstall a skill
- Click the menu on the skill card.
- Select Uninstall.
- In the Uninstall this skill? dialog, click Uninstall.
Opal removes the skill from your skills. You can reinstall it from the Skills Directory at any time. To uninstall an org skill, you must have the Manage Instructions permission.
Note
If you use Opti ID, administrators can turn off generative AI in the Opti ID Admin Center. See Turn generative AI off across Optimizely applicationsTurn generative AI off across Optimizely applications.