Actions vs Skills
Two kinds of the same thing: an Action is a code-backed skill with intent; a Skill is a markdown playbook. Both register into one pool.
OpenBook has two kinds of skills that pipe into one shared pool agents draw from. The difference is only how they're authored.
| Action | Skill | |
|---|---|---|
| What | A capability with intent — a callable the agent invokes to act | The same kind of thing, authored as a markdown playbook |
| Authored as | Code (plugin-shipped, built-in, or hand-registered) | Markdown (reviewed, then callable) |
| Examples | resend.send_email, http.request, content.fetch_rss | summarize_thread, a custom playbook |
| Surfaced on | the Actions page | the Skills page |
Both are the same underlying thing — a capability the agent calls. Activating a plugin registers its actions into the pool so agents can use them.
On the workflow canvas
A capability-leaf node is tagged by which kind it is: code-backed renders as Action, a markdown playbook renders as Skill. So when you add both to an agent, they're labeled correctly.