> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.parley.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Update a skill

> Replace a skill's SKILL.md (content) or everything it holds (uploadId), change when it's used, or turn it on or off. Omitted fields are left unchanged. A skill's slug and scope can't change. Returns 400 INVALID_REFERENCE when uploadId isn't an upload or nothing was uploaded to it, and 400 INVALID_SKILL when the SKILL.md or archive can't be read.



## OpenAPI

````yaml https://api.parley.so/openapi.json patch /skills/{slug}
openapi: 3.1.1
info:
  title: Parley API
  version: 1.0.0
  description: >-
    Manage Parley's projects (matters or cases), accounts (client
    organizations), contacts (people), tasks, custom fields, notes, files,
    activity, automations, and skills. Records refer to each other as { type,
    id, name } references; writes take IDs. Errors are { error: { code, message,
    details } }, where code names what went wrong and each operation lists the
    codes it can return. In a query string, write a timestamp's offset as Z or
    %2B, because a raw + arrives as a space. The MCP server at /mcp offers the
    same data as a smaller set of tools.
servers:
  - url: https://api.parley.so/v1
security:
  - bearerAuth: []
tags:
  - name: Projects
    description: >-
      A project is a matter or case: it groups the files, notes, activity, and
      tasks for one engagement, and links to the accounts and contacts it
      involves.
  - name: Accounts
    description: >-
      An account is a client organization. Contacts belong to it, and projects
      link to it.
  - name: Contacts
    description: >-
      A contact is a person, optionally belonging to one account and linked to
      projects.
  - name: Tasks
    description: >-
      A task is a to-do with a status, assignee, and due date, optionally about
      one project, account, or contact.
  - name: Fields
    description: >-
      Custom fields defined for projects, accounts, contacts, or tasks. Records
      carry their values in fields, keyed by field name.
  - name: Notes
    description: >-
      Markdown notes on a project, account, or contact. Updates take the version
      you last read, so concurrent edits fail with 409 VERSION_CONFLICT instead
      of overwriting.
  - name: Files
    description: >-
      Files and folders of a project, account, contact, or intake, or the
      organization's Library. Add a file by creating an upload, PUTting its
      bytes, and adding the upload to a location.
  - name: Activity
    description: >-
      What happened across the organization or on one record: changes, links,
      notes, files, USCIS case updates, and synced emails and meetings. Each
      item's kind says which details it carries.
  - name: Sessions
    description: >-
      Conversations with Parley's assistant, from the web app, Word, Outlook,
      automation runs, and the API. Start one with a message, follow up or steer
      it while it works, and read its replies.
  - name: Automations
    description: >-
      Instructions Parley's assistant carries out on a schedule, as the person
      who created them, with nobody present.
  - name: Skills
    description: >-
      Reusable playbooks for Parley's assistant: a SKILL.md plus optional
      bundled documents, addressed by slug.
  - name: Users
    description: The people in your organization, and the caller.
paths:
  /skills/{slug}:
    patch:
      tags:
        - Skills
      summary: Update a skill
      description: >-
        Replace a skill's SKILL.md (content) or everything it holds (uploadId),
        change when it's used, or turn it on or off. Omitted fields are left
        unchanged. A skill's slug and scope can't change. Returns 400
        INVALID_REFERENCE when uploadId isn't an upload or nothing was uploaded
        to it, and 400 INVALID_SKILL when the SKILL.md or archive can't be read.
      operationId: updateSkill
      parameters:
        - name: slug
          in: path
          required: true
          schema:
            type: string
            maxLength: 64
            pattern: ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$
            description: The skill's slug.
      requestBody:
        required: false
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                content:
                  type: string
                  maxLength: 100000
                  description: >-
                    The skill's SKILL.md, which replaces the current one and
                    keeps the bundled documents: YAML frontmatter with a name
                    (up to 120 characters) and a description (up to 2,000), then
                    the instructions in markdown, 100,000 characters in all. For
                    an auto skill, the description is what the assistant matches
                    tasks against, so say when to use it. Refer to a bundled
                    document by its path, such as
                    references/engagement-letter.docx.
                uploadId:
                  type: string
                  minLength: 1
                  description: >-
                    The id of an upload, once its bytes have been PUT to its
                    url, holding the whole skill, which replaces everything it
                    holds: a .skill or .zip archive with SKILL.md at its root or
                    inside one top-level folder, plus any documents under
                    references/ (pdf, doc, docx, md, txt, json, csv, html, pptx,
                    xls, xlsx; up to 100 files and 25 MB), or a single .md file
                    used as SKILL.md. A manifest.yaml in the archive is ignored.
                activation:
                  enum:
                    - auto
                    - on-demand
                  type: string
                  description: >-
                    When the skill is used. auto: Parley's assistant uses it
                    whenever its description fits the task. on-demand: only when
                    someone runs it, from a project's Run Skill list or by
                    typing /<slug> in a message.
                enabled:
                  type: boolean
                  description: Turn the skill on or off.
              additionalProperties: false
      responses:
        '200':
          description: OK
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Skill'
        '400':
          description: >-
            The request was invalid. VALIDATION_FAILED, INVALID_REFERENCE,
            INVALID_SKILL.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                oneOf:
                  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ValidationFailedError'
                  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/InvalidReferenceError'
                  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/InvalidSkillError'
        '401':
          description: Missing or invalid credentials. UNAUTHORIZED.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/UnauthorizedError'
        '403':
          description: You don't have permission. FORBIDDEN.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ForbiddenError'
        '404':
          description: Not found. NOT_FOUND.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/NotFoundError'
        '429':
          description: Too many requests, or a usage limit was reached. TOO_MANY_REQUESTS.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/TooManyRequestsError'
components:
  schemas:
    Skill:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          minLength: 1
          description: The skill ID.
        slug:
          type: string
          description: >-
            The skill's folder name, chosen when the skill is created. It is how
            the skill is addressed, and the name the assistant loads it by.
        name:
          type: string
          description: The skill name, from its SKILL.md.
        description:
          type: string
          description: What the skill is for, from its SKILL.md.
        scope:
          enum:
            - organization
            - personal
          type: string
          description: >-
            Who can use the skill. organization: everyone in the organization.
            personal: only the person who created it.
        activation:
          enum:
            - auto
            - on-demand
          type: string
          description: >-
            When the skill is used. auto: Parley's assistant uses it whenever
            its description fits the task. on-demand: only when someone runs it,
            from a project's Run Skill list or by typing /<slug> in a message.
        enabled:
          type: boolean
          description: Whether the skill is on. Parley never uses a skill that is off.
        createdAt:
          type: string
          format: date-time
          description: When the skill was created.
        updatedAt:
          type: string
          format: date-time
          description: When the skill was last changed.
      required:
        - id
        - slug
        - name
        - description
        - scope
        - activation
        - enabled
        - createdAt
        - updatedAt
    ValidationFailedError:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            code:
              type: string
              const: VALIDATION_FAILED
            message:
              type: string
              examples:
                - The request is invalid.
            details:
              type: object
              properties:
                issues:
                  type: array
                  items:
                    type: object
                    properties:
                      path:
                        type: string
                        description: >-
                          Where the problem is, as a dotted path into the input
                          such as accountIds.add.0 or reminder.remindAt. Empty
                          for the input as a whole.
                      message:
                        type: string
                        description: What is wrong with the value.
                    required:
                      - path
                      - message
                  description: Each problem with the input.
              required:
                - issues
          required:
            - code
            - message
            - details
      required:
        - error
    InvalidReferenceError:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            code:
              type: string
              const: INVALID_REFERENCE
            message:
              type: string
              examples:
                - >-
                  The request refers to a record or user that doesn't exist or
                  that you can't use.
            details:
              type: object
              properties:
                field:
                  type: string
                  description: The input that holds the reference, such as accountIds.
                ids:
                  type: array
                  items:
                    type: string
                  description: The IDs that could not be used.
              required:
                - field
                - ids
          required:
            - code
            - message
            - details
      required:
        - error
    InvalidSkillError:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            code:
              type: string
              const: INVALID_SKILL
            message:
              type: string
              examples:
                - The skill could not be read.
          required:
            - code
            - message
      required:
        - error
    UnauthorizedError:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            code:
              type: string
              const: UNAUTHORIZED
            message:
              type: string
              examples:
                - Missing or invalid credentials.
          required:
            - code
            - message
      required:
        - error
    ForbiddenError:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            code:
              type: string
              const: FORBIDDEN
            message:
              type: string
              examples:
                - You don't have permission to do this.
          required:
            - code
            - message
      required:
        - error
    NotFoundError:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            code:
              type: string
              const: NOT_FOUND
            message:
              type: string
              examples:
                - Not found.
          required:
            - code
            - message
      required:
        - error
    TooManyRequestsError:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            code:
              type: string
              const: TOO_MANY_REQUESTS
            message:
              type: string
              examples:
                - Too many requests.
          required:
            - code
            - message
      required:
        - error
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      description: A Parley API key.

````

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