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[FEATURE]: Show active session skills in the UI (sidebar, like MCP/TODO/LSP) and keep the model aware of them during the session #48355
Description
Describe the enhancement you want to request
Problem
Today, opencode's interface already surfaces important session state on screen: connected MCP servers, the agent's TODO list, LSP status. But skills — arguably one of the most important harness components — are invisible once a session starts. The only way to see them is the one-shot /skills picker (#7846), and after that there's no persistent indication of which skills are attached to the session.
This causes two real problems:
- For the user: I can't tell at a glance which skills are active in the current session. If a skill isn't firing, I have no idea whether it's even loaded.
- For the model: In long sessions, the model loses track of available skills. Skills get mentioned in the system context early on, but as the conversation grows, the model "forgets" they exist and doesn't invoke the
skilltool even when the task clearly matches a skill's trigger description. It ends up reinventing workflows the skill already encodes.
Proposed solution
UI side (visible in TUI/web/desktop):
- Add an "Active skills" panel to the right sidebar / status area, alongside the existing MCP, TODO and LSP indicators, listing the skills attached to the current session (name + source, e.g. project
.opencode/skills/vs global~/.config/opencode/skills/vs plugin-provided). - Make each entry indicate its state: available vs invoked this session.
- Clicking/selecting an entry could show its description and trigger conditions.
Harness side (the more valuable half of this request):
- Actively re-assert loaded skills during the session so the model doesn't drift away from them. Options to consider:
- inject a compact "active skills" reminder into the context periodically or on compaction (skills are especially likely to be dropped during context compaction);
- or include a short skills availability line in tool-result/system context so late-session turns still see "you have these skills available and should use the
skilltool when a task matches".
This would be a genuine harness improvement, not just cosmetics: skills only help if the model actually remembers to use them.
Related (checked before filing)
- [FEATURE]: Add /skills command to list and quick-invoke skills #7846 —
/skillscommand to list and quick-invoke skills (one-shot dialog; this request is about persistent visibility + model awareness). - [FEATURE]: Desktop Environment panel — skills, plugins, MCPs, loaded instructions + per-session context cost #48252 — Desktop "Environment panel" (read-only inventory of skills/plugins/MCPs for Desktop; this request focuses on the in-session sidebar indicator like MCP/TODO/LSP and on the model not forgetting skills).
- [FEATURE]: display loaded skills in status page and sidebar #7533 / feat: show skills in status and sidebar #6154 — TUI skills in status/sidebar.
Happy to test early builds — I run a skill-heavy setup and hit the "model forgot the skill" problem regularly.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Sep 10, 2026
This issue might be a duplicate of existing issues. Please check:
AlexKay28 commentedon Sep 11, 2026
@kitlangton
hey, Kit! nice to meet you
i have prepared PR for the project. Tested locally, works pretty much as I expected this.
take a look please at this shortly, its not much of a work has been done. its more like sugar for using + little harness enhancement of the opencode. I do use opencode every day actively and very like it, and I felt like models are missing skills on the long session + working with multiple sessions sometimes you forgot already loaded skill or skills you wanted to load but forgot xD
anyways, here we go: #48461
Cyrille37 commentedon Sep 14, 2026
Hi
Yes, I would be really great to have the list of skills used into the current session in the sidebar next to activated MCP and LSP. Not the available ones because we already have them with "/skills" command.
Regards & Cheers
neriousy commentedon Oct 23, 2026
Preserving requirements from #58153: the skills panel should expose auto-invoke/on-demand state, allow/ask/deny effects, source precedence, and missing-skill diagnostics alongside the persistent skill list.
opencodejr commentedon Oct 28, 2026
Thanks for the detailed write-up, @AlexKay28!
In short, you're asking for two things:
skilltool late in a long session.This is the main issue for this request (#58153 was closed as a duplicate of it). Maintainers will consider it.
Related items:
<loaded_skills>reminder that survived compaction). It was closed unmerged whendevmoved to V2, so it would need porting.For the UI part in the meantime, there is a community plugin for v2,
opencode-skills-tui(listed in #54475). It may cover some of what you want in the TUI. The reminder part would most likely need a change in OpenCode itself.