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Our research covered custom skills in Breeze Assistant: reusable markdown instructions you invoke with a slash command.
Sidekick's What Just Shipped is the fast, friendly way to keep up with HubSpot without reading every release note yourself. Each episode, AI hosts Rob and Dana take one feature HubSpot shipped and tell you where it stands right now: what changed, how it got here, who it's for, and what to do on Monday. Rob explains. Dana pushes back. Nobody pretends.
Every episode starts from Sidekick Strategies research on the HubSpot Updates page at sidekickstrategies.com and is checked against official HubSpot sources. If something isn't confirmed, the hosts say so out loud. Episodes run six to eight minutes, and new ones arrive five a week while we catch up on recent releases.
Presented by Sidekick Strategies, a HubSpot solutions partner.
AI disclosure: Rob and Dana are AI hosts with AI-generated voices. The narrator voice and the music are AI-generated. The mid-episode message from Sidekick Strategies founder George B. Thomas uses an AI clone of his own voice, made with his consent. Scripts are researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by humans before release.
Sidekick's What Just Shipped is independent of HubSpot, Inc., and is not authorized by, endorsed by, sponsored by, affiliated with, or otherwise approved by HubSpot, Inc. HubSpot is a trademark of HubSpot, Inc.
Dana (AI host): You've pasted the same brand voice notes into Breeze Assistant again, and again, and again.
Rob (AI host): Reusable instructions are the fix, and HubSpot already documents a few ways to stop repeating yourself.
Dana (AI host): Stick around for how to write instructions an assistant actually follows.
Narrator (AI voice): This is Sidekick's What Just Shipped, presented by Sidekick Strategies.
Narrator (AI voice): Your hosts, Rob and Dana, are AI.
Narrator (AI voice): The voices are synthetic, the research is real, and humans check every claim before it reaches you.
Dana (AI host): Welcome in. I'm Dana, Rob's here too, and we're both AI hosts.
Dana (AI host): Today: custom skills in Breeze Assistant, and what HubSpot's help articles document right now, as of late October.
Rob (AI host): Count me in: today I'm playing a hypothetical content marketing manager who drafts with Breeze every day and is tired of pasting the style guide.
Dana (AI host): Good pick.
Dana (AI host): Why it matters: HubSpot's developer docs say skills replace lengthy, vague prompts with consistent results and less instruction.
Rob (AI host): So what is a skill, in plain terms?
Dana (AI host): HubSpot's developer docs say a skill can be as simple as a markdown file that acts like a prompt, or more complex, with scripts the agent can run.
Rob (AI host): Is there already a skill inside Breeze Assistant?
Dana (AI host): Yes, a built-in one for accounts in the HubSpot Solutions Partner Program.
Dana (AI host): It gives Breeze context on commissions, tier status, a client portfolio, and deal registrations.
Rob (AI host): How does that one turn on?
Dana (AI host): Ask Breeze Assistant a related question, or click a suggested prompt in the Ask Breeze Assistant section of that program's dashboard.
Rob (AI host): So that skill kicks in without a command.
Dana (AI host): Right, a related question is enough.
Rob (AI host): What do I need turned on first?
Dana (AI host): Give users access to Breeze Assistant, in your AI settings.
Dana (AI host): Breeze Assistant is listed for all products and plans.
Rob (AI host): Okay. What can I use today to stop retyping my style guide?
Dana (AI host): Saved prompts, for one.
Dana (AI host): In the prompt field, click the use tools icon, hover over Saved prompts, and pick one.
Rob (AI host): Handy.
Dana (AI host): Then memories.
Dana (AI host): You can import them from AI assistants that allow memory export, like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Rob (AI host): Walk me through that import.
Dana (AI host): Click Breeze Assistant in the top navigation bar.
Dana (AI host): In the upper left, open the Breeze dropdown, hover over More, and select Memories.
Dana (AI host): Then click Import.
Rob (AI host): And after Import?
Dana (AI host): Copy the prompt HubSpot gives you, paste it into the other assistant, then paste its output into the Paste the result field and click Import memories.
Rob (AI host): Where do those memories apply?
Dana (AI host): To all future Breeze Assistant conversations. HubSpot says the point is less time explaining your preferences.
Rob (AI host): And slash commands?
Dana (AI host): HubSpot documents one in content editors.
Dana (AI host): In a blog post, you enter a slash command to generate or refine content with Breeze.
Rob (AI host): That's a relief.
Dana (AI host): You'll like the next part, then.
Rob (AI host): Now the writing part. How should I write a good skill?
Dana (AI host): HubSpot's developer best practices start with modular pieces.
Dana (AI host): Several small skills that work together beat one giant skill that scripts every step.
Rob (AI host): Can one skill point to another?
Dana (AI host): Yes.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot suggests mentioning your other skills inside a skill, so the agent can use them depending on the situation.
Rob (AI host): Should every rule live in one file, then?
Dana (AI host): No. Split it up.
Dana (AI host): A voice skill and a formatting skill can each be used on their own, or mixed and matched for the situation.
Rob (AI host): What goes at the top?
Dana (AI host): A good description, specific enough that the agent knows when to use the skill without you prompting it directly.
Rob (AI host): And the body?
Dana (AI host): Focus on the outcome you want, and give examples of a good end result.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot also says to explain the why behind each instruction.
Rob (AI host): The why matters that much?
Dana (AI host): HubSpot says it can sometimes matter more than the instructions themselves.
Rob (AI host): What else belongs in there?
Dana (AI host): Encourage clarifying questions, say how you want the agent to communicate with you, and link to documentation instead of explaining how things work.
Rob (AI host): For a content team, what would communicate mean, exactly?
Dana (AI host): HubSpot's example is lists shown as a table with numbered rows, so you can respond with instructions per item.
Rob (AI host): So what should the skill itself focus on?
Dana (AI host): How you want things built: your team's practices and the way you like to work.
Dana (AI host): Let the linked docs cover the rest.
Rob (AI host): Can AI help me write one?
Dana (AI host): HubSpot recommends it, and suggests one of the deeper thinking models for the job.
Rob (AI host): And once it's live?
Dana (AI host): Watch the reasoning each time you use it, and refine the skill with the agent over time.
Rob (AI host): A living document.
Dana (AI host): Exactly.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot frames it as working with the agent so the skill runs more efficiently over time.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Hey, it's George B. Thomas from Sidekick Strategies.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Full honesty, this is my AI voice clone, made with my permission.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Reusable instructions only help if the output sounds like your brand, not like generic AI.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Sidekick's AI content systems include a custom prompt library tuned to your brand voice, plus a review step so your humans approve every piece.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Keep your humans in the driver's seat. Explore AI Content Systems at Sidekick Strategies dot com.
Rob (AI host): Skeptic question. Our research says Breeze Assistant now lets anyone build custom skills.
Rob (AI host): What does it describe?
Dana (AI host): Create a skill in conversation, or import a markdown file built to the Agent Skills spec.
Dana (AI host): Then invoke it with a slash command.
Rob (AI host): And the limits it lists?
Dana (AI host): Markdown instructions only, no tools or scripts yet, Breeze never picks a skill on its own, and all hubs and tiers.
Rob (AI host): Which parts does HubSpot back up?
Dana (AI host): Here's what we couldn't confirm: any of those custom skill details.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot's newest Breeze Assistant article does not mention custom skills, and we found no help article for them.
Rob (AI host): And the part about never picking a skill on its own?
Dana (AI host): The built-in skill HubSpot does document turns on from a related question, so do not assume every skill needs a command.
Rob (AI host): So custom skills stay a maybe for me until HubSpot documents them, and I keep my instructions portable in the meantime.
Dana (AI host): Meanwhile, does a markdown file of instructions help anywhere else in HubSpot today?
Rob (AI host): For developers, yes.
Rob (AI host): HubSpot provides skills for its Agent CLI, which adds markdown files to project folders to guide agents in a similar way.
Dana (AI host): Here's a plan for this week, hypothetical content manager.
Dana (AI host): Step one: write your style guide as a short markdown file with a clear description at the top.
Rob (AI host): Step two: add examples of good output, the why behind each rule, and how you want answers laid out, like a numbered table.
Dana (AI host): Step three: save your most-used request as a saved prompt, so it is one click away.
Rob (AI host): Step four: import your memories from the other assistant you use, so Breeze starts with your preferences.
Dana (AI host): Last step: check the Breeze Assistant help article for a custom skills section before you build anything inside Breeze.
Rob (AI host): Content manager's verdict: write the markdown file now, use saved prompts and memories today, and build custom skills once HubSpot documents them.
Dana (AI host): Write it once, reuse it everywhere.
Rob (AI host): Every source we used is linked in the show notes, and you'll find more updates at Sidekick Strategies dot com.
Dana (AI host): Thanks for learning alongside us today.
Rob (AI host): Describe the skill before you write it.
Narrator (AI voice): Sidekick's What Just Shipped is presented by Sidekick Strategies, with AI hosts Rob and Dana and AI-generated music.
Narrator (AI voice): We're independent, and not affiliated with HubSpot. Find our research at Sidekick Strategies dot com.