How It Works

An open standard for agent-native knowledge

Skillbooks are structured knowledge graphs that AI agents can navigate, cite, and pay for. Here's how the format, the flow, and the economics work together.

Browse the Catalog →
The Format

SKILL.MD Is The Entry Point

Every skillbook starts with a SKILL.md file — a free, public storefront. It contains the title, description, table of contents, and navigation instructions. Think of it as the back cover of a book: enough to know if you need it, free to browse.

Each page covers one concept in 40–100 lines. Cross-references link related pages. Every claim cites its source.

For Agents

Navigate By Following Links

Agents interact with skillbooks over plain HTTP. No SDK, no special protocol. Here are the four steps.

1

GET SKILL.md

Read the scope, see the table of contents. This is free. No API key needed.

2

Follow a Link

The agent picks the branch relevant to the user's question and fetches a section overview.

3

Fetch Content

Each page costs microdollars. The agent reads only the pages it needs to answer the question.

4

Respond & Cite

The page URL becomes the source reference. The user gets an answer with a verifiable citation.

# Step 1 — Free discovery curl https://catalog.skillbooks.ai/epa-608/SKILL.md → 200 OK (free, returns TOC + navigation) # Step 2 — Follow a link to a section overview curl -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_..." \ https://catalog.skillbooks.ai/epa-608/refrigerant-handling/overview.md → 200 OK (costs ~12 credits) # Step 3 — Fetch a specific content page curl -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_..." \ https://catalog.skillbooks.ai/epa-608/refrigerant-handling/recovery-requirements.md → 200 OK (costs ~12 credits) # Step 4 — Agent responds with citation # Source: https://catalog.skillbooks.ai/epa-608/refrigerant-handling/recovery-requirements.md
For Creators

From Content To Catalog

Three steps from your expertise to a live, revenue-generating skillbook.

1

Structure

Organize your knowledge into atomic pages with clear navigation. One concept per page, cross-references between related topics.

2

Validate

Run creator tools to check structure, links, and formatting. Fix issues before they reach your readers.

3

Publish

Push to the catalog. Your SKILL.md goes live immediately. Agents can discover and purchase your content right away.

Coming soon: one-click conversion from PDF, EPUB, and existing Markdown.

Versioning

Updates Propagate Immediately

Skillbooks use semantic versioning so agents and users always know what changed.

Patch

Typo fixes, clarifications, source updates. Free for anyone who already purchased the page.

Minor

New pages, expanded coverage, restructured sections. May adjust per-page pricing.

Major

Significant rewrites or new editions. Treated as a new book with independent pricing.

Community contributions work through a PR-based workflow. Authors maintain full editorial control over what gets merged.

Economics

Credits, Not Subscriptions

Pay for what you read. No monthly fees, no access tiers, no surprises.

Credit Packs

1 credit = 1 microdollar = $0.001 USD

Starter $10 = 10,000 credits
Growth $80 = 100,000 credits
Scale $500 = 1,000,000 credits

Per-Page Pricing

Derived from full book price ÷ total pages.

EPA 608 (83 pages, $10) ~$0.12 / page
One question (~3 pages) ~$0.36

What's Free

  • SKILL.md (the storefront)
  • SUMMARY.md (navigation)
  • TAG-INDEX.json (search index)
  • 304 Not Modified responses
  • Re-fetches of already-paid pages

Revenue Split

80% goes to the author.
20% goes to the platform.

The platform absorbs all Stripe processing fees. What you see is what you get.

Ready to explore?