Agent skills

What is an agent skill?

An agent skill is a small Markdown file — a SKILL.md — that teaches an AI agent one specific, repeatable procedure, so a short plain-English request triggers a whole multi-step workflow. Each skill names the exact steps and the exact tools to call, in order. The skills here package the WordPress maintenance and security routines you would otherwise run by hand, every one built on Cowboy MCP's real tools.

A skill is not code and not a plugin. It is a plain text file with a name, a description, and a set of instructions. When you ask for something that matches its description, your agentic AI client loads the file and follows the procedure — calling the tools the steps name rather than improvising. That makes the workflow repeatable and auditable: the same request produces the same careful sequence every time.

How do I install a skill?

First, the plugin. Every skill here calls Cowboy MCP tools by name, so the site needs the free plugin and your agent needs to be connected to it: in WordPress, open Plugins → Add New, search for Cowboy MCP, click Install then Activate, and approve the one-click sign-in from your agent. Install it from WordPress.org (opens in new tab), then come back for the skill.

Installing a skill itself is copying one file into a folder. Download the skill's SKILL.md, create a folder named for the skill inside your agent's skills directory, and drop the file in. There is nothing to build and no dependency to install, and where the folder lives decides how widely the skill is available across your projects and sessions.

• Project-level: save it as .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md inside a project, so the skill travels with that repository.
• Global: save it under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md to make it available in every session on your machine.
• Cursor: save it as .cursor/skills/<name>/SKILL.md in the project, or under ~/.cursor/skills/ for every project. Cursor also reads a project's .claude/skills/ folder, so one copy serves both agents.

Keep the folder name matching the name field in the file's frontmatter, then start a new session and ask for the workflow in plain English — the agent matches the skill by its description. Each skill page below has its own download link and shows the full file inline.

Which skills are available?

Six skills are ready to install today, covering the routine WordPress work an agent handles well: site upkeep and updates, safe pre-update backups, security triage, store auditing, content refresh, and SEO cleanup. Each is documented on its own page with the tools it uses, example prompts, and the full SKILL.md to download.

• Content refresh skill — AI content refresh for WordPress — a SKILL.md that finds aging posts, audits them, and updates copy behind a database checkpoint, one post at a time.
• Pre-update backup skill — WordPress backup before update with an AI agent — takes a database checkpoint, verifies it, updates one plugin at a time, then re-checks site health.
• Security triage skill — AI WordPress security triage — runs a Wordfence scan, reviews findings and login activity, and proposes IP blocks for you to approve, never automatically.
• SEO cleanup skill — WordPress SEO cleanup with AI — a SKILL.md that audits titles, slugs, excerpts, and internal links, then fixes them behind a database checkpoint.
• Store audit skill — Audit a WooCommerce store with an AI agent — a SKILL.md that reviews sales, stock, orders, coupons, and checkout settings read-only, then reports fixes.
• Weekly maintenance skill — Automate WordPress maintenance with an AI agent — a SKILL.md that checks for updates, reads the error log, reviews the audit trail, and updates safely.

Cowboy MCP is a free, open-source WordPress MCP server; these skills drive its tools. New to the guardrails behind them? See is it safe to let an AI agent manage your site and the glossary.

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