You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
2Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
ElsewhereArea: what it touches
ImprovementsKind: in v2.1.290,
ImprovementsSection of the release
What
A skill is a packaged set of instructions Claude can load for a particular kind of task. Two related changes:
Text above the body is kept: skills, including synced skills, now carry a textAboveBody field holding whatever comes before the skill's markdown body, stored under the key #above-body. Skills also expose getLoadedSkillMd, and the skill_md wrapper that is built around a skill was restructured.
Binary-file message: when the Read tool hits a binary file, the error now says to use a skill for that file type if one is available, or a shell command or script that can read the format. It used to say "Please use appropriate tools for binary file analysis."
Why
Text at the top of a skill file, such as a preamble, is no longer dropped. When Claude cannot read a file directly, it is now pointed at skills you have installed for that format.
