CUNY AI Lab
CUNY AI Lab

Configuring skills and tools

Led by Zach Muhlbauer and Meha Gupta

New Media Lab · Room 7388.01
CUNY Graduate Center

https://cuny-ai-lab.github.io/sandbox-series/skills

Choose Your Own Adventure

  1. Continue your saved model, or clone STEM Adventure Games in Workspace → Models → ⋯ → Clone
  2. Open Workspace → Models → Edit and review your system prompt’s setting, goals, and rules
  3. Keep your model card open to add a skill and a tool
Workspace Models filtered to STEM Adventure Games, with annotations identifying Workspace in left sidebar and Clone for original model

What Is a Skill?

Skills contain plain-text instructions for repeatable tasks

Trigger
Request or condition that starts a procedure
Procedure
Steps, checks, and points that require a question
Output
Required response content and form

What Is a Tool?

When a model calls a tool, it is given the ability to execute a function and return its result, usually through a Python script

This is called tool calling (aka function calling)

Input
Information passed to a function
Execution
Code that applies specified rules
Result
Returned output for a model to inspect

Update Model for Tool Calling

Model card base-model picker — 1 identifies Base Model; 2 identifies DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731

Enable Filter

Enable Model Bound Tool Enabler on your model card, which binds assigned tools to the model’s operations.

Model card filter picker with Model Bound Tool Enabler outlined

Add Your Skill

  1. Open Workspace → Models → Edit → Skills → Select Skill
  2. Choose Adventure Panel Play and read its saved instructions
  3. Keep your model card open to add Adventure Panel
Skills picker with arrow 1 at Select Skill and arrow 2 at Adventure Panel Play.

Add the ‘Adventure Panel’ tool

  1. Open Tools → Select Tool on the same model card
  2. Choose Adventure Panel and keep Adventure Panel Play selected
  3. Add the system-prompt instructions on slide 10, then select Save & Update
Tools picker with arrow 1 at Select Tool and arrow 2 at Adventure Panel.

Model Card Check-In

Confirm these selections on your model card

  1. Adventure Panel tool
  2. Adventure Panel Play skill
  3. Model Bound Tool Enabler filter

Keep your knowledge collection attached

Model card with numbered arrows identifying the checked Adventure Panel tool, Adventure Panel Play skill, and Model Bound Tool Enabler filter.

Add Skill Instructions to the Bottom of Your System Prompt

Load the attached Adventure Panel Play skill (extend-adventure-games) and follow it on every turn. Use show_scene from the Adventure Panel tool to display each scene and its choices. Follow this system prompt’s setting, goals, rules, and source instructions.

Test Your Adventure

  1. Run your updated adventure game
  2. Verify configured skill and tool are called appropriately
  3. Then play the rest of your game

Observe Game Results

  1. Check the Adventure Panel Play skill call
  2. Check the Adventure Panel tool call

Open call details to confirm the skill and show_scene function

User-provided live Clone response with numbered callouts for view_skill and show_scene above rendered ADVENTURES panel

Explore Other Skills

  1. Read Adventure Outcomes or Conclude Adventure Game after your first adventure works
  2. Change one skill and save your model card
  3. Run your adventure again and compare results
Skills picker showing Adventure Panel Play, Adventure Outcomes, and Conclude Adventure Game, with arrows at Select Skill and Conclude Adventure Game.

Choose Your Task

Revise One Item

  1. Copy complete tool code or skill instructions
  2. Describe an observed problem and one change

Create Your Own

  1. Choose a task for your tool or skill
  2. Specify its purpose, required input, and expected result

Copy tool code · Skill instructions

Work With Support

Prompt CAIL Workspace Support to generate a skill and/or tool that continues to support or further extends your adventure game, adapting an existing skill/tool or making your own.

Fresh live CAIL Workspace Support interface with model identity, description, composer, and Get started suggestion

Adapt Your Adventure

  1. Give CAIL Workspace Support your lesson plan, learning outcome, or disciplinary focus
  2. Ask it to adapt or create a skill or tool that extends your adventure toward that outcome

Add Tools or Skills

  1. Copy and paste all code for tools or plain text for skills, then save your item
  2. On your model card, select your new tool or skill, and signpost it in your system prompt
Tools Create form with code editor, Access and Save & Create visible; arrows identify relevant steps without changing interface pixels

CUNY AI Lab | Coworking Sessions

CUNY AI Lab | Coworking Sessions — reveal links

Continue your Sandbox and Vibe Coding projects in coworking sessions, with time to build and troubleshoot together.

Workshop materials and guides

Molnár · Quimbot / Creative Clawing

Workshop outline

Workshop Resources

Full workshop copy

Model Registryhttps://ailab.gc.cuny.edu/models/

Session linkhttps://cuny-ai-lab.github.io/sandbox-series/skills

Download slides PDFWorkshop outline