Insight 9 of 12
How does the assistant pick which email skill to use?
Once you have several email skills, the assistant needs to select the right one for each request. Naming client-review-follow-up or payment-reminder in your request tells the assistant which one to use; in Codex, type the name after $, and in Claude Code, after /. Assistants that support skills can also choose one by reading each 's description, a sentence saved with the skill that says what job it handles. Naming works well when you know which skill you want.
If the assistant keeps choosing the wrong skill, rewrite the descriptions first. Review-call notes should match the follow-up skill; an overdue invoice should match the reminder. The assistant should ask you to clarify a vague request: “send them an update” may fit either job. A router, a separate step that picks the skill for each request, is needed only when clear descriptions still leave the assistant choosing wrong.
Practice
Not answeredThe assistant keeps using your follow-up for overdue invoices. What should you check first?