For the past few weeks, I’ve been exploring open source with Wagtail, and I’ve been focused on the starter kit upgrade I submitted for GSoC.
A major issue with the starter kit is how fast it falls behind current Wagtail versions and features. It also has to be updated manually to stay up to date. This can be discouraging for new Wagtail users.
One fix is to automate version updates, but that’s only part of the problem. It does not include the latest Wagtail features or breaking changes, which are very important.
In this post, I explore agent skills. Wagtail suggested creating agent skills for the starter kit, so I used it to add updates and include features from recent stable versions.
It’s my first time hearing about agent skills and working with them, but I explored how they could help with updating the project. After reading the docs many times and watching videos and blog posts, I found it to be a very interesting idea.
My understanding of agent skills is a bit like Anthropic’s MCP idea. An MCP is like a USB-C port that lets a computer connect to tools. Agent skills then tell the computer how to use those tools. They give an agent clear steps to follow when doing a task.
The skill follows a set of steps that include best practices for upgrading to the current Wagtail version. It also helps include the latest features based on what the user wants.
Some of the steps I used in my first draft include:
It made sense to try this since my proposal is about maintaining the starter kit. It helps reduce the manual work needed to upgrade and gives a clear process that others can follow.
It also includes a checklist that can be updated over time as new Wagtail features or changes are introduced.
I’m still new to agent skills, but I think they are a useful way to structure how tasks are done, especially for maintaining a starter kit.
You can find the full SKILL here: LINK
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